Vertigo strikes on the third floor

On the third floor of my house, I’m searching for Susu, the oldest cat in my feline herd.

I know she hasn’t wandered far, not with her weak back legs, but I can’t find her anywhere. Then, as I turn around and face the stairs, I see what no pet owner wants to see.

Before my eyes, a small bundle of bright orange fur plummets from the top of the stairs two and a half metres to the landing below and lands on her side.

“Oh,” I think, "she probably tried to turn around, slipped and fell." I give her a painkiller and wait to see what will happen next.

I’m so sure that her weak back legs caused the accident that I don’t even bother to block the landing. “She’ll never do that again,” I think.

Susu, however, isn’t doing so well. Her hind legs seem to be growing weaker and weaker. She can’t even move her body into the kitty litter tray, urinating outside it.

Two weeks later, I hear another thud from the third floor.

This time, Susu’s rolled down the stairs to the landing, where she lies patiently until I carry her up to her bedroom. She seems to have lost complete control over her back legs, although she manages to slide herself to her food bowl.

The vet doesn't find any broken bones but gives her an injection to help her handle the pain from bruising. The injection doesn’t help. Susu stops eating, and she doesn’t urinate at all.

The next day, I take her to a veterinary bone surgeon. I'm positive she’s broken a leg or - worse - a hip, the reason she hasn’t urinated yet.

The vet watches her as she tries to walk. He then checks whether her legs and toes have normal reflexes.

“There’s nothing wrong with her, apart from the problems of old age,” he says.

Then he examines her head. “Oh, no!” I think. “Brain injuries!”

“See how she’s shaking her head?” the vet points out. Then he looks inside her ears.
“Aha!” he says.

The dirt inside one ear has formed a blockage, he explains. This obstruction has closed her inner ear, and now her balance is affected.

Susu didn’t fall down the stairs because of weak legs - but because of very, very dirty ears.

The vet cleans her ears very carefully and puts in some ointment. The old lady relaxes visibly. She’s so relaxed, in fact, that her bladder relaxes too - and she urinates happily all over the vet.

“Let it all out,” encourages the vet. “You’ll feel better.”

She does, until the next day when I clean her ears again.