Meet the Other Phone. Child-safe in minutes.

Meet the Other Phone.
Child-safe in minutes.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

The litter tray

Join our community of cat lovers on the Mumsnet Cat forum for kitten advice and help with cat behaviour.

What on earth happened to my cat!? Help!

52 replies

OohRahhMaki123 · 12/03/2022 11:07

So I have a 4 year old moggy who is a tiny wee thing but full of beans. She usually goes out early evening but always is back by 10ish to come up to bed with me.

The night before last (Thursday night to Friday morning) she didn't come up to bed, so I left the downstairs window open for her. I checked in the morning and she still wasn't home.

Mid-morning I see her run up the path to the house. Her gait was odd and when she came in she was clearly frightened. She went straight to her chair in my office and stayed put all day.

I was a little worried but figured she would be fine after a nap.

All last night she seemed spaced out, walking as if in slow motion. She had big, round eyes, even when curled up (i.e. not sleepy or blinky eyes) - Sorry my descriptions are crap.

She also started weeing outside of her litter tray. She also wee'd when my partner picked her up. She has never had accidents before now so this was very strange.

Her gait is odd, she is low and slinky. We noticed her tail was limp and her breathing was shallow and fast when she climbed up onto me.

We called the vet and got an emergency appt for this morning. My partner has taken her now and is waiting on X ray.

She is my little buddy and I'm stuck at home going out of my mind with worry. I was hoping that someone had any idea what could have happened or if anyone had any previous experience of this?

OP posts:
OohRahhMaki123 · 12/03/2022 12:27

@WellNotReally

I hope she's ok, everything crossed. Did you notice her claws at all? Often when cats have been hit by cars their claws look scuffed/splintered.
She was missing a claw on one of her back legs. The rest didn't look too scuffed up.
OP posts:
Okeydoky · 12/03/2022 12:27

Fingers crossed for you x

OohRahhMaki123 · 12/03/2022 12:28

@RockinHorseShit

Obviously not thoroughly enoughBlush... friggin migraines doing me in & has text dancing around 🤪

Sorry OP, really glad you got a prompt vet appointment. 🤞🤞🤞 for your cat.

Our Tom cat did survive something similar & he's fine 10 years later with a change to urinary support food

Thank you - I'm glad to hear your boy was well. Fingers, toes and everything crossed our wee girl will be fine too.
OP posts:
Theunamedcat · 12/03/2022 12:30

Paws crossed for you

OohRahhMaki123 · 12/03/2022 12:53

Vet has called and want to do a chest Xray as well as abdominal. Does anyone know why this would be?

OP posts:
FourOclock · 12/03/2022 13:05

To check the lungs maybe if shallow breathing?

RockinHorseShit · 12/03/2022 13:43

I'd guess from that they suspect she's been hit by a car & are looking for damage from that such as broken ribs etc. This was what our vet did when we had a cat hit by a Carl

🤞🤞🤞

RockinHorseShit · 12/03/2022 13:43

Car. I'm sure Carl had nothing to do with it Blush

ColMustardInTheLibrary · 12/03/2022 13:51

That bloody Carl!! Grin

fairylightsandwaxmelts · 12/03/2022 16:09

@OohRahhMaki123

Vet has called and want to do a chest Xray as well as abdominal. Does anyone know why this would be?
To check for organ damage/fluid/bleeding I suspect.

I hope she's okay Flowers

Cleebope2 · 12/03/2022 16:13

Poor wee thing. Hoping she gets better.

SirVixofVixHall · 12/03/2022 16:16

Agree car. I am amazed your vet told you to wait until today, as her symptoms clearly needed immediate vet attention.
I hope she pulls through.

OohRahhMaki123 · 12/03/2022 21:31

Thank you for the messages.
Confirmed nerve damage which means she cannot wee or poo without assistance. :( Might be temporary, might be permanent.

She is back home now and we will wait to see whether she begins to recover.

OP posts:
RedSquirrelRoar · 12/03/2022 22:25

Our cat had similar symptoms once - looking generally unwell, walking funny, limp tail, peeing/pooing out of litter tray. Vet thought clipped by a car or had a fall - nothing was broken but a lot of bruising. She made a full recovery within a week or two - fingers crossed it will be the same for yours.

NiceTwin · 13/03/2022 09:24

Hope there is some improvement this morning @OohRahhMaki123.

OohRahhMaki123 · 13/03/2022 11:23

Thanks for your message @NiceTwin

She is much perkier this morning. She is complaining that I haven't let her out for her morning wander and has gobbled down her food which is so heartening to see!

We've manually helped her to wee and know how to manage this now so she's in less discomfort.

Apparently if she doesn't recover within 2-4 weeks she wont recover. So we will do everything we can to make sure she has the best month, and the best chances of recovery.

OP posts:
OohRahhMaki123 · 13/03/2022 11:24

@RedSquirrelRoar - That is so heartening to hear! Thank you I definitely needed a positive story this morning.

OP posts:
CinnabarRed · 13/03/2022 11:28

One of mine was clipped by a car, and did make almost a full recovery over the course of a couple of weeks. The only thing not quite right is her tail, which she can’t raise properly - but as she lifts it well clear of the ground the vet didn’t need to amputate.

Motnight · 13/03/2022 11:52

I hope that she recovers Op.

Gatekeeper · 31/03/2022 10:19

any update @OohRahhMaki123 ? Hope all is well

Yoyokitten · 31/03/2022 13:33

I was wondering too how your cat is. Hope she's well on the way to recovery now.

OohRahhMaki123 · 31/03/2022 16:16

Hi @Gatekeeper and @Yoyokitten I appreciate you checking in!

Overall things have been really well with my wee pal. She has regained function of her bladder and bowel which was the main concern. Back legs and general mobility are now fine too.

Bad news is that her tail is likely paralysed. She has no feeling in it and can't move it at all. We are waiting to go back for the check up at the vets to get the final recommendation on whether it needs to be amputated as it drags and gets knocked when she is jumping up or down.

My friend has recommended a cat acupuncturist (who knew!) so I'm going to have a consultation before we do anything too drastic. Normally I don't go in for alternate medicines etc, but I'm willing to chuck the kitchen sink at it if it works!

The whole thing really shook me. But if someone had said that we'd get our lovely girl back sans tail when I first posted above, I'd have bitten their hand off. So, I'm trying to stay positive and just spoil her rotten! Grin

OP posts:
thecatneuterer · 31/03/2022 16:25

Oh bless her. I'm glad there is nothing too serious. Lots of cats lose their tails and it doesn't seem to make a difference to them (I'm sure it does in some way, otherwise why would tails exist?, but it's not a noticeable effect).

IsThisNameTaken · 31/03/2022 16:37

Pleased to hear she's on the mend. We had a cat with a paralysed tail, vet said they would have to amputate if he didn't keep it clean but luckily he did and so just lived with a floppy tail. Fingers crossed for you - although losing a tail isn't bad in the scheme of things.

PancakePenelope · 31/03/2022 16:46

OP I am really glad that your cat seems to be on the mend ❤️‍🩹 Please don't chuck the kitchen sink at it though, poor thing it hardly seems fair!
Sorry 🤦‍♀️ I had to say it

Swipe left for the next trending thread