limp tail

Our cat, who is an outdoor cat but she sleeps inside at night (she absolutely hates being indoors) didn't come home the other night. We found her the next day with a completely limp tail. We kept her inside that day but she managed to escape again and we could not catch her for the next 2 days. Got her inside last night and took her to the vet today. It looks like she has an abscess near the base of her tail. She doesn't have any trouble with urinating or bowel movements (she happened to do both right in front of the vet!). It's now bandaged up but he says that if there is still no tail movement in a couple of days and there is any sign of nerve damage then we need to look at amputation I don't want her to lose her gorgeous tail. I'm so disappointed. What is the likelihood of a tail being limp for almost a week and regaining movement? I'm really worried.

lindz said:

Our cat, who is an outdoor cat but she sleeps inside at night (she absolutely hates being indoors) didn't come home the other night. We found her the next day with a completely limp tail. We kept her inside that day but she managed to escape again and we could not catch her for the next 2 days. Got her inside last night and took her to the vet today. It looks like she has an abscess near the base of her tail. She doesn't have any trouble with urinating or bowel movements (she happened to do both right in front of the vet!). It's now bandaged up but he says that if there is still no tail movement in a couple of days and there is any sign of nerve damage then we need to look at amputation

I don't want her to lose her gorgeous tail. I'm so disappointed. What is the likelihood of a tail being limp for almost a week and regaining movement? I'm really worried.

Click to expand...

Did they do an xray?  It it's just broken it should heal.  If its something else I have no idea sorry.

He doesn't think it's broken so they didn't do an xray but there is a scab from an abscess near the base of the tail.

OK well i hope he recovers function soon!

Thanks StephenQ. I hope she does too.

Has anyone had this happen to them? We are taking her back to the vet tomorrow and they could decide to operate then. Any advice would really be appreciated!!

Sorry to hear about this.

It sounds very much like she received some nerve injury when she was bitten.

Alot can be known by whether or not she is able to control her bowels and bladder, or if it just comes out whenever.

Often times when a cat has a tail injury it becomes incontinent and the tail will repeatedly become infected. Which is why vets will recommend amputation.

If she has been indoors, is she using her litterbox?

If so, I would say hold off on the surgery. She might improve in time, but she might not too, but best to give it a bit of time to see the extent of the injury/damage.

Thanks catwoman707. It's hard to tell whether she has been using the litterbox as we have our other cats indoors aswell. I haven't noticed any accidents though so I guess that's a good sign. She doesn't seem as sensitive as she was in her lower back area as she was before her tail was bandaged up. I really don't know what to think, but there doesn't seem to be any control over her tail at all

I have had one that was amputated and one that was not.  The one that was amputated is still just fine and is very cute with her little bob tail.  She is about 12-14 years old now (she used to belong to a neighbor so I'm not really sure of her exact age.)  They tried just treating it at first, it was a lovely tail as she was a longhaired white kitty, but it kept getting reinfected so they recommended amputation.  That was definitely the best choice for her.  Her tail was lacerated but not broken.

The other one continued to have problems with his tail, which was indeed broken.  Sadly, since it always just hung there, it set itself in that position.  He had no bladder or owel prolem either, but oe time the vet went to lift his tail to take his temperature without thinking and it re-broke and he let out a horrible scream.  It was heartbreaking.  Unfortunately, he was leukemia positive when rescued and did develop active leukemia and was put down not long after that.  He was a non-neutered male who just showed up, sweet as can be, but with abscesses within abscesses on his ears and neck.  It's a wonder he lived at all but he knew love while we had him.  We named him Worf, after the Star Trek warrior.  Wonderful cat.  RIP Worf, I'll collect you at the Rainbow Bridge when I get there, and love you forever.

Aww! What a sad/sweet story!!

lindz said:

Thanks catwoman707. It's hard to tell whether she has been using the litterbox as we have our other cats indoors aswell. I haven't noticed any accidents though so I guess that's a good sign. She doesn't seem as sensitive as she was in her lower back area as she was before her tail was bandaged up. I really don't know what to think, but there doesn't seem to be any control over her tail at all

Click to expand...

Is her abcess still actively healing or is it all done healing?

Well the bandage was only put on yesterday after it broke open and was bleeding so we'll have to see how it is tomorrow when we take the bandage off.

My cat had a similar injury with no loss in function, the bite was on the underside of the base of the tail so I never saw it. It abcessed in an odd way in that an entire patch died the size of a silver dollar. The abcess hole was huge you could literally fit 3 or 4 quarters in it. The loss of function in your cat could be from the area of the wound and muscle damage or just pain. Both can be repaired. My cat had surgery and a drain put in and then out, he was fully healed after a month. No amputation was needed. I'd think if there was nerve damage there would be in intcontinence issues Hopefully yours will be able to heal with non amputation.

lindz said:

Well the bandage was only put on yesterday after it broke open and was bleeding so we'll have to see how it is tomorrow when we take the bandage off.

Click to expand...

That's what I am thinking, it's possible that due to pain she is choosing to leave it limp, or that once it is healed completely she may have use of it again.

Can hope!!

I really hope so catwoman!

Thanks hexiesfriend. I'm glad your cat was ok and I am really hoping this is the case with mine.

Would a cat really leave it completely limp even when it's tail is lifted and moved?

You never can tell for sure, but if it was traumatized it makes sense and seems at least possible.

We can hope since we really don't know the answer or what the cat is feeling.

Just my personal opinion, but I have to say it.

Despite the beautiful tail, and believe me I have a gorgeous long haired snow white persian and would just have a VERY tough time accepting losing her tail, it's her prime feature!  But if it comes down to it, you could and would adapt to it being gone if needed, it is what it is and you can't change it, and it's not life threatening, or cancer, right?

However, I would most definitely be concerned and working on finding out if she is able to control her output................

If not, now THAT would be very hard to adapt to........if she can, count your blessings, since there is a very fine line here between losing control of her tail and her potty. For life.

Fingers crossed for her that she has not lost control    

If need be, put her in a separate place with a box and see if she uses it for both.

        

How's this for some hopeful news?!!.....

Group two:
Cats with Lack of Tail Mobility and Sensation as Their Only Sign

These cats are expected to recover tail function completely and have an excellent prognosis!

From http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_cats_with_broken_tails.html

One thing mentioned here is that her bladder might be full and she is not able to express it still due to trauma. You might need to watch for this as it would be quite serious if it gets full/overfull.

Well, I just saw her use the litterbox which is some good news (only pee though). It looked as though she was lifting her tail up slightly but I can't be 100% sure as it may have been just resting on the edge of the litterbox. There is still a little bleeding and puss coming out of the abscess that I can see where the bandage has peeled back slightly. When I touch the base of her tail it seems very painful for her and when I gently squeezed around the middle of her tail she growled so hopefully that means the feeling is coming back? Maybe it's wishful thinking! So anxious about tomorrow.

Sorry Red Top Rescue. I only just saw your post now. So sorry about your beautiful kitty

Once the abscess heals hopefully you'll know more

lindz said:

Well, I just saw her use the litterbox which is some good news (only pee though). It looked as though she was lifting her tail up slightly but I can't be 100% sure as it may have been just resting on the edge of the litterbox. There is still a little bleeding and puss coming out of the abscess that I can see where the bandage has peeled back slightly. When I touch the base of her tail it seems very painful for her and when I gently squeezed around the middle of her tail she growled so hopefully that means the feeling is coming back? Maybe it's wishful thinking! So anxious about tomorrow.

Click to expand...

Well this is all hopeful to me at least!

Maybe just too painful for her to move.

As stephenQ said, once the abcess is healed it should reveal alot clearer what's up.

I was excited to find the site I posted about. Gives great hope.