We took our 13 mth old Bengal boy to the vet today and it looks as if he has the dreaded polyneuropathy or distal neuropathy. He is very weak in the hind legs. Unable to jump onto chair, sofa, bed, anything. Can't jump down with ease either. He can't squat to poop so he just stands and lets it fall. He is eating fine, still wants to play but will lay down to play. The vet could noticeably see his back gait was off. The vet is going to confer with the neurologist but knows we can't afford the testing nor do we want to put him through it after some of the things we have read in the forum. Thank God our vet was more than willing to put him on prednisone but we need more info on doses and how long before tapering etc. What things could we do to help him?
What possible bad outcomes may we need to look out for and when do you know to quit trying? I am not considering putting him to sleep but I want to be prepared for all the good and all the bad ugly things. He is our son as all the kids are grown and gone. I have informed our breeder but as of now she has not had anyone inform her of this problem or anything like it.

It was a high dose, can't remember now the exact dose, but ask your vet to contact Prof Danielle Gunn-Moore in Edinburgh for advice. http://www.roslin.ed.ac.uk/danielle-gunn-moore/

My cat was on the full dose for a long time as every time we cut it down, she relapsed and we had to put it up again, after about a year she was medication free.
No side effects from the tablets and she has had no further trouble with the polyneuropathy.

Prednisolone for this is not a quick fix, so a week or months worth with a quick taper off, is not what is required here.

Our vet is going to correspond with a neurologist specialists and hopefully he will advise them. I read putting him through all of tests is kind of risky on this site. We can get the testing done for around $1000. Not sure if we should proceed or just treat and pray. Our vet is more than willing to treat with steroids. Hopefully, he can find out doses and for how long. We are in the US but I will forward the Doctor in Edinburgh to him. Thank you again

I would start with the steroids and give it some time before doing the testing.

We were super lucky and Diesel's symptoms started to clear after about 4 weeks, at 6 weeks he started jumping when encouraged and we noticed his rear legs weren't shaking any more when he stood still.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Zippy has been on 5 mg steroids twice daily for 6 days. I am happy to report he is now jumping on the sofa, running after his bengal brother Joey, able to jump down from the sofa and after I put him on the bed he made a near perfect landing. Feeling very hopeful at this point. We had decided not to put him through the nerve testing and biopsy so are very pleased he is showing so much progress in such a short time frame. Tuesday we are supposed to reduce the steroid to once a day so we are keeping our fingers crossed he doesn't start to regress. We are to call the vet and report at that time. Thank you all for responding so quickly to our concerns. So glad to hear Diesel is doing so well. We will keep you updated on Zippy's progress. Thank you again.

Talked to the vet today and he had no problem allowing Zippy to continue taking the 5mg 2x daily prednisone regimen. He said just let him know if we need more steroids and don't even need an appt. I agree, they very quickly learn easier ways to accomplish their goals to get to higher locales. I am actually finding that issue to be one of the toughest things to assess. I am hoping the vet will keep him on this dosage until he begins to jump on our bed and into windows freely from the floor. It's obvious at times Zippy is still afraid he may stumble or fall if he attempts a jump so he simply won't try. HUM??? Not sure how to get around that issue at this point. Thank you for reminding me to keep a close eye for these types of issues. Feeling hopeful.

How is Diesel doing now? Zippy was born Sept 7, 2013. Zippy's back legs aren't quivering now and he appears to improve daily. We do have to go pick up some catlax stool softner for him. Curious if anyone has any experience with this product as I don't want to create more issues for Zippy.

Diesel is doing very well now. Once in a while we still notice a very slight shaking in his rear legs while he's standing still but it's definitely greatly improved. He's jumping pretty much anywhere he wants as well. The other night he got on the kitchen counter which is a pretty high jump and was a first for him.

It took him a little while to get over the 'fear' of jumping. I don't know if he was recalling a pain he felt when he was having problems or if he was afraid of not making the jump and falling, but once he felt confident about being able to jump again he was back to his old self.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Poor Diesel. I think Zippy is doing the same thing. I can almost see the fear of falling in his face. Last night he jumped on the bathroom counter then into the tub from the counter. He loves to get in the tub after we take a shower. I lifted him out because he had that look on his face like "now how I am going to get out without getting falling or getting hurt." I'm hoping he jump on the bed soon. After he starts getting on our bed (his favorite spot to sleep) I will try reducing the steroids to 5mg once a day. He was such a rowdy boy before he started getting sick. I hope most of his personality returns. Is Diesel still taking the steroids?

No he isn't, he was only on them for about 30 days. I think we were pretty lucky and his case was mild compared to most of the others I have read about.

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

Are your cats still doing well without the steroids? My one year old (Remington) was put on them because he had no muscle in his rear legs. He was on the steroids for about a month 2x a day, then once a day and then every other day. After a few weeks he was worse than ever and couldn't walk at all. Remington is now back on the steroid 2x a day. He is doing great, after only a week. I don't want him to regress again. Not sure how long he should be on the steroids - some people say a few months, others say a year.