Weird!!

I was playing with my new cat, Autumn. She was darting around after the laser pointer. Shortly after, her hind end was wobbly and then she started limping on a hind leg. She was using leg and touching the ground with it when she walked but you could see a definite limp and she would often sit or lay down and stretch the leg out.

Was it possible she got a strain or a "cramp" from racing around after the lazer light? I never noticed her limping before this incident. She had been cooped up in a cage most of the time for the past six months. Would this have caused muscle weakness and then when she over exerted herself playing, caused the limp?

I would stop playing with her for a bit until she gets used to life out of a cage. I would also watch her closely for problems using the litter pan or anything else that looks off, and if you see anything out of the ordinary, take her to the vet pronto! She could have fallen off a high place when you weren't around or she could have an old injury that is flaring up. Some caged cats will throw themselves against the side of their cages when they get stressed, and she could have done this while she was in captivity.

She seemed to be almost back to normal after about half an hour, but this morning (this happened late last night) she seems to favor it only slightly. You can barely tell except that she isn't running around and often will stop and sit after walking. She is back to jumping up on my bed, dressers,etc. and is using the litterbox just fine, so I would go with the old injury theory OR she strained it after six months of almost constant inactivity. The shelter cages are so small that the two cats per cage have to literally switch spots in order to move. They had tiny little kitten size litterboxes inside a plastic cube. There was a tiny space to lie down near the litterbox and then they could jump to the top of the cube in the cage to lie on a "shelf" of sorts. I have a chiropractor who is also licensed to work on animals with my vet's o.k. I might take Autumn to her if she still looks lame. Maybe she has a problem with her spine that needs adjusting.

is still limping. She uses both back legs but her gait is staggered and wobbly. She bears weight on the legs but again isn't steady. Her hips seem to "swing" from side to side and she just doesn't look like she is walking normally. If she doesn't improve in a couple of days, I will bring her into the vet. She doesn't cry out in pain and otherwise doesn't seem to be all that bothered by her weird weak back end. I didn't notice ANY problem for the first two weeks. I only noticed a definite limp after a rather intense play session with the lazer light. I am completely perplexed. Can cats "pull a muscle" like a human can? I hope this goes away with rest and time.

I would take her in tonight if you can. Because the limp has not gone away, this could be quite serious for her.

I would, except my vet is closed until Mon and I cannot bring her in until Tuesday. I really feel it is a sprain as she has shown no signs of lameness before I played with the lazer light. She was doing alot of pivoting on her hips and starting and stopping suddenly. She is walking around, jumping up on my bed, using her litterbox, eating, and so on. The only sign that it bothers her is when I try to massage the hip or gently flex the leg. She will gently bite me, but not hard. She hasn't cried out or refused to walk on it, she just isn't solidly using both back legs. I am basically not going to play with her at all for the next couple of days and will allow her to do things at her pace. My other cat Lily, doesn't seem to sense anything is wrong and is all but ignoring her. Autumn is resting on my bed at the moment. BTW it has improved somewhat since last night. She was REALLY limping then. Now it is less pronounced.

but now the site won't allow me to delete the post and re-post in the correct spot. Why is it saying "I am not allowed to accesses this page?"

Because it was in the process of being merged (I think) and merging and deleting threads are mod functions.

I hope your kitty will be okay. I would take her in on Monday though.

You must feel like you "live" on this board. You show genuine concern for all kitties! Autumn seems to be getting stronger by the hour. I am gone from 7:00 am till 9:00 pm on Mondays. IF Autumn is in clear distress or has a pronounced limp by Mon morning, I might be able to have a family member take her to my vet, but it is unlikely as we ALL have been recovering from the flu this past week. Since she is not in immediate life-threatening danger, she will have to wait until Tuesday if her limp doesn't go away.

I hope you're right, here is a thread you might find beneficial to read

Limping Cat

Autumn "seems" to be back to normal this morning. I will definitely keep the information from those links in mind, and carefully observe her. If her limp returns or shows up during heavy exercise, I will definitely have my vet check her out!