Poor cat has damaged her hindquarters....

[FlibberdeGibbet]

My poor kitty has had some sort of incident - maybe hit by a car, I can't be sure. She can still move around but her tail is drooping, and she's got a bit of a lump at the base of her tail. This all happened yesterday morning, and I took her straight to the vet who gave her painkillers and an anti inflammatories. She's booked in for an x ray tomorrow morning.

She's not wee'd or pooed since before it happened, yesterday morning. She's hardly eaten or drunk since then, although she is able to move about, and she doesn't seem in pain or distress (unless you touch her back end). Anyone any experience of this? I understand that the lack of urination / defeacation is a problem, but how long can she go without going? Am I going to get bad news at the vet tomorrow?

Maybe so. All the best for you both.

I think that if she has urinated in over 24hours you need to contact your vet.

She's booked in for tomorrow morning, Lone.

Keep her calm, quiet and warm Flibber.

Thank you, yes I will. She's asleep next to me on the sofa... really hope it's going to be OK, but fearing the worst

Stay strong. It's probably not good - bit you know that I think.

Let us know how it goes tomorrow.

Will do. Her sister must realise something is up - she is asleep next to her, and has been grooming her. Normally she would groom for a few licks, then get stuck in with a bit of play fighting but she's been very gentle tonight

I would suggest sooner than the morning as a full bladder could be putting pressure on her kidneys.

I am amazed the vets didn't xray her there and then!! They should have at the least felt to see if she had a bladder, and kept her in until she passed urine as its possible to rupture the ureters when hit by a car or pop a bladder I would be taking her back ASAP

Well I would, Lone - but not everyone has the wherewithal for emergency treatment. Vets are expensive out of hours.

I am just surprise this cat with a potential broken pelvis ( this most likely cause) was sent home without x-ray or advice about monitoring of urination. I would have x-rayed on Saturday and hospitalised cat.

I understand that not everyone has the money for our hours, however, part of my job is to be the cat's advocate as it can't speak for itself.

Good luck for later on. I hope it isn't bad news.

Any news?

Hope your poor cat was feeling better today OP.

Hi OP,

I hope you've had good news today? Several years ago, one of our boys went missing for a week and returned on a Sunday with an injury similar to what you describe your kitty suffering. Seemingly fine but with a droopy tail.

We called the vet to see if they wanted us to take him in straightaway (trek to emergency vets) or if it could wait till the Monday. They asked us to take him to the emergency vets as tail pull injuries can be very serious due to the number of nerves and so on in that area - difficulties linked to urination / defecation as already mentioned.

The vets examined and x-rayed him and kept him in - we had an anxious wait (and me distracted in an exam on the Monday!) for him to wee and poo. He was transferred to our vets after a few days where they continued to keep an eye on him. When he came home we had to keep him inside as the tail was still droopy (always fun to try to keep an outdoorsy cat inside while trying to write a dissertation during one of the hottest summers on record)... Our vets made regular checks on the tail but eventually determined that the damage wasn't going to heal and it was amputated. Thank goodness for insurance.

Boy is fine without his tail, we can now distinguish him more easily from his equally black, furry brother (!) and his only difficulty is in being unable to easily convey his annoyance to other cats, leading to fisticuffs on occasion but nothing serious.

I suppose based on our experience I'm a little surprised that your vet hasn't been more, I don't know, attentive? I really hope you have had some good news today and wanted to let you know that these injuries are not always life-threatening.

Let us know how you get on.

Hello all, thank you for your thoughts.

Unfortunately not a happy outcome like yours Concrete. When she was x rayed this morning she had fractured a vertebra which was causing the tail paralysis, and also the loss of feeling to her bladder. Sadly she was put to sleep whilst under the anasthetic for the x ray.

It seems very empty here; she was only 18 mths old, and obviously hadn't developed a wariness of cars (I am assuming she was hit) - we live on a very quiet road, and she was always more of an indoor cat.

I have no issue with the vet; she really didn't seem that bad on Saturday, she was mobile and able to jump on chairs still. The vet thought it could be bad bruising, so that's why she wasn't x rayed until today. She remained reasonably mobile.

Oh I'm sorry :(

Very sorry to hear this

Oh Flibber, I'm very sorry to hear the news :(

so sorry to hear this.