Civie with leg pain

Our civie Candy who is normally the kind of cat who does not want to be bothered with today wanted attention. I did notice she didn't really eat yesterday and was thinking it was a belly problem causing the odd behavior. Well, this morning she went to jump up onto the sink which is normally simple for her and she couldn't do it. I realized that she must have hurt her leg or legs in the rear. That's why she didn't eat-her food is up on the counter.

So, I'm feeding her now on the floor but am unsure what to do now. I felt around and didn't feel anything out of place. She is walking, but not running like her usual self and it looks like it even hurts to walk. Can I give her some sort of pain meds? I will take her to the vet if it's advisable, but I can't see that there's much they can do other than some pain meds. It's not like they cast cats back legs. Any suggestions?

 

The vet would manipulate it, maybe X-ray it, and if something is broken, treat it.

I don't know if they cast cats, but when my Nellie was about 9 weeks old, she fractured an elbow and was treated with 6 weeks of cage rest.

 

Thanks. I wasn't sure they could do anything at all as there's not really a bone that holds the leg to their body. I'm at work and she did eat this morning so I'm going to check on her tonight and if she's not better make a vet appointment.

 

Have you noticed any other signs of illness? Eye discharge? Nasal discharge? Sneezing. We've found the new strain of the calicivirus going around causes leg pain in a lot of cats.

Vet can set the leg if it is broken, and can give you pain meds and appetite stimulants if needed.

 

nope, nothing. i even looked in her eyes this morning because i thought if she happened to hit her head her pupils would be different and everything else looks fine.

she's a strange one and i rarely pick her up because she's not snuggly and i usually end up injured when i try it. but this morning i did pick her up and she whined at me. that's not completely unusual but it could be a sign of pain. i felt around and nothing seemed to feel to me out of place. not that i would notice if it was something small, but as far as i could tell everything was where its supposed to be and i see no cuts either.

 

Like in humans, the major real leg bone of felines (femur) attaches to the pelvis via ball and socket joint. Sometimes the femur can come out of the joint. I would give it a day or so and go i vet if not better. Cats, like humans, get soft tissue injuries that heal by themselves if not stressed.

Feline skeleton:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=htt ... CAsQ9QEwAA

 

I took my civie to the vet for the same problem, but she was obviously limping. He gave her an anti-infalmmatory and she was better almost immediately. Still not sure what was wrong exactly, but vet could not feel anything...probably pulled a muscle. I have seen a cat with a cast on its back leg. It was kind of sad...kitty had a hard time getting used to it. I hope she is better soon!

 

Hi Andrea

She needs to see the vet to check things out. It could be a bone issue, muscle or ligament tear, blood clot, low back pain, or a dozen other things. There is much that can be diagnosed and much that can be treated. (As a side note, a cat can get a blow to the head and still have normal-looking pupils.) She may be in a great deal of pain so please don't wait. Please keep us posted.

 

I had to take Yittle to the ER vet today for the same reason. He was fine at 3am and lame by 7am. Apparently he had a bad landing jumping off the back of the sofa or something. They had to sedate him, manipulate the leg, xray it and examine him. It appears he sprained his "ankle" and bruised his foot badly - whenever the pain meds wear off he can't walk. We're supposed to keep him medicated and not let him run, jump, climb etc for a week- they suggested a crate but he's having none of that. We've removed his access to some objects he likes to climb on and all the stairs but he keeps thinking he should be hopping on and off the sofa and then regretting it afterwards. He may also have a minor tear to some muscles or ligaments but there's not much we can do about that except try to keep him from making it worse. You really should take yours to the vet for the x-rays just to make sure nothing is dislocated or broken. After all Yittle has spent the last 13 going on 14 years jumping off the back of that sofa with no ill effect until now.

 

Re: Civie with leg pain - Update?

Andrea,
Just popping in to see if there is any update. Not sure if you remember, but Flamie broke his left rear leg (at the hock joint) twice! The original vet MISSED it both times and tried to tell me it was just arthritis. Took him down to Garden State Vet Specialists in Tinton Falls where they took more x-rays and said it was clearly fractures (both times).
Flame was in a splint for 6 - 8 weeks with both fractures, so yes, they do splint rear legs on cats with injuries/fractures to immobilize it.

Hope Candy is doing better and you've found out what the source of the problem was.