Lame Cat

Barbieliveshere

My cat went missing for 3 days and arrived back last night at 3 in the morning. However he was covered in scratches and dragging his front right paw. I brought him to the vet this morning who told me that she didn't think anything was broken and that he could be lame from an infection from one of the scratches he had she has given me painkillers and antibiotics for him but its breaking my heart to watch him try to walk and he is clearly in pain, everytime he takes a step the paw collapses! Has anyone else had a lame cat? How did you deal with it??

angeline

Bring him to another vet asap. The poor thing is clearly suffering.

Lawrence1895

Have you git any emergency vet in your area? The Blue Cross maybe?

If the paw collapses, there is something wrong, I would not wait until tomorrow, tbh

Pumpkinseeds

I have to agree. You know when somethings wrong. A second opinion won't hurt. There are 3 vets at the practice I take my chaps to and only 1 of them that I let treat my chaps.

Barbieliveshere

The vet gave him an injection this morning of a painkiller and is going to ring me in the morning to see how i got on with him, so i will inform her of his level of pain. However he has a heart condition so i can't put him on something too strong as it wouldnt be ideal after the stress he has gone through of the past few days.

The Sweeper

Did the vet x-ray the cat?

Barbieliveshere

No she said she wanted to try the painkillers and antibiotics first and if he doesnt improve she will x ray, because of his heart condition he is at a higher risk if sedated so she wanted to make sure he had a few days to recover before an x ray would be done.

anniehoo

Barbieliveshere wrote: »

arrived back last night at 3 in the morning. However he was covered in scratches and dragging his front right paw. I brought him to the vet this morning who told me that she didn't think anything was broken and that he could be lame from an infection from one of the scratches

If its a cat bite its bound to be "very sore" and the cat wont weight bare until its not sore basically.

The Sweeper wrote: »

Did the vet x-ray the cat?

If the vet cant feel anything misplaced or crunching and thinks its inflammation due to a bite this isnt necessary straight off.

Let the antibiotics do their job. They aren't instantaneous and will take a few days to kick in. A good vet will do this first rather than jump straight to x ray if they genuinely feel it isnt necessary. Id be broke if my vet insisted on an xray for every "limp" my pets came home with over the years.

Give it 3-4 days and if no improvement...go back.No vet would or should xray unnecessarily.

Stheno

Can you check your cats claws? I.e. will he let you check that they are all there?

Cats suffer severe pain in my experience when they lose a claw, it's a relatively minor injury but very painful?

The Sweeper

/shrug - if the OP says the paw collapses that makes me think the cat is trying to bear weight and can't. If it were just extremely sore I'd expect them to hold it up and not walk on it at all.

I've had a few vet experiences where we started off with topical treatments or antibiotics and discovered more serious underlying injuries with cats. That's cats for you.

Barbieliveshere

His claws are all there and the problem is that he's trying to bear weight and can't! I'm just wondering whether i should leave him to wander round the house and try and walk on it or carry him to wear he's trying to get to i.e up onto the couch or into his bed! Would it be worse if i left him to it or should i help him?

anniehoo

The Sweeper wrote: »

That's cats for you.

+1 and i totally agree with you (i nearly always do ) but radiology isnt the first port of call for a lame animal if ABs will do the trick first.

/reading between the lines here

The Sweeper

Yeah that's fair enough re lameness. Something else just struck me - the reference to xrays and the cat needing to be sedated for them. I didn't think that was routine? I've actually assisted in x-raying one of my cats (because it was a Sunday and there was nobody in the office but the vet) and the vet and I simply donned radiation shield wear and gently maneuvered the cat into position and took the films. Maybe because scared cats in a vet situation can generally stay very still? Dunno...

anniehoo

The Sweeper wrote: »

the reference to xrays and the cat needing to be sedated for them. I didn't think that was routine.

I have never seen an unsedated cat for xray before. Dogs yeah, as some are more comfortable and calm with the "stay" command. My dog lay perfectly still with the sand bags around her neck with no drugs years ago. [very proud] Cats on the otherhand stress too much so it's just easier all round to sedate tbh. ABs are definitely going to be first port of call for a lame cat unless definitely warranted (far too much effort,time and money for a vet let alone the stress on the animal).