Any Veterinarians in the house? Strange pets' illnesses, cat, dog, AND pig!
About a month ago, my cat came home for breakfast and he could hardly walk. His back legs were not functioning properly. He was really struggling, flopping all around, as if he had Cerebellar Hyperplasia. I was not able to get him to the vet because I am legally blind and can't drive and I live way out in the country, all alone, no neighbors. VERY rural. I did call the vet though and asked about what it could be, and they said maybe it is a tick in his ear. Ticks in the ear can cause paraylysis like this, and then I remembered that this indeed had happened to my aunt's dog a few years ago. They held him down in the bathtub and removed the tick and he was fine shortly thereafter.

My cat....I got my magnifier and looked as best as I could in his ears. I didn't see any tick. He thought he was getting some special spa treatment, LOL. I put a fresh tube of Frontline Plus on him immediately and when my DH got home, we checked him again all over. No ticks. A couple of days later, he was a lot better. We chalked it up to the Frontline killing a tick we somehow missed, or to him having hurt himself, jumping from a tree.......

THEN, last Tuesday, I come home after being gone for a day to find that my beautiful dog, my Labrador, could not walk. His hindlegs were paralyzed. I had to call my elderly mother to come to my rescue and she and I loaded him into the van and took him to the vet immediately. He was so heavy! He couldn't control his bladder and he didn't seem to be feeling anything at all. It broke my heart. The next day, I had to have him put to sleep. When I told the vet that he'd been checked and confirmed for heartworms last year, he said that probably a heartworm caused an embolism which caused the paralysis. I read up on this online, and verified what he said. I am so sad about my dog, he was my eyes and ears, my companion, guardian, friend.... I thought it was odd that my cat couldn't hardly walk, and then my dog was completely paralyzed....

THEN.....sigh....yesterday morning, our pot bellied pig was down in her pen and could not move. Her hindquarters are not working. Not at all. It is as if SHE too is paralyzed now. She is old and had been ill to begin with, but now I am really suspicious. She was up walking around Sunday evening, just liek always. She has not been able to move at all and is not going to make it through the night.

I just can't help but wonder if someone did this. I mean, HOW does a cat, a dog AND a pot bellied pig ALL come down with similar symptoms? Yet, I cannot think of anything, a poison or whatever, that does this. I know sometimes a-holes give strays antifreeze, but I didn't think antifreeze could cause paralysis. I am usually almost always home, except for that day I was gone..... Bruno didn't let anyone near the house without barking. So if someone did this, then they were slick. But what if no one did this. Does anyone know of a parasite, a virus, something, anything, that can cross the lines of a dog, a cat, and a pig and make them all have the same problem? Bruno had his shots and my cat was a cat I rescued out of a drop off box one day, on a whim. I treated him for fleas and ticks with Frontline Plus and did the best I could for him. He weighs 14 lbs and is FINE now.

So my cat fully recovered. My dog had to be put to sleep.. And now the pig is not going to make it through the night. I just don't get it!

I am not a vet but the first thing I would do (after taking them to the vet) would be to google it and then if I found nothing that it could be I would start evaluating: have they eaten anything different, been in a different environment, did someone who works with chemical pet them? It does seem and sound fishy as if perhaps they were poisoned.

I am so sorry for the loss of your dog and I hope your pig makes it and that piggy and kitty fully recover.
People who poison pets should be dealt with harshly. I hope you find out what happened. Again I am sorry.

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Is there anything new in the house (or outside that could get tracked indoors)? Any new product? Lawn care stuff? Neighbors doing anything different in their yards? It looks like they became ill in order of their weight which might help a vet figure it out. Good luck!

I'm not a vet, but it sounds like they're getting into some sort of neurotoxin. Can't you husband take the pig to the vet?

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Wow, that happened to one of our cats years ago. It was a tumor on his spine. Whatever is going on with your animals sounds like it is in the enviroment? Let us knw what you find out!

How bad were mosquitos this year? Could it be some kinda skeeter borne thing?

My cat had to be put to sleep last year due to an embolism- blocks the artery to the rear legs and paralysis results.

Have him tested for botulism, the animals may have gotten into something contaminated.

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op as a huge animal lover this post is so sad, I sincerely hope and pray you find out what is causing your animals to be sick, kindly keep us posted best wishes. Peace. Catherine

I'm thinking something is making them sick. I've experienced it personally, too.
Years ago we ate out at a seafood restaurant. We had a German Shepherd at the time and I had brought home leftovers. Our German Shepherd accidentally got into the fish. (I had fish, the rest of them had shrimp). Long story short ---- I got food poisoning later that evening. AND when we got up the next morning, our German Shepherd's back legs were paralyzed! My husband took him to the vet and me to the doctor. Some sort of food poisoning was the verdict for both!!

Sounds to me like they're getting into something that is making them sick. Hope you find out really soon what it is.

Hi everybody, thank you for your replies, links and help. I am sorry I didn't come back and check on my post sooner. I have been so depressed..... and then I decided to leave for a couple of days, go to mom's, and I got back home last night. Tuesday I was able to take a small squirt bottle and squirt some water into our pig's mouth, she was very thirsty! So i got some baby food and carefully put it into her mouth too. She was hungry! I sliced up an apple and fed it to her, but she could not get up. She just laid there, on her side, but was thirsty and hungry. Then I left. Yesterday, when no one was home, she passed away. We had to bury her last night.

I have thought and thought and thought, what could this be? We had not fed our dog and cat and pig any of the same food. Our dog and our pig are penned in and neither ever got out, but I did take Bruno out every day, but ONLY on his leash. We are very rural, no neighbors. There is no way any of them, except for my cat, could have gone off and gotten into anything.

So it is over. No dog. No pig. Just a couple of cats left. God, it is going to be so lonely and quiet around here today. ;-(

Mailady, that is what happened to our dog, at least, that is what the vet said happened. It seemed plausable to me. I'm sorry you had to lose your cat. How awful. It's so sad to see them like that.

Thanks for the dippity pig article, vorphalak, I'm going to read it now. We will get another pot bellied pig some day, so your article might be important.


Thank you, everybody.

Sorry for you loss, but you left her alone for two days when she couldn't feed herself?!

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If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn't help the poor, either we have to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we've got to acknowledge that He commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition, and then admit that we just don't want to do it.

- Stephen Colbert.

Exactly what I wondered about! And you never took her to the vet???

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Linda

No, no, no. I was not home, but my husband was. I went over to my mom's house the evening before we had doctor appointments the next day. My DH had to go to work, but was home by 4:30.pm.