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- Jul 29, 2013
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Hello!
It's been a long time since I've logged on but I'm back with a question that's been bugging me. I have three cats, my baby is Gimli. He's so fat and handsome. But he has weird toes on one paw and it causes him issues at times. When I found him as a kitten I was certain he had a broken leg as he would howl something fierce when picked up. X-rays revealed a dislocated bone that was pushing his toes forward in his left arm. He was also born with out the equivalent to our ring finger. There's no bone for it, it just never existed (you can see in the photo). The doctor, who was stellar for giving me a free x-ray simply to satisfy her own curiosity, told me if his arm caused him distress it would have to be amputated. The more likely scenario is that he would have arthritis and would lead a normal life. He has lead a normal life but with one small hiccup, his floppy dislocated toe. I always know he's coming because this thing clicks on the floor as he walks. Because the toe is dislocated it can twist all the way around and sit backwards and...it's just a nightmare to describe because it's so absurd lol. I don't think he feels it. I used to worry it hurt him but I'd poke it and move it around and he wouldn't notice, which makes me wonder if it's numb to him.
The toe still produces it's claw, which grows at a regular rate but it's slightly larger than the others. I try to keep them all trim, but this claw is always out, it never retracts. It gets caught in the cat tree, on sweaters, blankets, the door frame, whatever he thinks to stick it in. It's always bothered me because I feel sorry that it happens to him. He gets super freaked out and cries when it gets stuck. And in comes the real issue...our newest cat Nori panics when another cat is angry or distressed and attacks them. Nori is a big marshmallow. He will cuddle you endlessly and is full of love. You can imagine my horror when he turned on Gimli and my husband. My husband has received deep bites and scratches all the way up his arm. This has happened at least twice in the last month. My fear is that Nori will attack Gimli when I'm not around to break it up. It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Nori does a complete change into hyper aggressive mode. The wounds he creates are deep and he does not back down, it's really quite scary. I can't blame him because I know he's an animal and he's just acting on instinct but it's a big problem.
The only solution I can think of that will benefit Gimli is to have the claw on the dislocated toe removed. Now, I'm not for declawing any more. We did it with our first cat which turned into a horrible experience when his sixth toe (unbeknownst to us that he even had one) had a claw burst out of the toe pad. Yet, in this instance, I look at it as the pros outweigh the cons; if we remove it Gimli will no longer get stuck on things, which means he won't be vulnerable to attack, and he might not even feel it because it's his weird toe. On the other hand, declawing could be the wrong choice and maybe removing the gimpy toe itself is the solution. I'm torn. I'm sure the vet will be able to weigh in on this, we have to take him in a month or so for checkup, but what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
It's been a long time since I've logged on but I'm back with a question that's been bugging me. I have three cats, my baby is Gimli. He's so fat and handsome. But he has weird toes on one paw and it causes him issues at times. When I found him as a kitten I was certain he had a broken leg as he would howl something fierce when picked up. X-rays revealed a dislocated bone that was pushing his toes forward in his left arm. He was also born with out the equivalent to our ring finger. There's no bone for it, it just never existed (you can see in the photo). The doctor, who was stellar for giving me a free x-ray simply to satisfy her own curiosity, told me if his arm caused him distress it would have to be amputated. The more likely scenario is that he would have arthritis and would lead a normal life. He has lead a normal life but with one small hiccup, his floppy dislocated toe. I always know he's coming because this thing clicks on the floor as he walks. Because the toe is dislocated it can twist all the way around and sit backwards and...it's just a nightmare to describe because it's so absurd lol. I don't think he feels it. I used to worry it hurt him but I'd poke it and move it around and he wouldn't notice, which makes me wonder if it's numb to him.
The toe still produces it's claw, which grows at a regular rate but it's slightly larger than the others. I try to keep them all trim, but this claw is always out, it never retracts. It gets caught in the cat tree, on sweaters, blankets, the door frame, whatever he thinks to stick it in. It's always bothered me because I feel sorry that it happens to him. He gets super freaked out and cries when it gets stuck. And in comes the real issue...our newest cat Nori panics when another cat is angry or distressed and attacks them. Nori is a big marshmallow. He will cuddle you endlessly and is full of love. You can imagine my horror when he turned on Gimli and my husband. My husband has received deep bites and scratches all the way up his arm. This has happened at least twice in the last month. My fear is that Nori will attack Gimli when I'm not around to break it up. It's like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Nori does a complete change into hyper aggressive mode. The wounds he creates are deep and he does not back down, it's really quite scary. I can't blame him because I know he's an animal and he's just acting on instinct but it's a big problem.
The only solution I can think of that will benefit Gimli is to have the claw on the dislocated toe removed. Now, I'm not for declawing any more. We did it with our first cat which turned into a horrible experience when his sixth toe (unbeknownst to us that he even had one) had a claw burst out of the toe pad. Yet, in this instance, I look at it as the pros outweigh the cons; if we remove it Gimli will no longer get stuck on things, which means he won't be vulnerable to attack, and he might not even feel it because it's his weird toe. On the other hand, declawing could be the wrong choice and maybe removing the gimpy toe itself is the solution. I'm torn. I'm sure the vet will be able to weigh in on this, we have to take him in a month or so for checkup, but what are your thoughts?
Thanks in advance!
