5 week old kitten dragging her legs... Please help!

Hi all, 

I took in a stray kitten (around 5-6 weeks old) on Monday, and cleaned her out for now and gave her some kitten food bought from pet stores. She's currently living outside the porch for now until I can take her to the vet this weekend. 

She was walking fine both on Monday and Tuesday morning. Until she fell off a chair I had on the porch last night she's now dragging her legs around and not walking properly! I took a look last night and this morning on her hind legs and touched them to see if they give a reaction. Both legs she can still stretch out and move her little toes. Sometimes she tries to put very very little weight on her right leg to walk, but not of the left. 

Sometimes when she's  turning around her left and right leg would overlap each other and she'd just drag them.

I am currently at work right now and unable to take her to vet and no one is at home as I live by myself... 

She is an adorable little kitten and would like to know whether she has seriously sprained her legs really badly or broken a bone? Anything I can do for her now to ease her out of this until the weekend? 

Could anyone please give some advice? Thank you!

It could be she bruised something. Def get her to the vet and limit her ability to go places until you know what's wrong. If she's keen to move, that's a good sign and likely it's more of a shock to her system. My boy did this when he was a kitten---about eight weeks though and was limping---and we never did find out what he did---just kitties. Good luck!

Personally I would leave work to take an injured or sick pet to the vet. Use the "family emergency" "or home emergency" excuse, not "my pet needs to be seen by a vet now" because you will most likely be told no. Take a sick day if needed. The kitten needs to be seen by a vet ASAP. Waiting for the weekend is too long, IMO. The sooner your kitten can be treated, the greater the chances that whatever the problem will be resolved and your kitten will likely not have any lasting issues from it.

darkhorse321 said:

 
It could be she bruised something. Def get her to the vet and limit her ability to go places until you know what's wrong. If she's keen to move, that's a good sign and likely it's more of a shock to her system. My boy did this when he was a kitten---about eight weeks though and was limping---and we never did find out what he did---just kitties. Good luck!

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Yes I limited her ability to go to places by using a cage now. she's not moving much and can still urinate and defecate without a problem. I picked her up this morning to take a look and her left leg is dangling, her right leg seems to show more movement though still quite dangling. Sometimes she can get up on her feet to stretch but then that's about it and she drags herself to food and water bowl. 

How long did it take your 8 week old kitten to recover from the shock? and really glad to hear that your kitten recovered!!!

LTS3 said:

 
Personally I would leave work to take an injured or sick pet to the vet. Use the "family emergency" "or home emergency" excuse, not "my pet needs to be seen by a vet now" because you will most likely be told no. Take a sick day if needed. The kitten needs to be seen by a vet ASAP. Waiting for the weekend is too long, IMO. The sooner your kitten can be treated, the greater the chances that whatever the problem will be resolved and your kitten will likely not have any lasting issues from it.

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I did that yesterday as I sat around at work feeling really worried. I had a sick stomach myself so took the half day off and went to take kitten to see the vet. They say that she doesn't have any broken bones but she might've hurt her pelvic area but since she's so young, they can't do surgery on her if there is any damage and it's only a 50/50 chance she will be able to use her legs again. When I heard that I was heartbroken.... I read online that kittens do heal quickly but not sure why the vet said a 50/50 chance? is this actually true? 

Currently she' back at home now and in a cage with restricted movement... would you know around how long would a kitten take to heal if you've seen any cases like this?

Thank you!

My boy took about a week I'd say? He wasn't slowed down at all either. But, he was only limping.

Kittens are very hard to xray---my mom's pure bred british short hair has some oddity in her gait and when I asked to take Xrays, they said they'd be very hard to read as kittens have very tiny bones. But, her kitty is over a year and wired for sound...she sways to one side, but it doesn't slow her down much! Teehehehehe.

So Happy!!! My little Calico kitten's legs seem to be recovering on their own! She's able to start walking on her right foot for now. I assume it's probably due to her left leg must've sustained a heavier injury... At least she's walking a little!

She's still in a cage for now with restricted movement and allowing her left leg to heal a bit more.