Cat still limping after 5 days.

[ItallwentwrongwhenBowieleft]

Has anyone ever come across anything like this?
Last Wednesday Mr T came home holding up his back rear leg, in a lot of pain, crying, hiding etc.
He does get into fights sometimes so I thought probably a bite.
Took him straight to vet who examined him, couldn’t feel anything wrong, said wasn’t broken, gave him a shot of Metacam & said to keep an eye on him.
After two days he was still not bearing any weight on the leg at all but otherwise happy, eating etc.
Took him back to vets Friday, saw a different one who did a very thorough exam of whole leg, paw, hip etc but said it all felt fine & Mr T wasn’t particularly reacting to pressure applied in any particular area.
Gave him some antibiotics to take with the metacam.
There’s been no improvement in the limp.
It’s been 5 days now & he’s still putting no weight on his leg at all & I’m getting really worried about him now.
I can’t believe something isn’t very wrong but vet insists it all feels fine.
Could a sprain, pulled muscle or something cause this?
Thanks in advance for any help, I’m so worried about him.

Feckin kitten got outside, possible fell from a window, was limping for over a week. Vet said nothing wrong and they were right, she decided to start walking normally after about 10 days.

That's really reassuring, thank you.
I've had cats for over 40 years & never known a 'limp' last more than a couple of days.

Ignore the limp, little sods are quite capable of faking it for attention.

I hope your cat is better by now!

I'm glad I came across this thread as we have pretty much the exact situation with my DCat. I found him limping on Sunday, no weight on one back leg. Took him to vet first thing yesterday who gave shot of antibiotics & anti-inflammatory/painkiller for us to give, £100 cost. He had first dose of that this morning.

He is still limping & not weight-bearing at all but will clean that leg & use it to itch briefly. Generally happy in himself, eating, drinking & cuddling as usual. Vet warned he may have an abscess we can't see, which may burst 😬

I can't help but worry. I just want him to be better & also cannot afford more vet fees until the latter end of the month! But will borrow if we have to, obviously.

Sadly he isn't better, took him back to the vets today as he wasn't really improving & this vet examined him thoroughly & said he's pretty sure his hip is dislocated, x rays tomorrow & probably operation to fix it.
Will cost about £2500 for X-rays & op.
I'm so angry & upset that the first 2 vets he saw dismissed my concerns about his hip & my request for x rays, now he's been walking on a dislocated hip for two weeks, which will make the op more complicated, let alone the discomfort he's been in.
I really hope your cat recovers soon and has no serious injury.

@Fluffycloudland77 Yes, good little actors!! We went away for a couple of days and when we got little girl cat looked all sorry for herself and was dragging her tail. It had a little kink in it and we thought it might be broken. So after some observation we took her (at great expense cos it was a Bank Holiday) to the vet, who admitted her overnight for obs, then the next day had an Xray done (no damage) administered anti inflammatories. After charging an arm and a leg we were allowed to take her home, where she skipped out of the carrier down the garden, carrying her tail as erect and perky as if the last two days were but a dream. That'll teach you to go away and leave me!!!

That is awful! Poor cat & what a shock to your bank balance!

Our cat is improving. He is now walking on all 4 legs again & swelling has gone down considerably. He is still limping a little though, so not letting him outside just yet.

@ItallwentwrongwhenBowieleft hips in cats can pop in and out once the ligament holding them has been torn.
Whilst a hip toggle is an excellent procedure 20 years ago we used to pop them in a cage with pain relief and rest would allow stabilisation of the hip to occur. If finances were tight I would still offer this.

@confusedofengland
So pleased your cat is so much better. What a relief for you.

@Lonecatwithkitten
Thank you for that info, we had wondered if he originally 'only' tore ligaments & the hip actually dislocated in the last few days as he seemed to be improving but then got worse again.
Would explain why the two original vets didn't detect the hip was dislocated.
The vet I saw yesterday said as it was dislocated two weeks ago would definitely need an op but I'm sort of hoping that it did only pop out in the last few days & may be easier to fix.
I guess I'll know soon, taking him for x-rays at 8.30.

The X-rays showed the hip was completely out of the socket & resting above it.
The vet tried to manipulate it back into place while he was under the anaesthetic for the X-rays but it just popped straight out again.
He's booked in to have the op to fix it this morning with strict cage rest afterwards, for at least 2 weeks, a daunting thought, never had to crate an injured cat before, I have images of two weeks of him crying & trying to get out of the cage.
I'm hoping that the metacam he'll be on afterwards will make him sleepy enough not to mind too much, but going to be hard for him once he's feeling a bit better.
I'm so worried about the op, will be waiting all day for the phone call to say it's done & he's fine.
Poor little boy's been through so much already.

Oh the poor thing. I hope it all goes well & he makes a full recovery.