Kitten with a broken front leg

Opps didn't mean to hit reply. Anyways, I called 12 vets. But I don't want to go to twelve separate vets to get their opinion when, most likely, it will be the same answer. Especially marked at $100-150 a visit :/

I tried contacting my vet yesterday but the doctor went home sick and the vet technician couldn't answer my questions. The vet is closed tomorrow but I'm going to ask on Friday about a cast or maybe some clothe tape. Though I can see this cat trying to bite his way through it. He's very active and has a lot of energy.

And update: he's crying a lot less and is making his purring sounds. We have our laptop set up playing purring sounds 24/7. We heard that encourages healing.

Sorry if I seemed a bit confrontational, just some of our options are a bit limited due to  finances (we have a wedding ceremony coming up in 2 months in the States), time (we both work long days), and the cats personality.  As I said, he is very feisty and hates being caged up.  He gets very angry and continually makes noise...more noise than when hes out of the cage.  He is a very loud kitten and we have been asked b our neighbors to try and keep him a bit quiet.  They are nice people though.  We aren't technically allowed to have pets but there is a family down below with 4 dogs that bark non-stop all day.  While I should probably put him in his carrier, I am afraid he will do more harm to himself by jumping around in there.  In fact, we can't even pet him right now as he sees that as a kind of play and tries to get up to come to us and play.  I know its hurting him very much to not be able to run, jump, and play like he used to.

With breaks, it is very important to keep them calm and still. It takes 6 weeks for bone breaks to completely heal in kittens. Will he stay still and calm for that length of time having free roam? If he is active, it is very likely the break will not heal properly. This will cause problems as he grows and ages.

I understand. I have dealt with kittens his age with bone breaks, tendon/ligament tears, luxating patellas, etc...all have had to endure being crated. The most current was crated when we initially got him at 8-9 wks old. He had surgery for torn/enlongated tendon, with screws put in to hold the ankle in place 2 wks ago. He will be 5+ months of age when he finally gets to come out of the crate. No, it is certainly not the ideal thing for a kitten; but, it is what is required for him to heal properly.

Well, let's look on the bright side of things. He's someplace where he's sheltered, has food and water, has two people concerned with his well-being.

You can only do what you can do. If the vets cannot say that they'd even consider a cast and pain medicine unless you bring him in . . . . then there's no real point in upsetting the kitten with a journey to a vet who very well might not do anything more than the first one.

He (does he have a name yet? And a picture or two would be very welcome.) will likely heal O.K. It's just going to be more painful than it would be with medication

And congratulations on the upcoming wedding ceremony in the States.

He is not to young for pain meds.  Maybe what the vet has on hand but I have had 8 week old kittens fixed and offered pain meds.  

I would consider taking the leg off IF you do not think you can handle keeping him crated or quiet enough for his own good to allow it to heal.  I know how it is as I had a kitten a bit older need to be crated and first few days he was NOT HAPPY.  But he was always a pretty lazy quiet kitten so I knew it would pass.

Do you have a plan for your wedding for who will take care of him?

Thank you everyone for the kind answers.

I did leave out a few certain key factors that I didn't think were extremely important. Number 1, I'm allergic to cats. I love them but I sneeze and get itchy eyes when ok around them. I take allergy relief medicine to keep me stable. Number 2: With that in mind, we have a friend who is interested in keeping the cat. He came over yesterday and is still interested in taking the cat home but when his leg heals. He is obviously concerned about his health so it's not 100% sure. I feel fully responsible for this kittens future. He's perfectly fine when out of the carrier but gets crazy when put in. We do have it open though so he is able to go inside if he wants to. He has been walking and is hardly crying out at all. I was able to pick him up earlier today without a peep.

Number 3, he doesn't have a name as we are intending to keep him but he's always been a fighter so I've been calling him Fighter.

Here are some more. He's very friendly and enjoys being by us but also very independent.

I finally found the edit button. Sorry for so many double posts. I read that cats have strong bones that heal quickly. Is this true? The vet said 2-4 weeks, depending if he keeps off it and rests. What are your experiences? He seems to be doing better than A few days ago but I don't want to be lead into false hope. He seems to just be relaxing on a pillow. Been there since this morning.

Fighter may be pointed - I think he'll have creamy colored fur on his body and darker ears, face, legs, and tail. Whatever - he's adorable. Love the big ears and wide eyed stare.

This is he was like when I found him. My wife and I talked about the best course if action. She had a cat with a broken back leg that healed on its own. It was an outside cat. So she thinks that it's best for him emotionally to not be caged up. He also tries to chew through the cage. We are letting him roam freely in the main room (which is fairly small 10 x 10 I'd say so It's small. We moved out the coach, the other critters, the dresser, table to discourage climbing and put pillows and blankets around as well as two food dishes. My wife feels like caging him or penning him in will cause him to try and escape which would do more harm. He's been on the same pillow sleeping since this morning and hasn't moved much. He did use the toilet so so that's a good sign, I guess

I'm going to call the vet on Friday or take in the kitten on Saturday with my wife. My Japanese isn't horrible but it would be much better for a natural speaker to ask the tougher questions. It appears pain medicine is completely out. He was adamant about that. He said no to a cast but maybe some sort of gauze would be good? I would do it myself but he gets very angry if we handle that area (or his back legs) too much. In fact, I placed my hand down near his back legs and he hissed at me. But he warned up after I rubbed his ears a bit. I just worry this negatively affected the cats psyche. Like he will be a mean cat from now on.

Your kitten is in pain. As a result, it is normal for him to be defensive.

Gauze alone will not be enough to stabilize the leg. And, do to the location of the break, I would suspect you would need to wrap the leg, and cross wrap to the other shoulder to stabilize the break area.

So, if the right leg has the break, you wrap that leg, wrap up to the right shoulder, wrap around the chest over to the left shoulder and across the back to the right shoulder. You would still need to use a Popsicle stick or tongue depressor (placed vertically...parallel to the outter right leg) for support. Then, rewrap everything again so that the stick is held in place. This will keep the leg from bending and give kitty support when walking.

Yeah, he's been doing fine so far. It depends how agitated he is.

Hmmm....I'm going to mull it over today. I'm not 100% confident in my abilities to splint a cat. But I feel like if I wait too long, it could have bad consequences. When he walks, he obviously keeps the leg up as it hurts. It should be straightened, right? The break is located near the shoulder. However, from the x-Ray, it was a clean break and the two broken bone segments are basically held together despite breaking. The vet said it would heal easier that way.

Unfortunately my wife and I are very busy ATM and I took my last vacation day yesterday. The vet said we can come in on Saturday though.

Kitty update. He's doing pretty well. He kept him in a carrier for a while and let him out for him to learn how to walk. We were pretty impressed with his ability to get around. By Thursday night, he could climb onto our laps and even got onto the couch. We could also pick him up without him crying out. In fact, I haven't heard him cry from pain since Wednesday.

He's basically back to normal personality wise. He's a bit more bitey than before. He would let us pet him before but now he flips onto his back and just chomps away on our hand. We are trying to correct this.

This morning, he started to walk with his right front foot just a bit. He still holds it up but puts it down on occasions. He was also able to move it and grabbed my hand with both paws to lick it. Is this any indication that he's on the mend? His energy level is back up and he's back to jumping into our bed when it's time to wake up. He still obviously needs to heal and I do worry he's not allowing himself to heal but I'm hopeful with how things are progressing.

While I am glad to hear the progress his seems to be making, I want to reiterate that it takes several weeks for breaks to completely heal. If the kitten only had a hairline fracture, I would suspect all could be ok in as early as 4 weeks. If more than a hairline, 6 full weeks.

As the kitten's pain level decreases, he will become more active. This doesn't mean that it is safe or ok to allow them to be more active. Doing so could cause the break to heal improperly or prolong the healing process.

While it is best to keep him fully confined, if you are not going to do so, only allow him to be out when you can directly supervise him.

I would not encourage or allow him to jump or climb at this point. Doing so could cause further and more serious injury. If he wants up on the couch, pick him up and place him done and vice versa.

This is all the more important since he has no external support for the leg.

Yeah, we moved all of the furniture that he could potentially climb up. Somehow he got on top of my fishtank which is very high. I'm curious as to how he did that as it's on a custom stand. I'm considering breaking the tank down and moving it to another location.

My wife and I are having trouble compromising. I personally think he should be crated for a few weeks while she thinks that could damage the cats psyche. She thinks the cat is strong and doesn't need to be restricted. We decided to confine him while we are gone but I realized that, after I leave work, she let's him out, and then leaves for work. I understand she wants the cat to be happy and not confined but it can be frustrating. Especially when we both think our own opinion is more correct.

It is hard to confine him though. He runs away when we try to get him to put him in. And just screams when we do. He actually knocked over his carrier trying to get out. It makes being in the apartment impossible. But when he's out and with us, he usually just lays around and cuddles up to us. He enjoys to watch the rabbit but never tried to interact with him. Just watches. He seems much happier being outside and has actually hurt his arm before trying to escape from the carrier.

Anyways, I'm not the prefect cat caretaker and I'm learning. My wife's father brings in hurt animals. One time, a cat had a cut where a neighborhood boy cut him. It was apparently bleeding badly. Her father cleaned the wound, sewed him up, allowed it to recoil in the house, and let him out when it was healed. The cat stayed around until it grew old and died. She said she learned everything from her dad. When I try to contest, she tells me she's taken care if several cats with broken legs and did it this way.

still think she is doing it wrong but, in some cases, I think my way is only due to American over-sensitivity. We use pain medication for every thing and anything.

Here in Japan, it's not as prevalent. I had a cavity and they did everything without anything to numb the pain. Hurt like hell but now I'm careful to not get one. I am often very careful to not say "America is more correct" or "Japan is more correct" as I belong to both cultures. Born in Japan, raised in America and moved back to Japan.

Anyways, he's a good cat. A bit active and we are trying to put a cap on that for he can rest - which he normally does. He certainly has the love from us though. He's pampered and loved on from the time we come home to the time we go to bed.

Thank you everyone for helping us out. I was scared as I was expecting "You are a horrible pet owner and you should feel bad!" posts or "You have no idea what you are doing give the cat to someone who does." I appreciate everyone taking their time to post and give suggestions.

How big is the carrier he is being put in?  This should be a dog crate at least a few feet wide and big enough for a litter box and a water dish or a clip on small pet waterer.  Long term if this does not heal right you will have a big issue.  If it is a hairline and being played on/jumped on it could turn into a bigger break/possibly pop out of the skin.  

I know it is hard as I had a kitten on cage rest for weeks.  And the sad meows/looks that go with it.  You feel horrible as it is young and meant to be getting into things yet I crated my kitten in a 2x2 cage with a spot to sleep and litter and let him out into the hall supervised as nothing to jump on/off.  Long term he had no affects and is sweet as the rest.  He also has no limp or issues at all.  He is now 9 years old.

Not sure on the dimensions but it's big enough for him to move around in and for us to put in both a food tray and a litter box albeit small. The problem is he gets so panicky when going into the carrier cage that he justs destroys everything inside. The kitty litter and food just goes everywhere. It's really strange :/. Considering how warm and friendly he is when out if the carrier.

LostBloom said:

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• lostbloom
• Jul 23, 2014

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• lostbloom
• Jul 23, 2014

Here are some more. He's very friendly and enjoys being by us but also very independent.

I finally found the edit button. Sorry for so many double posts. I read that cats have strong bones that heal quickly. Is this true? The vet said 2-4 weeks, depending if he keeps off it and rests. What are your experiences? He seems to be doing better than A few days ago but I don't want to be lead into false hope. He seems to just be relaxing on a pillow. Been there since this morning.

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He's beautiful. How can you think about giving him up!

As far as size goes, our current kitten recouping from surgery is in a 36" L by 23" W wire dog crate. Once his cast is off, he will graduate to a 42" L by 28" W crate. We normally put kittens recovering from broken legs in the larger size crate. It allows for plenty of room for a litter box and bed at the back, some floor space for playing...we use crate bowls that attach for food/water (keeps them from stepping in their water and knocking the bowls over while playing.)

Hi everyone. Sorry for not updating. Took the cat to the vet yesterday and he said the bones is healing very nicely. While it's not 100% healed, it's close. The bone is just ee-strengthening itself the vet said He's surprised by how well it's healed actually. The cat has no significant problems walking around. We are allowing him to run around and he's been loving it. He doesn't limp and appears just as he was prior to the break. He's also become more cuddly; not play biting as much and nuzzles up to us when we sit down. Both my wife and I and the cat are happy