Paralysed tail?

Hey guys,

I'm at a babysitting job and there's a 16 year old cat here called Jemima. I think her tail is paralysed, but I'm not.. sure. She doesn't seem to be in pain or anything, and I couldn't find any blood or anything, but there does seem to be some swelling around the base of the tail. Is there a way that I can tell? I haven't seen her move it at all tonight.

I'll ask the parents when they get home, but that wont be for a few hours. I'm babysitting here again tomorrow and a few times next week.

She's such a sweet cat. Very friendly and affectionate.


Jalindal

Hmm, I'm actually thinking she might be in pain guys.

I have no idea if it's just happened, or what's happened or....anything at all, really. :-S

Nope. She has no reaction at all when I touch the tail.. but she's not jumping up onto the couch at all so I lifted her up and she was obviously uncomfortable.

Hey guys,

She wasn't terribly receptive, unfortunately. She said she'd keep an eye on her, but basically, "She's 16, she's bound to get hurt."

Hopefully it's nothing, and if it isn't nothing I know she cares about the cat so I'm sure she'll get her to the vet.

I'll keep you guys posted, I babysit for them again on Friday.

Lol she's a really nice lady. I'm 100% sure that if she thinks that Jemima is hurt that she'll take her to the vet. She's just not as paranoid as I am - if Jemima was my baby she'd be off to the vet for every sniffle and cough and hint of injury... but that's not necessarily the best way either, given how stressed some cats get about car trips, etc.

Sorry, just not wanting anyone to get fired up about neglect that's not happening. XD Fingers crossed when I go over tomorrow Jemima's either fine or been to the vet.

I'm hoping that I was wrong about her injury.

Hey guys,

Ok, so, an update with Jemima. Yesterday I babysat for the family and couldn't find her anywhere, and my questions to the Mum were ignored. :-S

Today, I asked her again and we had a bit more time before she left so I got an answer. She agrees that there's something wrong with her- she says that when she touches the tail she gets a pained 'mew' but that it's alright because she doesn't scratch or bite like she normally does when Jemima is in pain.

She's not sure that taking Jemima to the vet is necessary. She said that in her thoughts it could be an infection, an injury or "old age", but she seems "fine" so she'll just keep an eye on her. -sigh-

I mentioned that cats hide pain really easily and that my vet nurse friend K says that taking her to the vet is a very good idea... she says that she can't afford to take Jemima to the vet. (Despite buying a new TV today, having subscription TV in three rooms of the house and just selling her car for several thousand dollars - she tells me a lot about their finances, unfortunately! She told me that she could only pay me $12 an hour after she'd booked a month of work with me, but when I said I couldn't work for less than $18 she somehow found the money...)

When she left Jemima came out and we had quite a long cuddle. She seems normal in terms of spirit and attitude, but had trouble getting up onto the couch, which she didn't have issues with on Thursday.

So, i don't know what to do. :-S I don't really like this woman, for many reasons, but we don't really have the kind of relationship where I feel like I could say much more, comfortably. What would you guys do?

EDIT: I don't mean that I'm not going to do anything because I don't feel comfortable about it, just that I need to make it convincing because there's no real chemistry between us or anything like that. And I may not get too many chances to talk to her about it, because I don't know whether she'll fire me for interfering. :-S

Unfortunately there's no way for that to happen.

Money is a serious issue- I owe 2k for Mackerel's vet bills to my parents, until that's paid I don't have any spare funds.

Also, I can't leave the kids alone- they're three and five, so would be negligent for me to leave them by themselves.

She always books me in the evenings, too, and generally only for a few hours- she's in amateur theatre, so she just needs time for her rehearsals and performances. Because I don't drive, that means I would have to take the bus with Jemima.

Plus all sorts of considerations about, y'know... what happens if I take her to the vet one evening and her owner takes her the next morning and they give her the same meds? Overdose? And I don't know how well she travels or any of the history of the animal, no idea of medical history... nada. :-(

I wish I could, but really I need to concentrate on getting her owner to take her to the vet. I'm fairly sure that money's not THAT much of an issue for her, despite what she says... but it's very hard to counter that argument. :-(

Hey guys, I have some sort of good news.

I babysat there tonight and Jemima seemed to be a bit better. She can now lift her tail a couple of inches off the ground, so it's not paralysed thank God.

She spent the whole evening demanding to be picked up when I wasn't sitting down, and demanding to be on my lap when I was sitting down . She's a real lap cat.

Her owner still hasn't taken her to the vet (she said today that she really regrets that she can't afford it... just after showing off the new laptop she bought because her old one was slow!). I have two more bookings with this family, and after that I wont be taking any more because of the house (anyone seen the TV show Hoarders?) and because of this lady's contemptuous and self absorbed attitude.

I'll keep you guys updated about Jemima's state the next couple of times that I see her, and I'll try and convince this lady to take her to the vet... but she says that because she's getting better there's no need now. -sigh-

I also snapped some pics tonight if anyone wants to see Jemima? She's beautiful. Not sure what colouring she is but she has the most beautiful soft fur. Like rabbit fur. Just gorgeous.

Here she is. :-)

Hey guys, last night was my last night at the babysitting job. Jemima didn't seem any better... in fact, she was a little wobbly, a little uncoordinated.

I have no idea what to do, guys. The Mum hasn't taken her to the vet and wont.

I'm going to call Child Protective Services because I'm worried about the kids- the house is so dirty and messy (think like the houses shown on the TV show: Hoarders) that I think the kids really aren't in a good environment - totally unsanitary.

Do you guys think there's anything else I could do? I'm really stumped.