Kitty may have hurt leg...what should I do?

Hi,

I have a 1 year old DLH (part persian). She was running spastic around the house last night as she always does, and all seemed fine; later, when I got into bed and she jumped up, I noticed she was limping badly. She wouldn't put weight on her right back leg. This morning, she would put some weight on it, but not much. No swelling or anything and she doesn't appear to be in acute pain, but she doesn't want me to touch it.

I called the Vet's office and the girl told me that I would know if it was broken and to watch her today and call tomorrow if she wasn't better. I got home tonight and she is 'better': putting more weight on it, but still limping. I found something in my bed that worries me: It looks like maybe she threw up, but I'm not sure. Maybe it's a hairball? But it left a stain around it like it was liquidy. So now I'm worried that the pain she is having is caused by some type of bowel problem or something. I just don't know what it was on my bed...two little things, brown in nature, almost shaped like her little poopy is, but obviously not poopy. She is eating and drinking fine, using her litter box, etc. But lays down more and tries not to jump or put too much weight on her back leg.

(I work in physical therapy, so the first thing I tried to do was assess if maybe her patella was maltracking...it seems to be like the one on the other back leg, but I work with people not cats, so I don't know. She seems to be able to fully bend and straighten it).

What do you think is going on? I plan on calling the vet tomorrow if I wake up and she is not much better.

Thanks for any advice!

Jenny

Hi Jenny, welcome to the site. If you like talking about your cats this is the place to be. If you know about maltracking patellas you are probably the best judge of her condition right now. I would think she is in need of a physical exam. Its might be nothing serious but better safe than sorry.

It sounds like she threw up a hairball on the bed. The best way to judge a potential bowel problem is keep an eye on the litter box. Make sure she's peeing and pooping at least once a day.
For her leg, it's possible that she just strained it, but with cats they mask injury SO well. If she's still not using it today, I would request an x ray. She could have fractured it. At least this way, it will put your mind at ease

Thank you so much for helping! When I came home today, she seemed to be doing much better. No more throw-up anywhere and she's walking around pretty normally--just the slightest limp once in a while. I'll keep a close eye on her over the weekend. Thank you all again!

Jenny