My cat's tail stopped working

I noticed my cat's tail dragging last night and freaked out. He is very much an indoor cat and I have no idea what may have happened to him while we were at work. I took him to the vet today and he noticed one of his legs was not responding normally as well. He is still with the vet and are going to take Xrays, but I'm very sad right now that my cat's tail doesn't wave in the air.

I hope the vet finds out what is wrong, and that your baby is home with you very soon!

Sending out prayers and healing thoughts to your sweet guy! That's a mystery to me, too -- my eldest, Nicolas T. Cat, who is a rescue, was a kitten outside in the old neighborhood when I saw that one morning his tail wasn't "working" either, and he had a smear of what looked to be motor oil on his back. That did it - even though we had a fairly large, happy feline family inside already, Nikki never went back outside again. I think he probably got into an engine block, maybe to stay warm, although it wasn't cold at that time, as I recall...anyway, he's still with me almost 18 years later, and no, his tail still doesn't "work", but he's loved just the same.

Could be something wrong with his back? My cat showed similar symptoms, although his were much worse (he couldn't use his back end at all). It turned out he had collapsed a disk in his back. Because of a stupid vet that made us wait saying that it was nothing he's now partially paralized, but if this is the case with your kittie, the ex-rays will show and if he's started on meds right away, he can make a full recovery.
He could have also dislocated a vertebrae somehow.
I've been through the same situation and I know its horrible to have to sit there and wonder what's going on with your kittie, but keep your chin up.
Sending lots of good vibes.

He could have gotten his tail caught in something. This can cause damage at the base of the tail, explaining the problem with his back leg.

Any news on your cat???

The x rays did not reval any fractures. The vet gave him some pain medication and an anti-inflammatory shot. The vet pointed out that one of his hind legs was also a little lame which was causing my cat to limp. I need to take him back tomorrow for a follow-up, but as far as today, he still looks the same, tail down and limping. The vet said it could be a pinched nerve that is affeting his backside, and that the inflammatory meds should help. We'll see.

My Carly has a non-working tail. Her history is unknown to us so we don't know what happened. Her tail wasn't amputated and the vet said that as long as it has good blood flow we didn't need to worry. I do keep an eye on it for injuries, etc and we have to be careful not to step on it because she doesn't feel it.

When it is acute onset like that I have heard it can be caused by constipation.

Like feces iminging on nerves maybe? I am not sure of the mechanism, jsut heard it a long time ago. Has he been pooping normally?

If it is a pinched nerve, maybe an animal chiropractor might be able to help? I know some people are skeptical about them, but it worked great on my back pain and headaches. It might be worth a try if they don't know what's causing it.

well, he has been going to the bathroom, but what he leaves behind does see to be a little dry. If that is the case, I guess I could give him wet food. Right now I just feed him dry food

you could also try giving him some hairball remedy. When my kitten was constipated, the vet told me to give him some petromalt hairball remedy, and it worked great.
Wet food is very good for cats. It helps them receive adaquate water intake, and I find it keeps them from getting fat more so than dry food.

You can also try giving him about a teaspoon of plain canned pumpkin. Make sure you do NOT get the pumpkin pie filling, just canned pumpkin. That will help soften his stools.

Stephanie