Cat losing balance

Please post questions about pets who are expected to undergo amputation or who have already undergone amputation here, as well as pets born with missing or incomplete limbs.
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Kayley23
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Joined: Mon Mar 06, 2017 4:22 pm

Cat losing balance

Post by Kayley23 »

Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me any advice. My almost 9 year old cat had her right hind leg amputated just over a month ago. At first she seemed OK-came running out to greet us when we went to pick her up from the vets! Had some times when she lost her balance but other times she could walk.

The last week or so however she seems to have gone back in her recovery. She has been able to jump onto furniture for a while & can still do this but she seems to be really struggling with the walking. She is just losing her balance all the time, she keeps leaning off to one side or going in circles & often she'll just give up & let her hind end just go down onto the floor & stay there. Sometimes when she's jumped down she gets stuck on her front legs with her back leg in the air & then falls. I don't understand why she is able to jump but is having so much trouble walking. She has tried to scratch her ear a couple of times & I see her stump twitching-could she have a phantom limb? She walked better at the start.

What have been other people's experiences? In what sort of time-scale did your cats walk again? I'm finding this really distressing as was expecting her to be doing better by now not going backwards. She was a very outdoor cat before & sometimes asks to go out. She seems quite frustrated at times & bored. I fear she will get depressed. I have been playing with her a bit every day but don't know what else to do or how to encourage her to walk.
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critters
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Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2001 7:00 pm

Re: Cat losing balance

Post by critters »

Kayley23 wrote:Hi, I wonder if anyone can give me any advice. My almost 9 year old cat had her right hind leg amputated just over a month ago. At first she seemed OK-came running out to greet us when we went to pick her up from the vets! Had some times when she lost her balance but other times she could walk.

The last week or so however she seems to have gone back in her recovery. She has been able to jump onto furniture for a while & can still do this but she seems to be really struggling with the walking. She is just losing her balance all the time, she keeps leaning off to one side or going in circles & often she'll just give up & let her hind end just go down onto the floor & stay there. Sometimes when she's jumped down she gets stuck on her front legs with her back leg in the air & then falls. I don't understand why she is able to jump but is having so much trouble walking.I wonder if perhaps she's overdone with the new ways of moving and is tired and/or sore. Babies don't usually have much trouble with amputation, but she's old, and adjustment will take her longer. It's also expected that she should have a harder time motoring on slipperier surfaces. She has tried to scratch her ear a couple of times & I see her stump twitching-could she have a phantom limb? This is normal and may continue forever as a habit. She has to figure out a new way to scratch, but she's done it that way for 9 years. Some continue to do that their whole lives.She walked better at the start.

What have been other people's experiences? In what sort of time-scale did your cats walk again? I'm finding this really distressing as was expecting her to be doing better by now not going backwards. She was a very outdoor cat before & sometimes asks to go out. She seems quite frustrated at times & bored. I fear she will get depressed. They don't usually. Frustrated, yes, but cats usually just find a way to do what they want to do.I have been playing with her a bit every day but don't know what else to do or how to encourage her to walk.
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