# building up hind legs after muscle wastage



## Guest (Mar 1, 2012)

my dear old cat (17) lost a lot of muscle mass on her hind legs while i was stupidly feeding her crf/ckd prescription diets. she can no longer jump, though she can walk ok, and can clamber onto things by putting her front legs on what she wants to get onto and pulling herself up with them. there's just no thrust in her hind legs at all. there's small boxes everywhere to let her get up onto her fav places! 

i believe this is quite common in older cats. assuming the crf/ckd is under control as best one can manage, and there's no other cause such as diabetes or potassium deficiency, is it possible to build the muscle back up? has anyone managed to do that? or is it just a false hope :cryin:?


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## Kiwi (Nov 18, 2010)

Aaw poor kitty - wish I knew  But at least you are doing so much to help herwith the boxes etc. Hopefully someone will come along with some constructive suggestions soon ...x


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

She has probably got some arthritis as we all do when we get older  I give our old chap some liquid Glucosomine from [email protected] & he still tightrope walks across our headboard in the dark :yikes: I think they all get some muscle wasteage as they get older


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2012)

yeah, she gets Arthri Aid which has glucosamine, msm and chondritin. it did seem to help after about a month, and her back legs articulate ok. just no push.

she can still get to the top of her 9ft tall cat tree, especially if i put some treats at the top  so she's not totally helpless yet. but when she goes out i try and go with her every time as if a dog or other cat attacks her she won't be able to jump to escape (though i'm not quite sure what i'm supposed to do if that happens! :laugh


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

Mmmmmmmmmmm sorry not sure then  one of our dogs goes to hydro every week thats realy good for building muscle but depends how good she is with water


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2012)

Dally Banjo said:


> one of our dogs goes to hydro every week thats realy good for building muscle but depends how good she is with water


:laugh: that i'd like to see!


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

Yes, I was thinking hydrotherapy, but I think it would be too stressful for kitty, I suppose.


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## ella (Jan 1, 2009)

Hiya

have you had potassium checked?

Low potassium can make your muscles weaker - especially longer muscles like in the leg (I know from human experience)


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## Angel pedigrees (Feb 2, 2012)

My boy developed Meningitis and lost all movement in his back end, i did regular exercises throughout the day to build him back up as he was very weak, not sure if it would help your cat but could be worth a try and did wonders for my dog xx


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2012)

ella said:


> Hiya
> 
> have you had potassium checked?
> 
> Low potassium can make your muscles weaker - especially longer muscles like in the leg (I know from human experience)


yes. it's within expected range, and any supplementation is apparently contra-indicated while giving benazepril. also she's not diabetic.

i've been trying some play exercises, but she's not that playful any, and very canny, knows she can't jump, and trying to get her to is hard.

i'm sad no one has replied to say they've managed to with a cat


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## koekemakranka (Aug 2, 2010)

If she is quite agreeable, perhaps you could lay her on her back and tickle her back paws gently so that the kick impulse er...kicks in? Maybe just a few short sessions a day.


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

koekemakranka said:


> If she is quite agreeable, perhaps you could lay her on her back and tickle her back paws gently so that the kick impulse er...kicks in? Maybe just a few short sessions a day.


I was just going to say we did stretching excersices with Banjo when he was crated for a month to try & stop alot of muscle wastage but I have'nt tried it with a cat :blink:


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## Guest (Mar 2, 2012)

koekemakranka said:


> If she is quite agreeable, perhaps you could lay her on her back and tickle her back paws gently so that the kick impulse er...kicks in? Maybe just a few short sessions a day.


she's actually a bit of a tummy tickle whore and gets 15 mins a day of quite vigorous tummy rubbing. i tried to get her to kick at me today after reading your post, but she's so soppy she wouldn't! :001_wub:


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## Dally Banjo (Oct 22, 2009)

doujyr said:


> she's actually a bit of a tummy tickle whore and gets 15 mins a day of quite vigorous tummy rubbing. i tried to get her to kick at me today after reading your post, but she's so soppy she wouldn't! :001_wub:


How about one of those kicker toys our lot all try to disembowel those with there back legs 

Kong Kickeroo - Great deals on cat toys at zooplus


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## Guest (Mar 3, 2012)

thanks for your suggestion. sadly she just doesn't play very much any more despite my trying all kinds of things. even da bird is ignored. the only thing she will do is chase cat treats across the floor, so that'll have to do.

sorry to be so negative about all the nice suggestions on this thread.


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## Misi (Jul 13, 2009)

When my poor boy Tarka was suffering from back leg weakness, I used to gently pull his back legs and he'd reflexively pull them back. I also used to make him walk around the garden with me.


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