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Cat is limping



 
 
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  #1  
Old November 13th 05, 01:36 AM
blkcatgal
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Default Cat is limping

My 16 year old cat began limping 2 days ago. He was fine in the morning and
when I came home from work, he was limping on his front leg. I'm not sure
how he may have hurt himself, if that's the case, but it may be that he fell
or tripped on the basement stairs because when I came home from work that
day the basement door (which is usually closed and the cats don't usually
have access to the basement) was opened. The limping doesn't seem to deter
him from jumping up on the couch or bed. And I've checked the leg out and
it isn't swollen or anything. And otherwise he's acting normal.

I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the next day or so
but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains, etc. like humans?

Sue


  #2  
Old November 13th 05, 01:53 AM
Joe Canuck
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Default Cat is limping

blkcatgal wrote:
My 16 year old cat began limping 2 days ago. He was fine in the morning and
when I came home from work, he was limping on his front leg. I'm not sure
how he may have hurt himself, if that's the case, but it may be that he fell
or tripped on the basement stairs because when I came home from work that
day the basement door (which is usually closed and the cats don't usually
have access to the basement) was opened. The limping doesn't seem to deter
him from jumping up on the couch or bed. And I've checked the leg out and
it isn't swollen or anything. And otherwise he's acting normal.

I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the next day or so
but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains, etc. like humans?

Sue



Check the paw and pads.
  #3  
Old November 13th 05, 02:24 AM
cybercat
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Posts: n/a
Default Cat is limping


"blkcatgal" wrote in message
...
My 16 year old cat began limping 2 days ago. He was fine in the morning

and
when I came home from work, he was limping on his front leg. I'm not sure
how he may have hurt himself, if that's the case, but it may be that he

fell
or tripped on the basement stairs because when I came home from work that
day the basement door (which is usually closed and the cats don't usually
have access to the basement) was opened. The limping doesn't seem to

deter
him from jumping up on the couch or bed. And I've checked the leg out and
it isn't swollen or anything. And otherwise he's acting normal.

I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the next day or

so
but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains, etc. like humans?


Yes! I flipped out because my little tabby was limping and wincing when
she put weight on one of her back legs. (She had a new cat shelf and I
*knew* she must have slipped getting up there because she was not
yet used to it.) Took her to Emergency Care, where she refused to limp.
Later that night she was clearly in pain, so the next day I took her to my
vet, where she refused to limp AND jumped from the floor to the table
and back again with no sign of pain. An hour after we got home, she was
wincing and cringing again. I actually took her back to the after hours
place where she again refused to limp! This time I made them give me
kitty narcotics in case she showed symptoms of pain--more for me
than for her, as I was clearly having more trouble with her being in
pain than SHE was. The next day she was fine and never showed
a problem with that leg again.

Point: if you can STAND to, you might wait a day and see what
happens. But of course that limp might be a symptom of something
serious. *sigh* That is always the risk you take when you wait. I will
always err on the side of superfluous vet care rather than scanty vet
care, but that's just me.


  #4  
Old November 13th 05, 02:39 AM
MaryL
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Default Cat is limping


"blkcatgal" wrote in message
...
My 16 year old cat began limping 2 days ago. He was fine in the morning
and when I came home from work, he was limping on his front leg. I'm not
sure how he may have hurt himself, if that's the case, but it may be that
he fell or tripped on the basement stairs because when I came home from
work that day the basement door (which is usually closed and the cats
don't usually have access to the basement) was opened. The limping
doesn't seem to deter him from jumping up on the couch or bed. And I've
checked the leg out and it isn't swollen or anything. And otherwise he's
acting normal.

I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the next day or
so but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains, etc. like
humans?

Sue


I would take the cat to a vet for examination. Cats are well known to hide
pain, so this is probably a sign of significant discomfort. Earlier this
year, I had a similar situation with Holly. She was fine one night and was
limping the next morning. I checked carefully and couldn't see anything,
but I took her to the vet that afternoon. He found a small cut on on pad,
but it didn't appear to be serious. He said it was the type of cut that
might have come from some small object such as a carpet tack that might work
its way up through the carpet. Holly is a solid black cat, and her pads are
also black, so it was very difficult (even for the vet) to see anything, but
the cut was small and didn't appear to be serious. He prescribed some
antibiotics.

The next morning, she was limping *very* badly, and it was obvious that she
was in severe pain. So, we went back to the vet. The pad had become
noticeably swollen overnight. This time, the vet used gas anesthetic so he
could probe the wound more thoroughly. It's a good thing he did. He told
me later that pus flew from the wound as soon as he made an incision, and he
discovered that there was an absess underneath. This means that poor Holly
had the cut for some time but had hidden the discomfort. It also could have
turned into something much more serious if it had not been taken care of.

So, my advice is to err on the side of caution and take your cat to the vet.

MaryL

Photos of Duffy and Holly: 'o'
Duffy: http://tinyurl.com/cslwf
Holly: http://tinyurl.com/9t68o
Duffy and Holly together: http://tinyurl.com/8b47e


  #5  
Old November 13th 05, 02:41 AM
cybercat
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Posts: n/a
Default Cat is limping


"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote
I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the next day

or
so but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains, etc. like
humans?

Sue


I would take the cat to a vet for examination. Cats are well known to

hide
pain, so this is probably a sign of significant discomfort.



This is exactly what I was thinking when I took my girl in to the vet,
and why I had the heebie jeebies. If she was actually wincing AND
limping, it had to really hurt. But then again, if you have ever had a
soft tissue injury like a sprain, you know how bad they hurt and there
really isn't anything a doctor can do, you just have to wait it out and
apply cold compresses. Or is it warm? I forget as it has been a while.


  #6  
Old November 13th 05, 03:32 AM
5cats
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Default Cat is limping

cybercat wrote:


"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote
I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the next

day
or
so but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains, etc.

like
humans?

Sue


I would take the cat to a vet for examination. Cats are well known to

hide
pain, so this is probably a sign of significant discomfort.



This is exactly what I was thinking when I took my girl in to the vet,
and why I had the heebie jeebies. If she was actually wincing AND
limping, it had to really hurt. But then again, if you have ever had a
soft tissue injury like a sprain, you know how bad they hurt and there
really isn't anything a doctor can do, you just have to wait it out and
apply cold compresses. Or is it warm? I forget as it has been a while.




George had some type of sprain earlier this year and I carted him off to
the vet. As you said, not much to do for it but let it heal. The vet did
give him some painkillers which had the side effect of keeping George a
bit drowsy and less likely to be jumping around & re-injuring the leg.
Since you can't exactly tell a cat to "take it easy for a few days".

  #7  
Old November 13th 05, 09:42 AM
jmc
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Posts: n/a
Default Cat is limping

Suddenly, without warning, Joe Canuck exclaimed (13-Nov-05 12:53 AM):
blkcatgal wrote:

My 16 year old cat began limping 2 days ago. He was fine in the
morning and when I came home from work, he was limping on his front
leg. I'm not sure how he may have hurt himself, if that's the case,
but it may be that he fell or tripped on the basement stairs because
when I came home from work that day the basement door (which is
usually closed and the cats don't usually have access to the basement)
was opened. The limping doesn't seem to deter him from jumping up on
the couch or bed. And I've checked the leg out and it isn't swollen
or anything. And otherwise he's acting normal.

I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the next day
or so but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains, etc.
like humans?

Sue


Check the paw and pads.


And the claws. Cats can get nailbed infections too - Meep's had them in
the past.

jmc
  #8  
Old November 13th 05, 02:16 PM
Joe Canuck
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Posts: n/a
Default Cat is limping

Brandy Alexandre wrote:

5cats wrote in rec.pets.cats.health+behav:


cybercat wrote:


"MaryL" -OUT-THE-LITTER wrote

I'll have him checked by the vet if he doesn't improve in the
next


day

or

so but my question is can cats get muscle pulls or strains,
etc.


like

humans?

Sue


I would take the cat to a vet for examination. Cats are well
known to

hide

pain, so this is probably a sign of significant discomfort.


This is exactly what I was thinking when I took my girl in to the
vet, and why I had the heebie jeebies. If she was actually
wincing AND limping, it had to really hurt. But then again, if
you have ever had a soft tissue injury like a sprain, you know
how bad they hurt and there really isn't anything a doctor can
do, you just have to wait it out and apply cold compresses. Or is
it warm? I forget as it has been a while.




George had some type of sprain earlier this year and I carted him
off to the vet. As you said, not much to do for it but let it
heal. The vet did give him some painkillers which had the side
effect of keeping George a bit drowsy and less likely to be
jumping around & re-injuring the leg. Since you can't exactly tell
a cat to "take it easy for a few days".




Kami limps periodically.



This likely coincides with those times you are unable to be on the
newsgroups to prevent your taking out of your frustrations on her.



I asked the vet if I should keep her from
jumping at any opportunity and she said to let her jump. Even if
she was in pain, apparently being unable to be a cat was more
destructive. So, she jumps. She SPLATS, but she jumps. To date no
pain meds have been prescribed.

On the injury note, when Kami recently had a kindey attack I thought
she was screaming because she injured herself. Luckily not, but any
sudden change should be looked at by a real vet.

  #9  
Old November 13th 05, 04:28 PM
Phil P.
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Posts: n/a
Default Cat is limping


"blkcatgal" wrote in message
...
My 16 year old cat began limping 2 days ago. He was fine in the morning

and
when I came home from work, he was limping on his front leg.


Which leg, Sue, right or left? There's a reason for asking.

Phil



  #10  
Old November 13th 05, 04:43 PM
blkcatgal
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Posts: n/a
Default Cat is limping

It's the left front leg.

"Phil P." wrote in message
...

"blkcatgal" wrote in message
...
My 16 year old cat began limping 2 days ago. He was fine in the morning

and
when I came home from work, he was limping on his front leg.


Which leg, Sue, right or left? There's a reason for asking.

Phil





 




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