What's wrong with my cat?

[fromthechandelier]

Two weeks ago I got up to discover my lovely little cat suddenly wasn't able to walk for an unknown reason. Long story short, vet established she had been attacked by another cat, as she had bite marks on her back. She'd lost her collar and had a laceration under her left front armpit. We can only assume while running away she got caught on something and the collar (which was an easy release one) didn't release as quickly as it should have.

Vet did x-rays, didn't find anything broken. Cat has been on bed rest since, wounds have healed fine but she is very reluctant to use her front left leg again. She can put a little weight on it when she has to jump, and when she makes biscuits, but the rest of the time she won't use it. She even sits funny with it underneath her (as in the photo).

The vet says without super expensive CT scans they won't know anything more about the damage (and even those won't guarantee an answer). Cat is granted supervised outdoor time as she was getting stressed being stuck indoors, so we have been taking her out a couple of times a day for a short while. The rest of the time she is in a quiet room with us away from her sister. So far she hasn't improved with walking on her lame leg. There's no swelling or anything visual that indicates a problem.

Any ideas? I have thought about getting a second vet's opinions, and the expensive CT scans are not affordable really, plus she's not insured. But I really want her to be well. Thank you

Poor little cat. Could it be dislocated at the shoulder? Needs more investigation I’d think as that’s not a normal way to sit. Show the vet that photo and get her back in. Poor cat. Looks painful.

I think you need to get her checked again and by a different vet if you think the first one has missed someone or won’t look again.

One of my cats was paralysed after a probable stroke and it’s possible something else happened as well as the attack by another cat or animal, possibly from the stress.

Hopefully she is much better soon.

Poor puss.
Wouldn’t a dislocation have shown up on the xray?
Our DCat had a similar problem recently but with a back leg; again, unusual position on sitting, limping but also jumping up onto the kitchen counter when she thought there was chicken there (normally forbidden, but useful in this instance!).
Like yours, X-rays showed nothing.
We gave her Metacam for 5 days, plus as close to bed rest as you can for a cat, and she improved a great deal. Three weeks later all is fine.
We (inc vet) assumed a soft tissue injury that healed itself over time.

Best wishes to you and your kitty

Thanks all for commenting so quickly! Dislocation has been ruled out at both shoulder and elbow by the vet. We've been keeping them informed with photos and videos (sadly I can't add the videos here) and she's been in three times but they still don't know. She's on Gabapentin for pain relief as the other medication they gave her (can't remember the name) gave her the runs.

I’d definitely want to get her back in for further investigation based on that photo and her not wanting to put much weight on it - are you eligible for any financial support like PDSA if the scans are expensive and no insurance? Do you have a follow up scheduled with the vet?

No sadly not eligible for any financial support. Follow up phonecall is scheduled on Monday - cat also gets stressed going to the vet so thought that would be less of an ordeal for her. Think I might have to insist on bringing her back in.

She's such a pretty cat, I love torties, I'm sorry to hear about her injuries.

Further investigations would be useful but you've said you can't afford that.

One of my cats recently had an accident causing a serious soft tissue injury to his hind leg. Our regular vet did x rays, nothing broken, and said it was serious ligament damage beyond his ability to treat. He was referred to a specialist for scans and surgery (a Supervet type of place). Even the specialist was unsure if he could successfully treat it, but he did some very expensive surgery and we are waiting to see if it will work out long term. My cat is insured but the cost exceeded the premium limit and we had to pay the rest.

If you can't pay for further expensive treatment, having a scan will probably be for information purposes only - they may be able to tell you if her leg will heal on its own in time, although they may be unsure. Having watched the Supervet on Channel 4 I was optimistic they can mend anything nowadays - but they can't. Not even for £££.

We were referred to a specialist/Supervet type place with our previous cat after tests/scans at our own vet. (Completely different ailment, nothing like your car.) Sadly the news we got was the very worst, and if we hadn’t had insurance it was thousands of pounds to get that terrible news. Throughout the whole thing I found the most useful question was “if this was your cat, what would you do?” - might that be worth asking if you haven’t, OP?

@Judystilldreamsofhorses I'm so sorry to hear about your cat.

We were in two minds about going ahead with the Supervet process, because there is always the risk that you put your cat through all that, pay a lot of money, and end up with no cat at the end of it. It is such a hard decision to make.

Thank you. We would have had the same outcome regardless, so I am glad we were able to do right by her and make sure she didn’t suffer. Totally different situation though. We’d had her back and forth to our vet numerous times for puking over about six months and because she was otherwise so “well” and tests (bloods, X-rays, ultrasound) showed nothing it was just put down to hairballs. I eventually pushed and even the fancy-ass specialist vet said she expected it was IBS type thing when DP dropped her off there for their tests. When I got a call a few hours later to say they had found a mass in her stomach and could they do even more tests I couldn’t believe it. She actually had aggressive large cell lymphoma but had none of the typical presentation like weight loss, being off her food, slowing down in any way - it was a horrible shock. We were offered chemo to prolong her life but it was a (very) short term “fix” which she would have found really distressing. We let her go the following week, even though she was still wolfing her food and catching mice. She was only ten and the absolute best girl 🤍

We have a little boy cat now, and I had insurance in place for him before he’d even entered the premises!

Yes it allowed you to get a diagnosis, so you knew what you were dealing with.

Two of my cats died of lymphoma, my vet said it is fairly common cats.
Definitely worth getting insurance, my cat was under-insured but at least they paid for half of it.

Same - our vet said after roads and kidneys it’s the most common cause of death. I think it just caught us all off guard (vet included) because even on her very last day you would never have guessed she was remotely unwell other than the vomiting.