Kitten hit across the back with a stick, can't move backlegs

[MogliBanda]

Last week we picked up a kitten, scared to death, unable to move its back legs and tail. Later we learned that he had been hit across his back with a stick.
We've been taking care of him since then and he seems to be happy and without pain. We are Dog owners and don't know anything about kittens and want to make sure we give little Mogli all the care he needs! Because he didn't pee or poop during the first when we found him, we started stimulating, and it seems to be working quite well. But every time he pees or poops he complains a lot, and I was wondering if that is normal, or if it might hurt him? He doesn't seem to have any feeling in his backlegs or tail, but everytime I stimulate, he pulls in his tail, and his backlegs move, it looks very uncontrolled, but that must mean that there is some sort of feeling or nerve connection there?
I am not sure how old he is, i am guessing something between 6-8 weeks. When we first found him his eyes were mostly blue, but in the last week they have almost changed completely to green.
I would love to take him to a vet, but we live on a little Island in Uganda, hours away from the mainland, so i thought i would seek for advice here first.
He really does seem to be quite happy, plays, eats, loves exploring everything around him, dragging his two back legs with him.
I am not sure what exactly i need to know, i guess i am just happy about every little bit of advice. Also since his backlegs do seem to show some sort of nerve connection, is there hope for him to walk again? And is there anything we can do, to increase the chances of a good recovery of Mogli?

Thank you so much in advance for your help, we really are pretty clueless at the moment when it comes to kittens!

[critters]

Last week we picked up a kitten, scared to death, unable to move its back legs and tail. Later we learned that he had been hit across his back with a stick.
We've been taking care of him since then and he seems to be happy and without pain. We are Dog owners and don't know anything about kittens and want to make sure we give little Mogli all the care he needs! Because he didn't pee or poop during the first when we found him, we started stimulating, and it seems to be working quite well. But every time he pees or poops he complains a lot, and I was wondering if that is normal, or if it might hurt him? It probably doesn't hurt, but cats tend to do that. He doesn't seem to have any feeling in his backlegs or tail, but everytime I stimulate, he pulls in his tail, and his backlegs move, it looks very uncontrolled, but that must mean that there is some sort of feeling or nerve connection there?I agree. If his spinal cord were severed, he'd probably be limp below the injury.
I am not sure how old he is, i am guessing something between 6-8 weeks. When we first found him his eyes were mostly blue, but in the last week they have almost changed completely to green.
I would love to take him to a vet, but we live on a little Island in Uganda, hours away from the mainland, so i thought i would seek for advice here first.
He really does seem to be quite happy, plays, eats, loves exploring everything around him, dragging his two back legs with him. Watch for skin breakdown from dragging. It can be very hard to heal. You may need to confine him for a little while in a dog crate or the like.
I am not sure what exactly i need to know, i guess i am just happy about every little bit of advice. Also since his backlegs do seem to show some sort of nerve connection, is there hope for him to walk again? I would absolutely say yes! And is there anything we can do, to increase the chances of a good recovery of Mogli?If possible, I'd try to get him some prednisone. It might help his spinal cord recover faster.


Thank you so much in advance for your help, we really are pretty clueless at the moment when it comes to kittens!I think you're fine, kitten or not.

for taking this baby in and for caring about, and for, him!!

If you do Facebook, you might want to join https://www.facebook.com/groups/CatsWithParalysis/ .

[MogliBanda]

Thank you so much for your fast answer. It has given us some hope for our little boy! We do keep him in a big basket most of the time, with water, a towel to sleep on and some things to play with. Then we take him out onto the grass to play, or onto our laps to snuggle.

[critters]

That sounds good! He's been through a lot, and he probably needs some time to heal.

[CarolC]

I would gently massage his feet and ankles frequently during the day if you can. You can do it with him lying in his basket. His body needs to remap the pathways from his feet to his brain, and when you stimulate his feet it gives him something to work with. Do not be discouraged if you seem to see no change, healing of nerves can be very slow and happens in the background where you don't see it. It usually takes longer for nerves to heal than, for example, a broken bone, so weeks or months would not be unusual.

I would only do passive exercise now, but after a few weeks of rest you could try play therapy. There are things you can do with a kitten that will encourage the use of the hind legs, such as tickling his tummy or giving him a toy he would like to play with with all 4 feet, such as a catnip mouse. A cat will hold the toy with the front paws and try to kick and scuff at it with the hind paws, which is good exercise even if he is just "thinking" about it and not actually fully doing it. It is still firing the nerves to try to do it.

Since you were not previously a cat person, just a reminder not to let him play with string or yarn unattended, they can swallow it. Also, you may want to think whether you have any rodent bait anywhere in the house where your dogs can't reach it but a kitten might, and remove it if you did. There's a certain amount of kittenproofing that goes with any new kitten. Here is a great website on basic kitten care. It's surprising how often they need to eat!

https://kittenrescue.org/cat-care/

I am hoping he will recover, but while you are waiting you may enjoy this video about Pookie.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdIBtw8_7No

[critters]

Disabled ones, at least in my world, are especially mouthy, so I would second the string-thing and add a warning about wires. Most cats don't mess with wires, but those severely disabled from a young age might. Spunk, my blind punk, has destroyed more wired items, including a computer, than you can count, but she hasn't yet electrocuted herself. She's relentless about wire eating, and some of the brain damaged ones have been almost as bad.

[MogliBanda]

Thanks so much for your answers, we feel a lot better about now.
Mogli is currently sleeping stretched out on my lap. He can't use his backlegs yet, but we see small improvement everyday. If you'd be here you could her one of us shout out at least 5 times a day:"Did you see that???? That was amazing! His tail twitched!" Or similar things:) He seems to be super happy and has tons of energy, which can be a bit challenging, because we don't want to let him run around too much, and he tends to wake up in the middle of the night, begging us to play with him. All in all, we are pretty happy with the way things are going with him.
This was the first time for us to post (or look) on this forum, and we are so happy we posted here, your answers were incredibly fast and so nice and encouraging! Thank you so much for that!
We will keep you updated about Mogli!

[critters]

Yes, cats tend to get better quickly! Glad he's doing so well.