Help and advice needed — cat has tib/fib fracture!

[WittyOchreBird]

I am desperately hoping someone out there can give me some advice on how to support my poor cat, who has badly broken a hind leg. She's about to turn 6 so she's not elderly by any means.

On Monday morning she came in on three legs so we took her to the vet — there was only mild swelling and the vet couldn't feel anything obvious, so we agreed to take her home with painkillers and book an X-ray for Wednesday morning if she hadn't improved. She still wasn't weight bearing yesterday and there was a little more heat and swelling so we went ahead with the X-ray.

It turns out she has fractured both her tibia and fibula, right by the metatarsal joint, and there is also some mild displacement/dislocation. The scans have been sent off for review by an orthopaedic specialist and I'm expecting a call tomorrow to confirm next steps, but it'll likely be surgery. There are no external signs of injury so absolutely no idea how she's damaged herself so badly. The vet hasn't splinted it as he said she's doing a good job keeping it off the floor and he didn't want to further displace it.

The good news is she's insured, and she's a very happy sociable cat who is still rolling around on the floor asking to be stroked despite the leg break. I am 100% remote with my work so in theory I can spend lots of time at home with her.

The challenges:

• She's a cat, so she's obsessed with climbing and jumping everything in sight.
• We are supposed to be moving house at the end of the month so there was already significant stress coming up for her. Moving her with a cast feels so cruel but this move has been 9 months in the making, we're the middle of a chain, and I can't delay it another month.
• I have numerous conferences this month — it's the busiest I'll be all year — so I can't be home as much as usual, and my partner is in the emergency services so he's also out some days too.
• She's a fussy eater and I have no idea how to get pain meds down her — the thought of wrapping her in a towel and forcing pills down her throat kills me given she'll be trying to fight me off with a broken hind leg :( She changes her mind daily on what she likes to eat and has a sixth sense for 'poisoned' food with ground-up pills.
• We have a fairly small house so I can't create a safe room with nothing for her to jump on / off, as there's nowhere to put the furniture. She is still leaping onto the back of chairs when we're not looking, so we have to keep picking her up and putting her on the ground again.
• She has a sister who is temperamentally the opposite — skittish, nervous, impossible to do anything with. They tolerate each other but if possible I need to keep them separated and the sister

I guess my questions / where I'm hoping some lovely people can advise, are:

• Any recommendations for delicious snacks or treats to mix in with pain meds? Or tips on getting pills down every 8 hours?
• Those of you who can't wfh, how did you manage the middle of the day dose? I can ask my usual catsitter but it's a lot to expect if she is still refusing poisoned food
• Has anyone tried crating their cat during the day? Most crates have bars / cages which I don't want to use as I know she'll swing off the top and land on the leg. I'm also a big believer that a stressed cat won't heal as well — she's never been crated, always stayed at home, and I'm very reluctant to cage her if I can possibly avoid it. I ordered a ramp that's bed-height, so my current plan when no one is home is to lock her in our bedroom (her favourite room) with a ramp onto the bed, a litter tray and food/water. Any better ideas?!
• Any tips / advice on surgery recovery? Has anyone's cat had a similar injury and bounced back?

I'm sorry this is long — I love this cat to pieces so if there's anything anyone can advise it would be very gratefully received!

I’m a vet as name suggests. This sounds surgical to me for best results, and very unlikely to have a cast. She will need confining post op and we usually recommend a crate, it’s amazing how well they adapt. It’s very likely she might only need liquid pain relief post op, and most cats take this well in food. If not try Lick e lix as that is very palatable.

And finally, she’s a cat, they are amazing healers! Good luck to you both.

My boy had the head of his femur removed after being hit by a car

He was crated, in one of those dog crates. He was fine, grumpy but fine. He'll need to have his movement restricted until the leg is healed or the cat risks permanent yet unnecessary disability. Make the cage comfy with a nice bed, a litter tray and maybe leave a radio or tv on for company?

Pain med is likely to be a liquid and those sachets of cat soups are great to hide the med in. Normally needed once a day.

I have a photo of my boy, fur still short and shorn from where he had the op, dragging a massive rat that he had killed on one of his first trips outside (farm nearby).【 No signs of the injury now at all, except sometimes, he'll sit with the leg hanging in an odd position.

As the other PP's have said, the pain meds are likely to be Metacam or Loxicom which are liquid. Neither of them taste of anything. I'd try mixing them in Lick-E-Lix, most cats love the stuff. (Of course, you get the odd awkward so and so that doesn't!). You could also try mixing it with slightly tepid chicken, tuna or ham, or whatever is a favourite treat.

You could also use a large dog crate for containing her, especially around the move time. Most cats actually take quite well to being contained in one. I'd keep her in a different room to her sister though so as not to agitate her. A quiet bedroom or somewhere she won't see a lot to wind her up and with the pain meds, she may well sleep quite a lot.

Failing that, you kind of just have to let her get on with it, cats are far better than dogs at still being crazy, yet still healing!

Ps. Don't forget the cat tax you have to pay for asking for advice... 😉😍

Thank you so much, this is really helpful! I'm going to stop off at Pets At Home on my way home after work today so will see what crate options they have, and get some sachets. She was okay with the liquid pain relief we had before the break was confirmed, so fingers crossed that stays the case!

Thank you for this 🙏 It's very reassuring to know he coped and recovered — and was back killing rats so quickly, impressive work!! I shall stock up on cat soup and give the crate a go.

Great advice, thank you! It's really reassuring to hear (so far) unanimous agreement that she'll cope better than I'm imagining with being confined!

Ahhh how could I forget the tax!! Here she is dropping a very subtle hint, the sort that only an expert would pick up on, that it's time for me to finish work and give her some attention.

Poor cat! She looks adorable. I was also coming on to suggest Lick-e-lix - ours is a complete diva with multiple red flags on her vet record for bad behaviour and we managed to get daily steroids down her this way. She would never have eaten it in normal food.

I had to crate one of mine following surgery on a leg, she was fine, just a bit clingy and took the liquid meds quite well.

As others have said pain relief is liquid.

my cat was run over and had a spiral fracture of the front leg.
we got her home after the operation and she decided she was NOT going to be confined and left the house at speed!
took a while to recapture her!

after that we gave up on crating and just kept her in the house.

Fab, thank you! Lick-e-lix are on the list 👌

Oh my gosh that must've been so stressful!! We're in a first floor maisonette with a front door then a second door at the top of the stairs so will be operating a sort of airlock system to prevent escapes... God help us when we move — the injured cat wouldn't go far but her sister would be in the outer Hebrides by nightfall 😬

Have a look on Facebook Marketplace or Freecycle for a crate, there are often people giving them away free or selling very cheap.

Get some small catnip toys and Silvervine sticks, they are low level activity to keep them occupied and a bit zonked out. A flat scratcher as well for some clawing and a comfy bed and blankie. Perhaps some puppy pads in case she can't make the litter tray for a few days.

Be prepared for possibility of cat needing a full amputation, depending on the severity of the injury. TempCat's sister has just had to have this done as her injury was to her paw and foot joint and surgery would have been very complex on tiny shattered bones and have involved an external frame, months of crate rest and ongoing pain relief, and could still result in amputation it the pins etc didn't take. Cats do fine on three legs and you can do some home adaptations to get them on and off sofas/ beds/windowsills etc.

TempCat is also a princess regarding any additives to food and in the weirdo club who doesn't like Lix-e-lix so I dread him ever needing medication, so I understand your worries!

Hi there OP, much sympathy to you and your lovely DCat. I’m another one who’s had a cat on cage rest - mine broke her pelvis, had surgery to pin it back together and spent 2 months on cage rest and another 6 weeks confined to the house. She’s also a tuxedo lunatic. We all got through it - she’s right as rain now, never know she’d hurt herself.

I have a thread on here about entertaining a cat on cage rest, but in essence, as others have said, they do settle down eventually, and the guilt is definitely harder for the owner than the confinement for the cat I think. I definitely couldn’t have left mine alone in a room early on without her getting up to all manner of mischief. She laughed in the face of all the veterinary guidance basically. She did swing from the cage bars, but covering it with a blanket and/or large pieces of cardboard both calms them down and makes it harder to climb. You might also actually find the move is less stressful for her if she has the cage as a familiar and safe surrounding.

Sending good wishes to you and your cat - it’s horribly stressful and dealing with this and a house move would test anyone.

Here’s mine swinging from the bars about 3 weeks after surgery! CatTV on the laptop and a duvet to cover the cage at night (draughty old house, winter).

Thank you for all your advice ❤Puppy pads is a great shout — she normally travels well in the car but since doing this injury she's peed in the carrier both times we took her in. I think the pain of trying to balance and the stress of moving is too much :(

The vet just called and the recommendation is for pantarsal arthrodesis which I understand means fusing the joint. The other option was more scans and potentially pins (external and internal) but they said given the choice, the option we're going with has a better prognosis. I was braced for amputation to be on the table but no mention of that — I know it may yet be on the table though.

I love the photo and I'd never heard of Cat TV — that's going straight on the ipad! Thank you for the well wishes, it's much appreciated — as my stepdad has just pointed out, with an injury this bad thank God she made it home as it could have been worse. I am very grateful she's okay and we're in a position to have options!

this is an amazing photo, so many things going on, thanks for sharing!