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Hi,
My 3yo cat Hope, came home the other night with a sore hind leg. We took her the vet two days ago as it wasn't improving and the vet suspects she has nerve damage as she allows the top of her paw to be touched without reaction. She gave us Meloxicam 0.5 which we started to give her yesterday - .36ml once a day for seven days. However, before the first dose yesterday he leg appears to be worse. It seems like it keeps getting stuck if that makes sense. She tries to walk but sometimes the leg just won't work properly and it turns out a lot when she walks. She has however stopped dragging it. She was only dragging it occasionally but now she doesn't at all that I've noticed but it just gets getting stuck like how you would expect it to be after a really big sleep, stiff or something??? I don't know what to do. Do I take her to get xrays?? Will nerve damage even show up on xrays?? OR should I wait the two weeks the vet advised - she said that she would expect to see at least some improvement after a couple of weeks.
Anyway any help or advice is very welcome please. I am worried about my beautiful girl and don't want her to be in pain.
I have also read that this can be permanent?? What happens if it doesn't get better??
Thanks in advance.
I don't know what you mean by saying it's "stuck," but you're right--nerve damage won't show on xrays. There's no guarantee of improvement in 2 weeks, but chances are it'll get better, maybe even all the way better, eventually. Even if it doesn't, there are splints you can get. You could consider a splint now, to hold her leg in the position of function, but there's a good chance she won't need it later.
Meloxicam is an anti-inflammatory, and that's good.
Sorry it was hard to explain but when I say getting stuck I mean that her hind leg seems to get stuck in the up position as she walks as she has to push it, to be able to put it down again (it kinda seems ike a joint out of place or something but the vet didn't seem to think so??). I don't know if that explains it any better lol. Still no improvement today. In regards to a splint - would I then need to do exercises with that leg to make sure the muscle doesn't deteriorate or anything like that?? Not sure how quickly that happens but want to make sure I do absolutely everything possible to get her leg better. She is such an active little girl usually so I would hate for her to end up needing amputation or anything if that's preventable.
And finally a positive about Meloxicam, so many people have bad stuff to say about it, it was really worrying me but I didn't feel like I had a choice because th vet said it was really the best option. So thank you
I think I would want a more definite diagnosis. Possibly if the vet had been able to see your cat walk she might have been able to tell more. Could you maybe do a video of your cat walking and post it on Youtube and give the link to your vet to look at, or show it to her on your phone or something? Do you have the option of asking your vet for a referral to a specialty hospital for imaging or an orthopedic consult or whatever your regular vet recommends?
She saw her walk in the clinic and it was the fact that she occasionally dragged her back foot that made her believe that it was nerve damage as well as a couple of other things she did but I don't remember exactly what she said. She took her out the back to have a better look with a vet nurse holding her but I didn't see what they did back there. I asked for xrays but she said she didn't think it was necessary at this stage, that it was best to just see how she goes on the meloxicam and rest for about two weeks. I think I may go to see another vet and get xrays done to be sure nothing is broken or dislocated ect and maybe go from there. The vet said that if anything was dislocated she wouldn't put weight on it but she is a pretty tough little kitty so I don't know??
I have read some horrible stories on here where people have been given completely different opinions from different vets so I guess a second opinion won't hurt..
Thanks for your advice
Oh, but people and critters CAN put weight on stuff, even when it's broken, dislocated, etc. Admittedly they aren't very happy about weight on it early on. In fact, cats with dislocated hips can make a "false joint" out of scar tissue.
I don't know what you mean by saying it's "stuck," but you're right--nerve damage won't show on xrays. There's no guarantee of improvement in 2 weeks, but chances are it'll get better, maybe even all the way better, eventually. Even if it doesn't, there are splints you can get. You could consider a splint now, to hold her leg in the position of function, but there's a good chance she won't need it later.
