Taking Care Of My Cat's Broken Paw?

My husband & my cat were horsing around and she got under his feet and before he could stop he stepped down on her left front paw, So we take her to a 24 hour vet *this was at midnight* and sure enough its broken. Well we ended up spending waaay more than we could afford to fix her up. Now they want us to take her for a check up every week (@ $75/wk) which we cannot afford and on the third week they want to do another x-ray (@ $150) which we cannot afford. My question is if we cannot afford to take her back to the doctor how long do we keep the cast on ? The vet said it should heal beautifully, but my other concern is should i be stopping her from walking and jumping? She is very stubborn and wont stop walking around and jumpin on the bed chair couch etc... Is this good that she is able to and not babying it or is it bad and she should be more careful.
What should I do.
Anyone that has any suggestions PLEASE email me
[email protected]

Thank You
Rebekah

I'll move this to Health & Nutrition for you.

I've never dealt with a cat with a broken limb before so I can only guess that it might be better to kind of restrict her movements for a couple weeks or so. If the vet didn't give you instructions about what to allow her to do, you should be able to call them and ask what's best.

Mainly I just wanted to say you have a very beautiful kittyl
Healthy vibes and to both of you.

It seems strange that a vet would charge you that much for each check-up visit. I'd personally call around and get some quotes from other vets in the area. If they did the operation, surely they would want follow-up visits to ensure the limb is healing properly and IMO that should be included in the initial treatment or at the very least a very minimal charge for the office visit.

THEY SAID THAT IT WAS CAUSE IT WAS AFTER MIDNIGHT THAT I HAD TO PAY THAT MUCH PUT IT SAYS THAT VISITS ARE 75 BUCKS EACH AND XRAYS ARE 150 BUCKS EACH THATS WAAAAAAAAY OUTTA MY BUDGET I WANT TO TAKE HER BACK FOR A VISIT AFTER 3 WEEKS BUT DONT KNOW IF I WILL BE ABLE TO AFFORD IT

Originally Posted by Yosemite

It seems strange that a vet would charge you that much for each check-up visit. I'd personally call around and get some quotes from other vets in the area. If they did the operation, surely they would want follow-up visits to ensure the limb is healing properly and IMO that should be included in the initial treatment or at the very least a very minimal charge for the office visit.

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I would call some other vets in your area to get prices on having her foot rechecked each week. It is VERY important that you take her somewhere to have the bandage checked. If it gets wet or dirty or if the bandage slips it can cause serious problems. I have seen people who decided to wait a MONTH to bring their animals back in. The bandages got damp and cause a HORRIBLE infection... both times I have seen this, the animals leg had to be amputated. If the bandage rotates or slips, the fracture wont heal properly or may not heal at all....

I have been through a LOT of fractures (I have a cat with a condition called osteogenesis imperfecta. Basically his bones are like glass and can break by him jumping of the couch.) Its best to try and keep them as calm as possible. If you can restrict their jumping, you should. I know how hard it is to keep a cat from doing what they want to do. If you can't it wont hurt any, but it may heal a little slower and there is a greater risk that the splint will rotate or slip...

This is my problem child when he had one of his MANY fractures...


He has broken his left leg, his right leg twice, his tail, his heel, and his right elbow. He will be 3 next month... Unfortunatly he has to stay in his crate if I'm not there to watch him and make sure he doesn't jump... (His crate, by the way, takes up half of the living room...)

If you have any other qustions feel free to ask... I have dealt with these kinda things a lot!

Aww... she is so sweet. $75 is alot for a followup visit. Maybe you should try to call around to some other places. If not, and she's seems to be doing well, maybe just take her back on that 3rd week and then hopefully that will be it.

I Am Gonna Try To Call Other Places But Money Is Soooo Tight Right Now It Couldnt Have Happened At A Worse Time Cause I Just Lost My Job And My Husband Is On Disability So We Are Tight With Money But I Dont Want To See Her Hurting And She Will Not Stop Walking ( I Will Have You Know She Runs Faster Now That She Has This Cast Then She Did Before She Got It)
Thanks For All Your Help All Of You I Appreciate It

I would try and get hold of a cage to prevent her doing too much on it, as it can cause it not to heal properly. You might find that those charges are only in out of hours - our emergency vet charges double if you go out of hours, compared to if you go because your normal vet is shutting and they have referred you. Or ask at other vets.