Injured kitty found...

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joulibabes
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Joined: Mon May 30, 2016 10:56 pm

Injured kitty found...

Post by joulibabes »

Background: I'm an RN and we have three indoor and one indoor/outdoor kitty. Two days ago, my son's friend found an injured kitty. When he posted on Facebook about it, I offered to help and he brought her over. It was obvious to me that kitty had some sort of spinal injury so my hubby and I took her to the vet. Because the people who found her gave her tylenol (!) for pain medicine, we held off on xrays until we knew if she'd survive the night. She pulled through with flying colors and xrays showed a fracture with compression of the spinal cord. She is able to feel her hind legs but not move them, and seems to have little if no control of her tail.

The vet said it was likely she wouldn't be able to urinate or defecate on her own. This seems to be accurate. She has not gone potty on her own since her accident. I manually expressed urine from her this evening, but am unsure about how to manually express feces from a cat.

She's eating and drinking, she purrs and loves on anyone close enough for her to rub her head against. She also keeps trying to play though we discourage that because we don't want to exacerbate her injury. This evening she started pulling herself around the room by her front feet. Should I be forcing her to stay in a larger carrier so she can't move around? She just cries if we leave her in there. :(

Is there anything I should be doing for her that I'm not aware of? I've never taken care of a paralyzed animal before. I'm up for it... we already have an epileptic kitty who has special needs. I just want to make sure she is as safe and healthy as I can. Thoughts?
-Terra
PS: I've been attempting to find the kitty's owners, posting all over online and at our local shelter. No one is claiming her. I'm afraid if someone does, they'll have her put to sleep... my hubby said after almost $500 that she is ours now. :)
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The kitty just before going to the vet.
The kitty just before going to the vet.
Her xray.
Her xray.
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critters
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Re: Injured kitty found...

Post by critters »

:whale: What a pretty little tortie girl! :wub:

There's a very good chance that she'll get at least partial functioning back eventually. Is she taking pred? I'd insist on it. Keep expressing. With my Buddy, I'd be expressing, and the poop would come out before the pee; there's not much room in there, and that was an indicator that pee would soon be coming! I'd try to keep her quiet a little bit longer, because 2 days isn't very long. Cats DO recover quickly, and you won't be able to keep her down for but maybe 2 weeks (and maybe not that!). The biggest things to watch for would be UTIs and skin breakdown--decubes, dragging ulcers, etc. Is she taking an antibiotic to prevent UTI while you're learning to express? That's probably not critical, but it's frequently done.

From the picture, it looks like she may have a bit of muscle tone in her legs (she doesn't have the frog or doll posturing that many critters with SCI have), so that's a good thing.

I agree with your hubby. I'd be VERY concerned about giving her up. :thankyou: for taking her!
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critters
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Re: Injured kitty found...

Post by critters »

PS--You might want to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatsWithParalysis/ . I don't belong anymore because they don't do dissenting opinions well, but you will probably get some useful information.
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CarolC
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Re: Injured kitty found...

Post by CarolC »

joulibabes wrote: am unsure about how to manually express feces from a cat.
Here is the way that works for me. Form your hand into a U-shape with thumb and fingers and reach up under the belly. Your palm will be on the belly and your thumb and fingertips will be up closer to the spine. Kitties have very pliable squooshy tummies if they are not overweight, so you can feel what's inside pretty well. Locate the colon, which may feel surprisingly firm, almost like a stick or bone if the feces are packed or dry. If you gently squeeze the colon with a little wiggling motion of your fingertips, you will find you can break up the long line of stool inside the colon so it is shorter pieces. This sort of motion will mobilize some of the stool toward the exit. Either visually check or palpate around the anus and you will be able to feel if there is some stool ready to come out. Use your fingertips to press in about an inch either side of the anus, then squeeze, and you will be able to pop out the leading end of the stool. Then massage the colon some more and repeat.

If she seems to be constipated and the stool quality seems a little too firm or dry, ask the vet about lactulose syrup or Miralax, they are non-habit forming stool softeners that can be used long term.

There are some video demonstrations at the end of this article:

viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18586
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