Kitten with Radial and Ulnar Nerve Damage - Water Bowl Issue

[thecatsmeowth]

About a month ago we adopted a kitten that was thrown from a car, which damaged his brachial plexus (radial and ulnar nerve damage). Initially he had no function in the entire front leg, but has regained most function except for the wrist and paw. While he tries to use it, he cannot control the way the paw twists and so instead of the paw pads touching the ground, it twists and he'll walk on his wrist. After one infection, we've had to keep it continuously splinted/wrapped. A few weeks ago we purchased a brace for him (orthovet) and while we've had to continue to wrap his leg as he grows into it, it's working great! When we take it off, he tries to walk with the paw pad touching the ground, though he often ends up doing a "tip toe" sort of walk.

My main concern is that this week he's started to throw his "bad" leg into the water bowl (whether it's wrapped or in the brace). We cannot tell if this is his way of telling us he doesn't want to wear anything on the leg or if he just enjoys the sensation of water on his leg (as the entire leg was paralyzed at one point, it's safe to assume that he doesn't have complete feeling even further up the leg). This has created a huge hygenic issue, especially when he gets in the litter box with the wet brace. Not only is it time consuming to clean and rewrap him multiple times a day, but he's at an increased risk for infections. His wrist has healed from the previous infection, but still hairless and easily irritatible. I've tried to find a brace cover for him after reading a sucess story from handicappedpets.com, but can't seem to find any for cats (only for humans). I can't even find a picture to see if it's something that would work for him.

Right now we're on "water rations" where the water bowls are put out of his range (so our other cats can at least get to them) and we put them down periodically for supervised drinking. We also have two dogs who have to follow this ration, which makes the situation more inconvenient (spare water bowl outside for them, but they are mostly indoor dogs). I feel pretty terrible denying them water, but haven't found another solution. We've tried various bowls at various heights and nothing stops him. We haven't tried a fountain water bowl yet, but as it still pours into a dish that he can dunk his leg into, I don't think this will solve the problem anyways. So I guess my first question is has anyone else had this problem and what was your solution?

I'm also curious if there are better options to his leg treatment, other than amputation. I'm new to the forum and haven't explored too deeply yet, so I haven't seen if there's a recommended company that might have a brace that would be better for him. We've also considered that amputation may be the best for him as far as quality of life, but it's hard to judge as we know no other cats like this. I worked in my vet clinic for almost 10 years, so I have an excellent connection, but no one in the practice (including clients) have had any pet with a similar disability (other than a chihuahua with a $1k custom brace who doesn't seem to have any behavior issues).

Thanks everyone!

[CarolC]

I'm hoping someone else will have better ideas, but the litter box problem could be solved by changing the box(es) to Yesterday's News, it does not clump.
However, you still don't want him with a wet foot, he's going to get ringworm.
Waiting to see what others suggest....

[thecatsmeowth]

While it doesn't clump like standard litter, yesterdays news still crumbles and pieces would cling to a wet brace, getting under the paw and causing the same problems as standard litter. While I don't know what it's called in stores, at my vet clinic we always used these little charcoal pieces of litter that didn't stick to anything wet (used for monitoring urine output mostly). But with a wet brace he could still get pieces stuck under the paw, which could cause sores. With a dry brace, he oddly enough doesn't seem to get any litter stuck in the brace as it's so small it slides right back out. I've watched him dig for minutes in a fresh box, jump out and after two shakes and a quick lick, all the litter is gone. I changed the brace right after to confirm that nothing was getting stuck. I was concerned in the beginning that with an open brace rather than a boot he would be getting a lot of junk trapped.

We're thinking about just buying a fountain water bowl, then making our own cover for it that allows only the stream of water back in rather than paws. I'm surprised that no other people have had any similar problems though.

[critters]

Hmm. I have dippers and have had splint-ers but never the 2 together!

I certainly wouldn't amputate at this point. In my experience the nerves may well improve to as-good-as-new! We've used the splints from Handicapped Pets several times, and I REALLY like them. I don't know who makes them for HP.

If you use some sort of cover, like a Baggie, it would make the splint slip. I wonder if you could have a vinyl cover bag made with a commercial/heavy duty sewing machine, seal the seams with caulk or silicone, and put the caulk/silicone on the bottom to prevent slippage. http://tammyandteddys.com/ makes shoes, even custom shoes, which are typically non-skid. I'm not sure about waterproof, and I've never used them WITH splints.

[thecatsmeowth]

We were just thinking this morning that something like a large water balloon might work. Stretchy so it wouldn't slip off the brace and waterproof so unless he dunked the leg in past the brace point, he wouldn't get wet. (Worried that anything above the brace line would cut off his circulation, other than just normal wrap/tape). Right now he's been doing well with supervised water time (though I'll let him be unsupervised when just in a wrap, no brace, giving him a chance to also clean his foot more). We tried a baggy, but that was way too much fun and after a few laps around the house he had shredded the bottom and nipped holes in the toes. If we can find some good waterproof material I think we could make a bootie for him to go over the brace.

The current issue is him damaging himself as he can't feel pain in the wrist/paw. Wrapping his wrist seems to protect it pretty well, but now he's hurting his toes. I thought he had ripped a nail out Saturday night as there was a significant hole in his foot and so much blood. After cleaning it, I found the nail, but it appears that somehow the nail rubbed the skin too much, causing the hole. I've been concerned about infection as it had an odor, but no other signs, so I've just been cleaning and rewrapping as much as I can. He's so active though that he kept reopening the wound. I was ready to amputate yesterday (figure two wounds and possibly two infections in a month was not a good sign for the rest of his life and if we do amputate we want to do it when he's young and can adapt easier). Well he must have heard me and decided to calm down a bit. When I checked him after waking up, not only was his leg still properly in the brace (sometimes it twists a bit over the night if he's playing rough), but the toe looked beautiful and had almost healed completely. I gave him about an hour of water/no brace time and he didn't even dunk his paw in the water. It could all change by tomorrow, but I appreciated the small victory for now.

Thanks for everyone's input! I did check out tammyandteddys, and might contact them to see if they do anything with cats (and waterproofing of course). His brace goes up to the elbow, though he only needs the support for the wrist and I wonder if they could make some sort of shoe for him. Then again, as he's a cat, the extra support might be needed just so he keeps it on. I can see a few strong cat kicks sending a shoe flying!

[FYI]

http://www.dogbootsactive.com/dogpag/dogboots.htm

[critters]

Yes, Tammy and Teddy's can do cats; they made loads of shoes for Koi. I TOLD them they needed to diversify their website, but they didn't listen!! They don't care about species, as far as I can tell.