House cat not looking to good.

Our cat this year has started to become an escape artist to outside. He got out yesterday, second time this week. We could hear some cats fighting and immediately went outside and low and behold there he was. So, we picked him up and brought him inside, he cleaned himself all up and was a big baby. I looked him over for any wounds and seen none. After that he rolled to his back and sprawled out on the floor like normal. I think he won the fight. LOL

98% of the time he sleeps with us in bed, but last night, not so. When we awoke this morning, we looked for him as we couldnt find him. Here he was under our bed. My wife had to literally pull him out and place him on top of our bed. We were sitting there petting him, then all of a sudden he reared up his hind end and gave a low funky kinda painful growl like something was wrong. So we started to watch him and it looks like something is wrong in the rear back area as he doesnt support it like he is suppose to. He is currently laying in my desk chair with his rump off to the side. I know something isnt right, it doesnt even look right. If you lightly pet him, he just lays there and looks at us. When he re-positions himself, his back is like weird and stuff like he cant support it??!! His front stays down and his rear goes really high in the air. He walked out here and walked a little funky, his tail is hanging straight down and a little fluffed like when they get scared.

Normally he is sprawled out over everything and anything. You scratch him under the chin and he stretches out and then gets re-situated and goes back to sleep or he goes into attack mode, normally gives kisses and plays alot. Not now. He is really pampering his hind end. Any ideas on what this could be? He used his litter box this morning, but looked like he was in pain from it.

No idea, but this warrants a trip to the vet ASAP. Also, is he neutered? If not, that might curtail his desire to get outside.

I would take him to the vet. Years ago we had an indoor-outdoor cat who suddenly wouldn't let us near the back half of his body. He would growl and swat at us if we tried. We took him to the vet, and she found that he had a tiny puncture wound near his butt. I can't remember everything she did, but I know she cleaned up the area and probably gave him antibiotics to prevent the infection from worsening. I'd take the kitty in sooner rather than later--treating while it's still early can prevent it from forming an abscess.

Actually I think I found the reason his tail is hanging straight down, I just petted him and it looks either broken or dislodged. He was not happy at all and reared up when I lightly touched and meowed really loud. I hope its not broke at the tail bone or hip. He was so active in jumping and such. I wonder if he got kicked last night when everyone was sleeping. Like I said, he was fine when we went to bed. Yes he is neutered, no it does not stop him at all. But he does have his front claws for protection, I had to give him something.

I do have an appointment, it is at 2.

A little history of this cat:

On a hot summer day, he was on our deck on some camping fabric we had laid out. I seen him there for two days and every time I came up on the deck, he would look back at me then curl back up and go back to sleep. (Obvious house cat) By the second day we had found the actual owners and found they didnt treat him very good. I aggressively told them if thats how they are gonna treat him, then they just need to leave him be and I will deal with him. After a few more days of him coming and going I finally made contact with him and he instantly loved right up and I instantly found out he had claws. So as a fitting name we named him Journey as that is how we ended up with him. Took him in for all shots, neutering etc. Also found out he was not yet 1 year old from the vet. He is about 5 years old now. He has become very much a part of our family and has a very bad jealous streak in him to say the least. Ya, um my wife and I cant hug, her sit in my lap, touch or anything without him pushing us apart. Literally pushes us apart. He will wiggle in between us to separate us. He has figured out when we are getting ready to leave on a trip, he will ignore us, wont let us pet him or anything. But he gets the attention before we go anyways. But when we come back, we cant get him off of us to save our lives and that is when he really shows how jealous he is. It is pretty comical. Just thought I would share how we got him and his attitude, cause I have never seen a cat like that.

Awww - poor boy - he must be in pain. I am glad that you are taking him to the vet soon. Keep us updated. Lots of for the little one.

I dont think pain is the word I was looking for. But ya, he is not definitely not wanting anything to do with being touched. I just got him in the carrier which actually went better then I thought it would. Keep ya all posted.

Love the name, Journey. Suits him . He might have somehow hurt his tail during his fight with that other cat. But you said when he came back in he was just fine. Oh well, it doesn't matter how it happenned, just that you are taking him in to your vet today. I hope Journey will feel better soon and the vet can help his tail

I know he will not be happy about it when he gets back. Like I said, he is in pain, can still jump though, just cant touch it. He got up about a half hour ago and I followed him around and he gave me a big kiss on the forehead. Then I showed him the carrier and he checked it out, walked away so I corralled him, didnt like it, but then he gave up and went in and layed down growling and meowing. Cant wait for this to be over. Its, funny, he is like one of our kids.

He probably was bitten near the base of the tail. For some reason that's a common place for cats to be bitten in cat fights. Sometimes the bite wound is so small you can't see it, but they do get infected frequently (cat mouths are icky!). Probably the vet will give him some antibiotics. Hope the vet visit goes well!

I am thinking he was bitten to. But could the infection happen that quickly? It does look like it is swelled around the base of the tail as it looks a little bigger then usual. I just lightly touched the fur on his tail and all bejeebers broke loose. But I gotta go, its almost his appointment.

Alright, thank god he is alright. The vet shaved his tail and he did have a little bite on his tail. It got infected and he is on medicine. Since he has been home, he has been licking and twitching his tail and trying to find some place to hide. Poor guy, but i guess it was for his own good. Maybe now he will quit trying to be an escape artist. Alot of relief!

I'm glad the mystery is solved! Some bites can react and swell up amazingly quickly - my nephew was bitten by a bug once, and I swear his hand ballooned up right in front of our eyes. Catching it early can prevent it from infecting beyond the site of the initial bite.

I'm sure he will heal up in no time, he sounds like such a lovebug!

So glad you got Journey to the vet so quickly and he's being treated. Glad it was something that can be treated with antibiotics. You might need to work very hard at keeping him inside for a couple of days until he's on the road to recovery. Keep us posted on how he's doing!

So what does anyone on here know about metacam? I was reading about metacam and it is not suppose to be givin to cats as they have had a lot of deaths associated with it. So I called another vet I know and she told me they do it all the time. Sigh, I give, what is the deal? Yes it has been givin to him.

He is doing really good, really dazed for the first couple of days but he is just about his normal self, once in a while he jumps and bites at his tail, not yet to fully unleash in playing but getting there, but the last two nights he just started sleeping with us again and jealous as usual. LOL But other then that, doing good.

My biggest concern with Metacam is the link to renal failure and death. I have put on all my cats' paperwork in big red letters NO METACAM! There are plenty of other acceptable pain meds with less harmful side effects that can be used. If you search this forum for "Metacam" you'll find several informative threads on the subject.

Glad Journey is doing better and starting to act more like himself!

Well, since I have never dealt with this before, it actually irked me to see they gave him something that isnt even made for a cat to begin with. I also noticed when I did a search of it, they gave the description right off the bottle and it even states not to be given to cats and not to be given orally so there is not a over dose problem which they both did. If I would have knowin this to begin with, it wouldnt have happened!

So what gives the vet the right to do this? Arrogance, laws, I mean seriously, come on here. Its like there playing roulette if the animal dies or not to see how many they can get away with before something bad happens. I am sure not all vets do this, but it just smokes me to learn this is what they did.

The first time Holland had to have a pain reliever they gave me metacam too, that was before I knew better. I learned from this site the dangers of the drug and that many members here specifically tell their vets NO METACAM for the cats. I'm as puzzled as you are why there are vets out there that prescribe it for cats. I'm glad that I know better now, but what happens to people who trust their vets with this kind of thing?

It's becoming common practice to administer it and I think that many vets don't think anything of it, even though there are warnings and it's not designed to be used in cats. Like others, my cat was given it before I knew anything about it, but thanks to this site, I've since learned of the dangers. I don't think many vets expect clients to know anything (or much) about meds and treatments and they don't think you'll question them.

IMHO Vets prescribe Metacam (generic MELOXICAM) to cats simply because they have far more Dogs as patients, and it is safer for dogs.

From the FDA:

FDA Announces Addition of Boxed Warning to METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] (meloxicam) Labels

October 27, 2010
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced today the addition of a boxed warning to the label of two METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] (meloxicam) products. The drug’s manufacturer, Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. (B.I.V.I.), changed the label to include:

WARNING
Repeated use of meloxicam in cats has been associated with acute renal failure and death. Do not administer additional injectable or oral meloxicam to cats. See Contraindications, Warnings, and Precautions for detailed information.

The label change affects:

• METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Solution for Injection, under New Animal Drug Application (NADA) 141-219; and
• METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Oral Suspension, under NADA 141-213.

Boxed warnings on prescription drug labels highlight for prescribers certain contraindications or adverse drug events, especially those that may cause death or serious harm. A contraindication occurs when the risk of using the drug in a patient outweighs any benefit. An adverse drug event, also called an adverse drug experience, occurs when there is an undesired side effect associated with the drug, or when there is a lack of effect (the drug does not do what it is supposed to do).
FDA asked B.I.V.I. to add the boxed warning based on FDA’s review of reported adverse drug events for METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji]. FDA identified many cases of kidney failure and death in cats associated with repeated use of METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji].
METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Solution for Injection is approved for one-time use in cats before surgery to control postoperative pain and inflammation associated with orthopedic surgeries, spays, and neuters. In the United States, the safety and effectiveness of more than one dose of METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Solution for Injection has not been shown in cats for any condition.
METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Solution for Injection and METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Oral Suspension are approved in dogs to control pain and inflammation associated with osteoarthritis. METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] Oral Suspension is approved for dogs only. No safe and effective dose of the oral suspension is approved for cats.
FDA is aware that some veterinarians prescribe or use METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] in an extra-label manner. When an approved drug is used in a manner other than what is stated on the label, it is an extra-label (or “off-label”) use. Under certain circumstances, veterinarians are allowed to use a drug in an extra-label manner. The new boxed warning on the METACAMÂ[emoji]174[/emoji] labels helps inform veterinarians of the serious risks associated with extra-label use of meloxicam in cats.
http://www.fda.gov/AnimalVeterinary/.../ucm231254.htm