dislocated hip and amputated tail questions

I am new to the forum.  I am just wondering if anyone can share any stories with me how their cat recovered from a dislocated hip or amputated tail.

My cat who is an indoor/outdoor went missing and when we found her hiding in the barn she was in bad shape.  A trip to the vets the day of she was found to have a total disconnected hip and of the socket in which they manipulated it back into the socket and taped her leg up so she is trying to learn to get around on three legs for now until bandages are taken off in two weeks.  We do not know how this happened, vet is baffled also...thinking she got stuck somewhere and pulled so hard? 

My big concern is her not re injuring while healing so we have her in a big crate with the door open so she can get out to the litter as she was not using it in the crate.  This is only the second day and she did eat some wet food last night and went pee this morning as the vet wanted to make sure as that was very important.  However, she has not had a bowel movement since before her accident which would of been on Monday when she went missing so the vet said if she did not go by tomorrow to call and likely have to give her something to help her.  I have given her some laxative in a tube, kinda like a gel and hoping that might help.

But besides the dislocated hip she also had her tail broke midway down and separated..and lacerated so she removed it all.

I don't have any experience with injured cats and I have to for the next 14 days care for her and keep her happy lol...Today she wanted up on the bed as she is a cuddle cat but she meowed in discomfort and then when i went to move her she hissed so I left for a few hours and stayed with her and then managed to get her wrapped in a blanket and put her back in her crate where she is comfortable and has eaten and drank water but no litter action again.

So she can manage to get out of the crate over to her food and eat so thats good. 

So has anyone had this type of injury and how did you manage keeping them quiet.  Did you crate them or give them a small area or room to move around in.  As far as using the litter box we decided to put the litter right on the floor in the bathroom walk in shower so she doesnt have to step into but now I am wondering if she would be better with a litter box cut down for balance?  Not sure?  If anyone has suggestions that would be great.

Look forward to hearing from yas..

I would ask the vet how much moving around the cat needs to be doing.  If the vet says limit the movement then I would crate the cat.  I would think with this type of injury the cat does not need to be where it can jump up on anything.  As for the litter box, I would try to get one the cat can get in and out of very easy, even if you do have to cut it down some.  Let us know what the vet says about how much movement.  Also, whether or not you should be attempting to pick up or handle the cat.  I would think as little as possible, but you really need to know from the vet.

Poor kitty, poor you. This will be a bonding experience for sure.

As for the litter pan - for young kittens people sometimes use a disposable foil baking pan in place of a regular litter pan. Easy to get in and out. This might work.

Or use a low cardboard box and slip it into a plastic bag. Tape plastic bag to secure it, then add litter. That way the box itself cannot get wet and yucky. Easy to trim box so cat has an easy time getting in / out.

Good luck, and please update so we know how kitty (and you) are doing.

Back in may our cat had knee surgery so she was in a cast for somewhere in the neighborhood of a month. We had the litter box in there with her and we made sure we were never away from her for much more than a couple hours. Luckily I was laid off from work. If she wanted up on something we would pick her up and when she wanted down we would lift her down. Now to the tail question. Back when I was in high school we had cat that got hit by a car. She was mostly ok she was a little out of it for a day or two but her worse injury was her broken tail. The vet said that it might be ok to leave it and to wait a couple days and see how things go. Well I won't get to into detail here lets just say she couldn't feel her tail after the break so she decided that it didn't belong to her anymore. So off to the vet again, the vet left it attached up to the break but stitched it all up and she healed up just fine. The missing portion of the tail was never really an issue.
 

blueyedgirl5946 said:

I would ask the vet how much moving around the cat needs to be doing.  If the vet says limit the movement then I would crate the cat.  I would think with this type of injury the cat does not need to be where it can jump up on anything.  As for the litter box, I would try to get one the cat can get in and out of very easy, even if you do have to cut it down some.  Let us know what the vet says about how much movement.  Also, whether or not you should be attempting to pick up or handle the cat.  I would think as little as possible, but you really need to know from the vet.

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Yes I called and mentioned how I had her setup in the crate and how she could walk out to her litter in a enclosed small area and she said that was fine if she was walking but no runnining or climbing etc.  We won't pick her up for a few days as she seems sensitive to being held so we will go down to her level and cuddle with her for now. 

However, we had her all setup for the night with her litter laid out so she can get to it without any problems and only a few steps from outside her crate and her food and water on the other side and she walked out and since she is right next to us in the bathroom off our master bedroom I am only a eyesight away and can watch her which is good.  She decided she didn't want to be alone and when I looked she had managed to scale the almost three foot piece of plywood we had blocking her from getting out into a bigger part of the bathroom and I ran and caught her before she tried to jump.  I took her took the bed and she fell asleep and then I put her into the crate and closed the door so she could not get out at all and put a small litter box in the back but not sure if she will use that in there. 

I hope she did not hurt herself doing that, as that is the last thing we wanted her to do and was totally unexpected that she would be that feisty after just coming home but her being an outside/inside cat and one that loves to be where you are she might be a challenge.  So for now we will keep her in her crate and allow her out to eat and use the litter but we will monitor her closely so she can't try climbing again.

I feel so sad for her as she has never been sick in fourteen years or had to be stuck in the house and I know that is hard on her, but on the other hand she needs to be quiet and heal so if it means not picking her up for awhile and just petting her and letting her out of the crate when we are close then that is how we will do it. 

Thankfully we are both home daily so she is never left alone for long or at all lol.   Thanks!

I think you are making the right decision to isolate her for now.,  It is in her best interest to keep her from jumping and climbing until she heals.  My cat Muffin recently had surgery for liver cancer and had to live 2 weeks in the cage with the litter and water there to keep him from jumping or climbing.  During that time, I would let him out when I could totally pay attention to him and prevent him from doing the things the doctor said were a no no.  I hope your cat heals well and will be back to normal in a short time.
 

We are keeping her in the crate and we have a plastic lid from a big bin that we put a towel over it and when we take her out she just steps onto it so we don't have to pick her up and we transfer her to our bed for cuddles.  She seems more spunky and is meowing more in the crate this morning..wanting to be I suppose, so I know it is so hard on her to be in cage but I cannot afford for her to re injure the hip or tail. 

One thing I am concerned and having been keeping an eye on is the bandage they used to wrap her leg and around her belly as it seems to be curling a bit at the stomach and I don't want it to be cutting off any circulation and what I can see it doesn't appear too but I am a worrier lol.  The bandage is a sticky tape and I notice some of her cat fur is stuck to it and I don't know if it is pinching at all?  I would imagine they shaved that area before putting on a tape like that?  I will call on Monday to clarify and maybe just take her in to have the bandage checked to make sure it is not too tight or shifting.