Vet specialist referral for cat

[Evangelineee]

Hi, I’m wondering if anyone has been through similar and can give me some reassurance/answer my questions?

My cat fell from my bedroom window yesterday and wouldn’t put any weight on her back leg. Took her straight to the vets, they sent us home with gabapentin but I wasn’t happy so called again this morning to ask to come back in for a second opinion. They took her in for X-rays and have said she doesn’t have any breaks or fractures, but her knee joint is unstable. They suspect maybe some torn ligaments around the knee, and she may need an operation but they can’t be too sure as they aren’t specialists. They have sent a referral to an orthopaedic specialist and said if I don’t hear by Wednesday to give them a call.

I am stressed a bit, because it seems like a long time to leave her. Has anyone has anything similar happen, where your injured cat is waiting to be seen? How long did the referral take? Will she be ok until then? We are going to get a dog crate for her to keep her still and she will be having gabapentin and metacam. I am hoping this will be enough to keep her relatively pain free until she is seen.

But if anyone has been through something similar with a cat or dog, please could you let me know your experience and give any tips or reassurance?

editing to say I just realised I have posted in the wrong group!! Sorry this isn’t meant for AIBU, was meant to put it in the cat chat 😫

I had a similar situation where my kitten was diagnosed with quite a rare condition and we were referred from our usual vet to the specialist vet hospital.

From initial appointment to being seen at the hospital it was about a week, then the surgery two weeks later and then he had two weeks of cage rest.

I discovered how amazingly resilient cats are, they really are little survivors. Also crushing the gabapentin with the back of a spoon and mixing it into a Lick-e-Lix was a life saver for us.

Keep her as highly medicated as safe and possible. I would also recommend getting a Feliway Optimum Plugin for the room and also I would get Feliway Cystease capsules and you can open them and sprinkle them into the Lick-e-lix too. They will help to calm her and also help prevent stress induced cystitis.

It feels like the end of our world and we want them out of pain and immediate answers. It is So frustrating that no one seems to have the urgency we do... but it will be okay. They see far, far worse on a daily basis.

Now, a year later it is all over for us and our little guy is in perfect health. It is such a short time of care and then you get to enjoy the rest of their lives happy and healthy.

Thank you so much, that does seem like a long time to wait! So far she has gobbled the gabapentin up in a little piece of cheese but I so also have some lick-e-lix if she cottons on that there’s tablets in the cheese.

im hoping that the metecam and gabapentin will be strong enough to just make her sleep most of the time until her specialist appointment.

Im so glad that your cat is okay now!

humans can wait months for appointment! Hearing from an orthopod by wednesday is miraculous!
Hope she fares well

Hello,

without seeing your cat it's impossible to say what's going on, but the way you describe it I imagine your vet suspects cruciate ligament damage. These are two ligaments that come across the knee in a cross pattern (hence the name) and are supposed to stop the knee from moving backwards/forwards as it bends. It's a fairly common injury in athletes (think footballers) and dogs, haven't seen many in cats, but can happen (usually anything where the person/animal lands on a back leg with a twisting motion). There's a few ways you can treat it, with surgery by an orthopaedic surgeon being the gold standard. However in small/light animals it's not unheard of to treat conservatively (if for example money is a worry), whch would include rest and pain relief, exactly what you're providing. Your kitty is on strong pain killers and gabapentin also has anxiety relieving properties, so she'll be fine waiting till she can be more properly assessed by a specialist in a few days time. Having such caring owners, I'm sure she'll bounce back in no time!

Thank you, she has had both gabapentin and metacam today so I thought she would be sleepy and calm but she’s not! She’s wired! She’s trying to walk around and play. She is confined to a small spare room at the moment with nothing to jump on but she won’t stop walking around! I managed to get a dog crate but it’s not big enough to fit her litter tray and bed because they are big. I’m going to go and buy a small litter tray tomorrow to put inside the crate. But as the gabapentin isn’t calming her down, I don’t think she’s going to tolerate the crate very well 😫

Do you know where they referred her? I would find out and then just call them directly to see how quickly you can be seen.

Most orthopaedic referral centres are seeing cruciate ligament injuries within a week now. Depends what it has been put through as emergency, urgent or routine referral.
General the centres are pretty keen to make the appointment quickly to get you committed to them. I use several centres and most them will phone to make the appointment the day they get the referral.

Generally speaking, walking on it won't make it worse. She's probably agitated because she's confined in a small space when she is used to have free roam of the house I imagine. There's a dose range for gabapentin, so perhaps call your vet again and see if there is scope to increse the dose or the frequency, however if your cat is trying to play she obviously isn't in too much discomfort. I know it's worrisome, but honestly, cats are amazing and have really high tolerances for pain (animals in general, I'm always amazed at how quick my patients bounce back even after serious surgeries/conditions), it sounds like your kitty is not in too much discomfort and she's well looked after, warm and pain free. I'm sure you'll hear from the referral hospital soon and things will get rolling quick from there! Just keep an eye on her and try and keep her as calm/confined as you can and if in doubt just call your vets, we much rather help/answer any of your questions rather than having you worry at home!