Limping cat

[Itmustbewinetimenow]

hi, advice please. On Wednesday we noticed that our nine year old cat was limping. Otherwise okay. She bit my husband when he touched her ( she’s normally so placid) we took her to the vet who examined her. Vet said no obvious breaks or infection . Likely to be soft tissue. She also didn’t react to the vet touching her.

we went away for a long weekend with a neighbour feeding her. She ate as much as normal. We are came back today and she’s still limping. She can jump on our knee and is still eating. Obviously a visit to the vets is very stressful for cats so I want to avoid if possible. However how long do we leave it before I ring the vets?

Can she play? Or is it all the time

Does she have any torn or damaged claws on that leg?

Is it a constant limp or after she's been jumping/running?

At her age, it could be that she has a bit of arthritis - there's plenty of things which can be done (supplements, painkillers) but I'd want a vet to confirm a diagnosis first before starting treatment.

I think as it's been nearly a week and she's no better, I would take her back and ask for further investigations.

Thanks all. She does sort of play ( she brought a baby mouse back and woke me up with her usual look how clever I am meow ) which is why we went away. She’s pretty hard core in her playing ( hide and seek, upside down rough play with hubby) so we have been careful. …. She’s a Siamese .

vet checked for further damage
She’s much better today so we will play it by ear.

Which paw was she limping on, its not a case of the sore front paw syndrome is it, oriental cats are famed for it, ours limped on her front paw whenever she had been left alone or felt neglected. Did yours limp when you were away, did the neighbour notice anything.

She’s not faking it to get attention is she? They can do that because cats are evil geniuses!

I don’t think she was faking, unless she is psychic as this started before we went away. She’s better now. Maybe just a sprain. She’s forgetting she’s nine and not nine months anymore maybe .

thanks for your replies.

Funny you should say that, cats are a bit woo like that. I was listening to a podcast recently about the power of watching people on cctv to stop them shoplifting and they segued into cat owners making vet appts but cancelling because the cats vanished. The researchers surveyed 65 vet practices asking about cat cancellations. 64 said it’s a huge problem and one said we don’t make cats appointments anymore, if the owner can wrangle it into a basket they just come and wait.

She may be psychic!

My cat limps occasionally. Whenever I have taken her to the vet for it she swaggers around like she’s on a catwalk, miraculously recovered. They’re so odd.

My cat started to limp due to hip fractures which were only picked up by x-ray. Just to mention it. Hopefully it's not as serious for your cat.