Question
Is there any way I can recover my cat from a stroke?
I tried searching up and it just said stuff like medicines but they don't work. Someone please help me. The cat also poops and pees everywhere instead of the cat litter box.
It happened a month or two ago and she has lived for 80 human years.
Answer
There is no way to recover from a stroke 2 months after it happened, neither for a cat nor for a human.
A stroke is defined as:
a medical condition in which poor blood flow to the brain results in cell death.
Let's see what that means.
Why does poor blood flow cause a stroke?
All cells in a living body need oxygen to "breathe" and nutrients to "eat". The blood transports all those things to every single cell in a body. When a brain cell receives oxygen from a blood cell, this blood cell must be transported back to the lungs to take up more oxygen again. That's why the blood must always flow in a body.
Brain cells need especially much oxygen and die after less than 5 minutes when they don't receive any oxygen.
Most strokes are caused by tiny blood clots that block the blood flow to parts of the brain or by internal bleeding in the brain. Without proper blood flow, the brain cells stop functioning after a very short time (a minute or 2) and eventually die a very short time later (another minute or 2).
What are the consequences?
Our brains are structured in certain regions. Each region has a primary task, like keeping our memories, moving our arms or legs, enabling us to speak and so on. Depending on where in the brain the blood flow was blocked, the affected person (or animal) loses the ability to remember things, speak or move their limbs.
What can be done?
A stroke is always a severe medical emergency, because the longer the blood flow is blocked, the more brain cells die. Doctors try to remove the blockage and restore blood flow as quickly as possible to save as many brain cells as possible. There are several different medications and medical procedures available for that.
But once the brain cells are dead, there is nothing to be done anymore. Unfortunately dead brain cells don't just regrow. And all the remaining brain cells already have their own task. If the brain region that controls the movement of the limbs was destroed by a stroke, other brain regions won't suddenly take that task on. There is no medication that could undo the damage.
There are some success stories where people regain some functionality long after a stroke, but those stories are so spectacular because they are so extremely rare. The affected people often had to train very hard every single day for many years to regain the functionality they lost due to a stroke. There is no way a cat could do the same.
Answered By - Elmy