Cat's tail down for the past couple of days.

[Twotofive]

Does anyone know why this could be?

She seems fine in herself- is eating, pooing & weeing. She's coming for her usual fuss and is purring lots. However she's walking round the house with her tail down all the time, which she normally doesn't do.

Would a trip to the vets be worth it?

Thank you

[RandomMess]

She could have broken/damaged it. How old is she?

[Twotofive]

Thanks. She's 4. How would I know if she's broken it? She lets me stroke it.

[RandomMess]

It could be nerve damage, but either way you do need to take her to the vet after the bank hols, it really doesn't sound normal and cats hide injuries very well. Have you inspected it thoroughly for any bite wounds?

[Twotofive]

Just managed to grab her & gave her a good check all over. Can't see any bites. She only goes out for an hour a day & can hardly jump! I can't think what she's done. I'll take her to the vets morning. I'll be worrying over the bank holiday now!
Thanks for your help.

[DownByTheRiverside]

It was the first sign that my cat had arthritis at 10.

[Lonecatwithkitten]

Can she actually move the tail or is it hang limp swinging in the breeze. If the tail is limp please keep her as limp tails are very prone to further injury.

[Twotofive]

She can move her tail, but it doesn't seem to go as upright when I stroke her tail. I'll keep her inside anyway. I hope it's not arthritis- she still seems so young to me.

If she has damaged her tail, what can the vet do? I guess they'll give her some pain killers. My poor cat!

[SalvatoreGirl]

One of our cats damaged his tail and the vet said he'd broken it and it needed to be removed he wasn't in any pain but it would just wither so I said we'd take him home and bring him back at a later date for the op.
He was a long haired cat had a magnificent fluffy tail and I just couldn't bring myself to do it and kept putting it off. Anyway about 2 months later he started to try to lift his tail when I was stroking him and gradually it came back to normal so it either healed the break or it wasn't broken after all. I was so glad I was such a wuss about him having the operation.
We lost him last year after 18years :-( This is him asleep on hubby's computer desk.

[McSnuff]

One of our two cats had this - inflicted by the other cat, we think. Bite marks (fang distance apart) just above the tail on his back. Spotted by the vet, not us. He got painkillers and antibiotics and we waited - after a week or two, he was fine, back in full question-mark mode. The vet tested his tail for damaged nerves when we took him in, said he was fine and should make a full recovery. Common wound when cats fight, he said.

I hope this is some comfort to you - it looks awkward and is a bit scary, but chances are she'll be fine, just needs a bit of time to heal.

[frostyfingers]

Our cat had this, and had trouble sitting down comfortably too. We searched and couldn't find anything and it was only when we took him to the vet and three of us pinned him down to have the offending area shaved could we see two little marks where he'd been nipped on the backside. There was no swelling, he had an antibiotic injection and was right as rain in about 12 hours.

[Twotofive]

Thanks for all your replies. It's good to know that your cats have recovered.

We took her to the vet's today and she's definitely damaged her tail but it isn't broken. The vet gave her an anti- inflammatory and she's lifting her tail a bit higher already. I still don't know how she did it though! We just have to wait for her to get better now.

salvatoregirl what a horrible decision to face! I'm glad it was ok in the end- he has a lovely tail!

Thanks again everyone.