Leg injury after Vet visit

ragdollsad · Feb 14, 2013

Hi everyone. This is my first post here.

About a month ago we had a yearly exam with shot updates and full blood workup (all normal) for our 10 year old ragdoll Max...we've had him since he was 6 weeks old and has always been healthy and very active up until a few days ago. He is an indoor cat.

My wife had been out of town for a week and Max was great the whole time...running all over the place and hurdling chairs ect.. Then the night before she got back I gave him some catnip (a decent amount...this is normal but I had not done this for a month or so, he ate all of it). Anyways, the next day he stopped eating and got constipated.

I took him to the vet and they gave him subcutaneous fluids (100 ml). I brought him home and he seemed fine. We then went out to dinner. The next day I noticed he was limping on his front left leg. Its almost been a week since the vet visit now and while he's still drinking water, he is eating very little. I have to carry him around b/c he doesnt want to move....he sleeps all day, but does hang out with me at night still. He has only had one bowel movement in 6 days but then again he's not eating so......

Anyone have any ideas about whats going on here? What do you think about the sore leg? He's struggling to jump on the couch and almost hits his face when he jumps down. This leg thing happened immediately following the sub fluids. Prior to that he was physically fine, he was just constipated.

Thanks so much for any comments at all. The vet wants me to bring him in for a steroid injection to boost his appetite but I've read a lot of negative things about that treatment....he seems pretty depressed about his leg. He's never been injured before. His voice even sounds pathetic and his eyes look like he's irritated.

Thanks again everyone. This whole thing seems way too acute to be something life threating, especially given his recent good bill of health.

farleyv · Feb 14, 2013

Not eating is not good. How was the constipation treated? Did the vet feel for it? My vet can tell if my cat is constipated by palpating his stomach. If your cats leg is bad enough for you to carry him around, yes, you should take him back. IMO I would ask for an x ray, although sometimes a vet can feel a sprain or bone problem. I don't know if catnip could cause constipation like this and stop him eating. That just does not seem like a cause of it to me.

Just giving fluids isn't enough to clear up constipation. IMO he isn't eating because he is in pain. A steroid injection seems like covering up the symptoms. You need to see if he is injured and deal with that. Same thing with the constipation.

Does your cat eat dry or canned food?

Another vet visit is definately indicated. But I wouldn't be happy until the constipation is treated and the leg issues are addressed. Your cat needs to eat, they can go downhill very quickly without food and water.

Please keep us posted and may good thoughts going your way and to Max.

ragdollsad · Feb 14, 2013

farleyv said:
Not eating is not good. How was the constipation treated? Did the vet feel for it? My vet can tell if my cat is constipated by palpating his stomach. If your cats leg is bad enough for you to carry him around, yes, you should take him back. IMO I would ask for an x ray, although sometimes a vet can feel a sprain or bone problem. I don't know if catnip could cause constipation like this and stop him eating. That just does not seem like a cause of it to me.

Just giving fluids isn't enough to clear up constipation. IMO he isn't eating because he is in pain. A steroid injection seems like covering up the symptoms. You need to see if he is injured and deal with that. Same thing with the constipation.

Does your cat eat dry or canned food?

Another vet visit is definately indicated. But I wouldn't be happy until the constipation is treated and the leg issues are addressed. Your cat needs to eat, they can go downhill very quickly without food and water.

Please keep us posted and may good thoughts going your way and to Max.

Hi Farley,

Thanks so much for your post. I guess I did leave out some important details...prob. b/c I'm more concerned about the cause of his leg pain, but I do agree that the bum leg may be responsible for some of his behavior. I called the vet on Monday and he said "well, his blood work is fine, he is healthy, so its prob. not BONE CANCER!!". I almost lost it.

The vet did feel for constipation and said his colon was clear. He has been eating some on his own and had his last half way normal movement on Tuesday night. I've also been giving him Laxatone every other day as prescribed.

He usually eats dry food b/c he obsessed with it. I've tried many times to convert him over to canned b/c of his teeth but he refuses. Finally, last night, Max was just relaxing with me on the couch and I took the canned food the vet gave me and put it on the couch right under his nose and he was all over it. Then I got him to drink for about 5 minutes out of the sink and he also drank water on the couch. He simply doesn't want to move. He's been sprawled out sleeping on his chair in front of the fire all day. Just now, I put the canned food on his chair in front of his face and went for it again.

So, he is eating....I guess. He just doesnt like going over to the bowel on the wood floor and eating there. Also, the vet did discuss a full body x-ray to check for obstruction but then quoted me at $120. $120? I'm a dentist (havn't got my first job yet, thus the free time) and xray's do not cost $120...thats insane. At any rate, I dont have that money right now. Already spent over $300 there. If he's not showing continued improvement by Monday I will find the money somewhere and get him in for the xray. I'm prob. going to skip the steroid tx.

He seems happy just laying around. I just have to put the food in front of his face and he digs in.

I have searched the web up and down for sub fluid administration related injury and cannot find anything......but I can guarantee he was fine until the tx. He's able to jump up on the bed and chair and couch more easily every day it seems, but is still not too interested in the food on his own. He still urinates in the box at least once a day. This is a 14 lb cat too. He has plenty of fat reserves at least....just like his papa.

Thanks again!

ritz · Feb 15, 2013

Sorry to hear about your cat. Glad he is eating a bit more.

Somewhat ironically, it's more dangerous for a fatty cat to not eat than a cat who is normal weight. Has to do with the way cats' livers process food.

Ritz is a little overweight, so as much as I'd like her to lose weight fast, not eating is not good.

ragdollsad · Feb 15, 2013

Ritz said:
Sorry to hear about your cat. Glad he is eating a bit more.

Somewhat ironically, it's more dangerous for a fatty cat to not eat than a cat who is normal weight. Has to do with the way cats' livers process food.

Ritz is a little overweight, so as much as I'd like her to lose weight fast, not eating is not good.

Thanks for the kind words. He was eating a bit but nothing is coming out the other end....at all. He can't even walk he's in so much pain now. Took him to the vet this morning. They are doing an ultrasound in a few hours. Vet said it could IBS or even lymphoma.....both he says are treatable with steroids. He may need a surgical biopsy of the small intestine depending on what the ultrasound shows. His blood work is great so I'm really trying to be positive that its just IBR. I've had to put him on metronidazole 3 or 4 times throughout his life for bouts of bloody diarrhea. The ultrasound is over $400 but at least we can get some real answers instead of throwing meds at him and hoping its nothing too serious. Sigh........

ragdollsad · Feb 19, 2013

Well. He had the ultrasound Friday. I will post the results at the end here. They also gave him a steroid shot on Friday as well. Saturday he was hiding under the covers, having diarrhia all the over the house and he puked up a huge hairball....something he hasnt done in a long long time. He also had movement Sat. night and Sunday night as well....Sunday night it was basically what looked to me like a hairball type turd in the box. I gave him a little bupenorphrine Sat. afternoon and by the evening he was eating on his own and hangin on the couch with us. He is getting progressively better each day. He still has a bit of a limp in the front but he's walking well and jumping up on the bed and couch again with ease. I dont want to be too up beat about it but he's def. responding to the steroids. He's also drinking plenty of water....but he's still def. too skinny....just feels fragile i guess...he's very talkative again which is also good to see. Anyways here's what they found on the ultrasound...I wasnt available to speak with the vet about the results...not until tomorrow...he's been our of town for the holiday weekend.

ULTRASONOGRAPHIC FINDINGS

Liver -------------------- Hypoechoic diffusely suggesting inflammation, edema, less likely infiltration.

Pancreas---------------mildly hypoechoic,7-9mm (mildly enlarged).. R/O mild pancreatitis. No regional fluid or fat changes.

Small lntestines-------Empty. Layering intact. Up to 2.5mm

Lymph Nodes---------Widespread mild-moderate hypoechoic GI lymphadenopathy (mes 5mm thick), gastric LN 4x6mm. R/O inflammation, edema, infiltration.

ULTRASONOGRAPHIC DIAGNOSIS:

Hypoechoic liver, pancreas, and mes LNs suggest inflammatory dz (triaditis). If not responding to medical
management consider repeat U/s for LN and liver aspiration.

Again, the cat was fine until he ate a boat load of cat nip off his blanket. Then things got bad within 24-48 hrs. Who knows.

Any comments on these results would be very much appreciated.

ragdollsad · Feb 19, 2013

bumpin it up. sry.

mrsgreenjeens · Feb 20, 2013

I don't have any comments about the results (basically because I don't have any medical background therefore don't really understand what they are saying except it sounds like he has (had) a mild case of pancreatitis), but am just wondering if he's still improving?

Seems like his lack of appetite was because of that huge hairball he appears to have had, since it came out of both ends, poor guy! Still doesn't explain the limp though

ragdollsad · Feb 20, 2013

Hey there. Thanks for the reply. He's getting better every day...fatter too. The limp is almost gone and he's back to eating on his own. Who knows whats going on. I just really hope its not the steroid injection masking things. I just try not to be paranoid about it and keep a close eye on his behavior. Nothing else to do now I guess...the vet doesnt seemed to be concerned....he didn't call me back. Anyone with any similar experiences please feel free to post anything.

Thanks

Leg injury after Vet visit

ragdollsad

TCS Member

Thread starter

farleyv

TCS Member

ragdollsad

TCS Member

Thread starter

ritz

TCS Member

ragdollsad

TCS Member

Thread starter

ragdollsad

TCS Member

Thread starter

ragdollsad

TCS Member

Thread starter

mrsgreenjeens

Every Life Should Have Nine Cats

ragdollsad

TCS Member

Thread starter

Latest Posts

Connect with us