My darling Frankie's tail is unresponsive

Hi everyone - 

My cat, Frankie (age approx. 4, but unknown/shelter kitty) woke me up this morning with a completely limp tail. She was in obvious pain and clearly something was very wrong - her normally larger than life beautiful fluffy tail was hanging completely to the ground. I called the vet ASAP & rushed us both to the office in a panic. 

The vet looked at her for about ten minutes and couldn't find the problem, and then went to get a second opinion. Still, however, there was no answer to the problem. They couldn't find any kind of an abcess or obvious nerve damage. They concluded that she was certainly in a lot of pain & can absolutely tell when we touch her tail (and is very unhappy about it!). I left feeling defeated, as they didn't really give me anything to go on. It seems very bad to me, but I also don't have much to contribute. There was no injury that I know of, and as far as I know (I am pretty much sure on this one) my roommate did not pull her tail at any point. They told me that I had a number of options, none of which would they endorse to me in particular. 1) Get painkillers/anti-inflammatory drugs and antibiotics, and monitor her condition 2) Get xrays/radiograms and see what they can see or 3) Go to the emergency vet clinic ASAP. I chose option one because my funds are limited, but as the day goes on I am worrying that I chose incorrectly. The vets were really not worrying about it either way, but I have been a nervous wreck the whole day. 

This is very scary for me because another roommate last year had another cat, Vegas, who went through a similar set of symptoms (to this point anyway) and eventually had to be put down because the paralysis was progressing steadily through his body, causing him to be unable to urinate, defecate, walk, etc. Additionally, the being treated at the right time thing was a big deal for Vegas as he did not receive care in time to save him. I have a bit of hope that it is not the same exact thing this time, as Vegas' body parts turned cold as they were affected, and Frankie's tail is warm. However, the things that the vets are saying are exactly the same and I am terrified. With Vegas the whole process only lasted about 10 days from 100% healthy happy boy to passing away. I am just so scared that the same thing will happen to my girl & I will be completely unable to stop it. 

Do any of you have words of advice? Has anyone had a similar experience? I am just worried sick and I don't know what to do. Thank you so much for anything you can say. 

(I see this is a wall of text and I am really sorry...I am just really in need of some advice and I'm about to freak right out)

I would urge you to take your kitty to an orthopedic specialist without delay for an evaluation and necessary tests. You might look for one on your own or ask for a referral from your regular vet.    If you have a vet school in your state that would also be an excellent place for finding an orthopedic specialist.

You absolutely need to find out what is causing this and an orthopedic specialist is the only person who can really help you. 

Do you happen to know where I could find the name of such a specialist? Thank you so much for the help

Well, the absolute best thing would be to ask your regular vet for a referral.

If unavoidable, calling the vet school nearest you for help, even if it's not in your state, might also be helpful, even though far more complicated.  (A few years ago a friend found a specialist by doing this but it wasn't easy.)

I have all kinds of lists for specialists, but unfortunately not for orthopedic specialists and I don't even know if such a list exists.

For vet schools this is a pretty good list because it includes locations and contact information

http://www.univsource.com/vet.htm

maybe she has a blood clot in her tail/spine? or she broke it did they do xrays or any test on her?

my 25 day old RB kitten Pepsi had a blood clot in her spine and paralyzed her she died within a hour that was back in 2009

I certainly hope that's not the case, as it seems like there isn't really anything to be done for that and outlook is bleak. Today Frankie seems to be a little more comfortable - in no small part I think because of the pain meds & is much more happy, but the tail doesn't really seem to be showing any signs of life  . 

Is there a timeline at which certain things can be known? ie, if it's been down for some amount of time, it is not probably going to come back.

Thanks for all your help - I don't really know what to do at this point. I just gave her the pain meds for the day & I'm tempted to just wait until we can go back to the vet tomorrow, but another part of me wants to take her to the emergency clinic ASAP. 

Where are you?. Honestly I would get your kitty seen immediately following financial help, and asking different vets if they accept pmts or post dated check, anything. At this point the very first thing you should do is have an x-ray and/or ultrasound to determine if there is nerve damage and blood flow. I honestly believe some trauma had to have happened, it just doesn't suddenly go limp and hurt, maybe it's pulled out of place? If nothing happened then forgive me, I've never heard of anything like this.

The post about a veterinary school is also great, this is something uncommon and unique, and that is just what they are looking for, and if they accept you it's free.

Carecredit is like a credit card, make pmts interest free, but you have to have at least fairly decent credit.

 I hope this helps!

redrover.org is excellent, lists many orgs all over.

 Also-