Broken Tail

I feel so guilty!! I accidentally closed a door on my cat's tail and he really freaked out and started making weird noises and eyes were dialating. I called my vet in a panic but it's a saturday and there are none open in my town. I don't know what to do for him he seems to be in a lot of pain and its all my fault. Is there anything I can do for him until the vet's office is open? (and does anyone know if the vet can even do anything about it?

If your cat is in a lot of pain, look for an emergency clinic and call them about it. If the tail is broken, I don't think it can be set, but it must be looked at to make sure there wasn't any nerve damage.

Originally Posted by maliceandlouis

I feel so guilty!! I accidentally closed a door on my cat's tail and he really freaked out and started making weird noises and eyes were dialating. I called my vet in a panic but it's a saturday and there are none open in my town. I don't know what to do for him he seems to be in a lot of pain and its all my fault. Is there anything I can do for him until the vet's office is open? (and does anyone know if the vet can even do anything about it?

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I'm sorry you're going through this.

Call ALL vet clinics in your town; even if they're not open on Saturdays, they might leave instruction on their answering machine message, how they (or another Vet) can be contacted in the case of an emergency.

If that doesn't pan out, can you try contacting a Vet in a neighboring town? Look in the Yellow Pages of your phone book, under "Veterinarians" and see what other options you might be able to find........see if there is a 24 hour emergency vet clinic anywhere around, even if you have to drive an hour to get there. Kitty really should be seen sooner than Monday.

If your cat is an indoor/outdoor cat, please be sure to keep him totally indoors so that you can monitor him.

When taking the to Vet, be sure he's in a proper carrier (not loose in the car) because if he's in pain, he could easily bolt when you open the car door.

To add, whatever you do --- do NOT give your cat any human pain medications (not tylenol, not aspirin, nothing). These and cats just don't mix. Just thought I'd point this out in the event that you weren't aware.

You need to get him to a vet ASAP. "tail jerk" injury can cause permanent paralysis or loss of bladder or bowel control. It is actually a common injury in cats. Their tail gets caught while they try to run and it causes the damage. You should be able to do a google search and come up with detailed information.

Unfortunately, this is a true emergency where prompt treatment may help alleviate long term damage. If the spinal cord/nerves have been affected they need to get the swelling down ASAP.

Until you get him to the vet you need to keep him confined to prevent him from doing further damage.

Hopefully the damage is just to the area that got caught in the door and not at the base as in Tail Jerk cases. If it is just the down along the tail the worst case scenario would be amputation.

Please keep us posted.