kitty hit by car, vet grim but hope found here

[SimonMomma]

My kitty Simon just turned 1, 3 days ago and tonite all indications are he was hit by a car this evening.

We took him to emergency care when he came in moaning. His tail was limp and he was having difficulties with his back legs. He had not been missing for any time out of the ordinary. In fact, his x-rays showed him to have a full stomach. We feed him pretty close to 7PM and he came in around 9:30.

We viewed the x-rays alongside the vet and there's two problems. The less serious is that he has a fractured pelvis along with dislocation of the ball joint on one side. The more serious is he has a fracture (seen on the x-ray as a distinct separation) at the 1st sacrocaudal vertebra. His tail is completely flaccid and shows no signs of having any feeling.

He's staying with the vet overnight and through tomorrow at least. They are giving him pain medications, IV fluids and will be putting a litterbox in with him for diagnosis, from what I'm understanding it's to see if he has the urge to go. His bladder was empty at the time of the x-ray and we're hoping it's because he had recently evacuated.

The vet explained to us that the prognosis was not good due to the damage that has likely occurred to his cauda equina nerves. He brought up tail amputation and permanent incontinence.

So now I'm (finally) getting to my question(s):

First off, for me to make any kind of an informed decision, I need to know the questions I will need to ask of my vet. Some of the things I've researched these past 6 hours are things like whether or not he has any anal tone. This has not been mentioned by my vet as any indication of the degree to which he was injured but I found the Smeak and Olmstead study that uses this as part of their classification of this injury.

What other questions do I need to ask that I might not have found via the internet?

I guess this is my most pressing question. All others can wait until later diagnosis unless any of you out there can think of anything else.

[critters]

You CAN take care of him! Many people here have done it, including me. You'll want to read the sticky expressing articles on the incontinence bb, including poop on demand and diapers, just in case. Regardless of how bad it looks right now, he MAY eventually recover completely. My Buddy was HBC, was taken to the e.vet by the people in the car following behind, and was expressed by them for a week or 2. When I took him, he was still 100% paralyzed and 100% expressed. Over time, though, he recovered 100%. I'm now on SCI boys 2 and 3; Koi, boy 3, was shot in LA and hasn't had a full recovery. Still, he's a happy boy who loves his sibs.

[SimonMomma]

Spoke to hospital about half-hour ago. He has regained some mobility in his rear legs and when I asked about anal tone they said he does have some (as observed when taking his temperature). I find both to be very hopeful.

This is a great site which I bookmarked before I signed up. The vet thought we should give him a chance, I thought we should give him a chance and through this site I'm even more certain we were both right.

[Diana R.]

Absolutely hang in there with him. I also have a cat named Simon who is 7 years old---he was found under a trash dumpster by a man who questioned whether he should stomp on him. (I can only assume he thought he was putting him out of his misery because Simon has severe congenital deformities and paralyzed back legs. He is also incontinent and I also have to express him 3 times a day) The man did call someone and the took him to their vet. The vet decided to give him a chance rather than euthanize him and I am so glad I have him. He just passed his Delta Society/Denver Pet Partner evaluation (and with a perfect score) and now is a registered therapy pet. My cat Harley was believed to be hit by a car; his tail is also flaccid and he has to be expressed and never lets the other cats forget that he has no problem chasing (scooting) after them. So good luck to you and Simon but even if he does not regain full use of his legs, etc. He and you together can still have a wonderful life. Diana

[FYI]

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Conten ... ourceID=42

[SimonMomma]

Simon came home with us tonight. He peed in his litterbox at the vet on his own! We're still waiting for a bm.

He'll be confined to a cage for the next month while his pelvis heals. Is making his displeasure to that very well known to us. I'm sure he'll get used to it more or less.

Thanks for the help and support!!!

[critters]

You might want to have lactulose on hand, a sweet, yummy liquid prescription softener, because both the SCI and the broken pelvis may make it harder for him to push his poop out. Sounds GREAT so far!!!

[CarolC]

It does sound much better than expected considering there is separation. Is he urinating today? If you're like me and like to "prepare for the worst but hope for the best" I would suggest reading a few articles on feline megacolon. I agree, I would start him on lactulose now. Not only may there be a neurological deficit, but he is going to have very little exercise being crated, he has been on pain medication, and in addition he is in pain. These are all good reasons a cat might develop constipation. I would start the lactulose now, but start at a low dose the first day or two, a little bit goes a long way and you definitely want to measure it carefully with a syringe every time.

What are you doing for a litter box? Can he get in the box OK? We have some options for easy-entry litter boxes.

https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/?title=Litterbox_for_handicapped_pet

https://www.handicappedpets.com/mediawiki/index.php/Recessed_litterbox (this was awfully easy, all you have to do is cut foam)

[carocats]

Have had several rear-end/pelvic injured cats (plus experience w/ human spinal-cord injured), two w/ total paralysis of both back legs and tail, one of whom soon recovered fully (was 6 weeks old when injured by dogs) and got adopted (he did, however, suffer major urinary stone blockage about 2 years later and had to have two surgeries but then recovered and is fine); the other, Midori, a beautiful and very sweet little snowshoe Siamese mix, basically fully recovered in about 6-8 weeks -could walk/run and jump down from about 3 feet and land OK but not jump up, and had one leg that stuck out to one side - was adult about 3-4 years old when I got her and she had been injured at least two weeks earlier without intervening vet care - eventually lost her to intestinal lymphoma at 13 yrs. plus). Neither of these kitties had problems w/ urination/defecation when paralyzed, thank goodness, although the urinary blockage in the male and Midori's occasional urinary tract infections would tend to indicate that they retained small amounts of urine in bladder, predisposing them to infection more easily than cats who have never been injured. See Midori's pix at www.bemikitties.com/carocats/cats.html.

Another adult, Stevie, was not paralysed but had three pelvic fractures and both rear hips and a front leg dislocated - both back hips were successfully operated on, other injuries eventually healed and now, 6 yrs. later, you would not know this cat was left for dead by roadside after being dragged along some distance underneath a car, leaving most of his male equipment on the tarmac (our vet neutered him but said there wasn't much left to neuter). Miracle he survived it all. See his pix on listing under "Stevie" at carocats.petfinder.org.

Both cats got steroid shots, which I feel was very instrumental in their recovery (they give to human spinal-cord injured now); best results when done as soon as possible after injury. I also did range-of-motion exercises w/ their back legs (lay upside down and bend and push legs to stomach and straighten again as far as can be tolerated).

Sounds as though your kitty is progressing well - good luck for a full recovery.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

My son's cat had disappeared for days. I found her on my porch (on a 9 acre lot). She had a fractured pelvis ,and the 'surgery' doc performed was manual manipulation and a week's crate rest. This was back in the mid-90s, when there was no h-cap. She made a pretty good recover, despite the fact she looked out of alignment. She was amazing and made such a good recovery I had to tape her right front and left rear feet to keep her from climbing a tree and getting stuck on the roof which happened regularly. I had to borrow an expanding ladder each time to get her down. She was a pistol!

[critters]

Too funny! So you taped her feet so she couldn't get her claws out?