Confused re Lame Kitten - Please help!!!

Hi There ~

We are the very proud recipients of a new family member!!! Our little kitten arrived about 5 days ago & proceeded to do all the lovely, normal kitten things.

HOWEVER, on Friday evening he leapt out of my arms (while I was standing) onto a wooden floor to chase a shadow. At the time he seemed fine & spent hours chasing our legs under the sheets before settling down to sleep.

The next morning however I noticed he was rather quiet. I observed the situation for 24hrs over which time he seemed to become more and more immobile, lethargic, not eating etc. He definitely seems lame & won't bear weight on his front right paw. So this morning we took him down to an emergency vet where an x-ray revealed nothing. He's been given anti-inflams. He had a slight fever on inspection - either caused by inflamation or something else????? So was treated with pain reliever and given IV fluids etc.

The vet called tonight to say that he seems even worse with regards to his reluctance to stand/walk. And altho she can't feel anything obvious and the x-ray showed nothing she suspects he's experiencing pelvic pain as well as the injured paw!!!!!!!!

What the heck is wrong with our gorgeous kitty?????

The next step is to have a specialist surgeon look over him in the morning and review the x-rays for anything missed by the vet.

I am very concerned about what the worst case scenario here may be. Can kittens really do that much damage from one big jump?

Please help........

Sorry, he's 11 weeks.

Might be wroth asking them what they think the likelihood of him having calici virus is, as tht can cause unexplained limping.

....He's been given anti-inflams....So was treated with pain reliever and given IV fluids etc...

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Just a caution for you.....the most common anti-inflammatory drug given to cats is Metacam....improper use of this drug has caused countless cases of illness and death in cats - more about that here.

I do not allow its use with my cats.

The most recent study on its use in cats (here) seems to sugget that it can be used safely - orally - at a doseage one-tenth that of the "approved dosage" in the UK and Australia....that's 10% of what's commonly prescribed!!!! It is NOT licensed for use in cats in North America.

According to that study, a safe doseage is calculated as .01-.03 mg/kg of body weight using the .5mg/ml solution (Metacam is also available in 1.5 mg/ml - this should never be used in cats.) As well, it is available as an injectible solution licensed for one-time only use - the injectible should never be followed by oral administration.

I will not allow taht med in my cats either.
Br careful they tried to give that to my sisters cat for a lame paw and she refused it.
Never did find out why his paw was like that.
My cat has surgery tomorrow and I told vet no metacam and he told e he dosent use it.
It can cause kidney problems.
How is yor cat now?

Thnx for your input guys. I will call the hospital later today (out of interest) to ask what was administered. Too late to do anything about it this time however...

I got a call early this morning to say that after the anti-inflams he improved dramatically & that led them to believe that he has a form of cat flu which manifests predominantly as joint pain. This explains the pain starting in the paw and then showing up in the pelvic area etc.

We've brought him home (YAY) with some pain relief & to watch and wait for the virus to clear. We'll take him for a follow up tomorrow.

I guess this is one of the joys of a shelter cat combined with the stressful week he's had.

Thnx for your thoughts. I'll look into that anti-inflam stuff to find out what's commonly administered here in New Zealand.

Originally Posted by nealie

...We've brought him home (YAY) with some pain relief...I'll look into that anti-inflam stuff to find out what's commonly administered here in New Zealand.

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The "pain reliever" could also be Metacam...just as NSAIDs are used in humans to reduce inflammation, thereby relieving pain...

Here's the New Zealand's Veterinary drug control/authorization agency's webpage for Metacam and, from there, here's the approved/licensed doseage instruction sheet. The initial dose is .1mg/kg and subsequent doses are .05mg/kg......remember, the study I referenced earlier stated safety in the .01-.03 mg/kg.

The less, the better.

BTW.....you may well receive "assurances" that bloodwork has been/will be checked for "problems"....well, if you read any of the MetacamKills website, you'll realize that Metacam is a kidney-killer. Now, the thing with kidneys is that kidney function - as determined by "bloodwork" - can decrease by up to 70% before these problems show up in those bloodwork tests....meaning that those "assurances" from Vets are pretty bloody worthless!!!

Originally Posted by nealie

that led them to believe that he has a form of cat flu which manifests predominantly as joint pain. This explains the pain starting in the paw and then showing up in the pelvic area etc.

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That is the calici virus I mentioned earlier. I am glad that it isn't anything to serious, but he could be a carrier for life.

That is the calici virus I mentioned earlier.

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Oh OK. Boy, he didn't display alot of the typical symptoms of this....but there you go...

A couple of questions left :

1. I've been given straight pain relief - no anti-inflam agent in it at all. Does this make it safe or is there still a chance it could contain Metacam?

2. Should I push for definitive testing of calici virus so that I know for sure that's what he has?

3. Anyone know if calici virus poses any kind of threat to pregnant women?

I really appreciate your support - thnx very much.

Not sure on the pain meds, but I have no issues with giving Metacam either. As far as i know, the calici virus can't be spread from species to species, so you should be OK. I would speak to your vet about any further testing, calici can be tested by a mouth swab, but sometimes it depends on how active it is in the system at the time. It was the limping that indicated it to me though, it is one of the most common reasons for limping if they haven't fallen etc.

He got temgesic - so no relation to Metacam. HOWEVER he did get Metacam as the anti-inflam at the hospital. Thankfully they followed the reduced doseage recommendations, so that's a small comfort.

What do you guys think about this - I asked the vet about Metacam and quoted the stuff I read from the link you posted Blaise plus some other stuff I found. She insisted that it only poses a problem when coupled with anaesthsia causing low blood pressure and reduced kidney function OR if 2+ doses are administered in fairly quick succession... does the research support this????

Anyhow update on kitty - still very quiet, lethargic, some conjunctivitis. Walking, albeit tenderly. Had him swabbed today to confirm FCV - almost certain it is tho. Vet thinks he caught it from the vax - a modified live vaccine. She said she's seen a couple of other cases of this happening during her practice time. She's recommending a different branded follow up vax. She also said it's much more common than some think but nearly always asymptomatic.

We're eating now tho and showing some small signs of life. He should make a full recovery over the next fortnight. What a horrible start for him (& us).

Thnx again for the advise/support. I think I'll head off to the newbie section and introduce myself properly!!!!