Hurt foot, what to do

This is my first post to this site, and I’m so glad I found it. I wish I would have found it 3 years ago when I started caring for ferals. To give you a short history, I own ten acres and have several areas where I feed feral cat colonies. After much love and work, some of them have become tame, or at least with me.

I have been handling Esme for almost three years. She's charming, sweet, but still has wild tendencies. I am the only one who can handle her. She started limping and now will rarely put pressure on her leg. I took her to the vet where she had an XRay done, and my vet says she had an injury that is now something she will have to live with. Although the bone is not broken, the cartilage is away from the bone. He wasn’t sure how it had been injured, or if she’d sprained it and it just didn’t get better, but he says now it’s just something she has to live with. He doesn’t think removing her foot is the best option (and I don’t either), and a cast, or wrap, or what have you won’t help.

I don’t know if she’s in pain. Cats are such creatures we can’t always tell when they are hurting, but she’s a happy cat. So my problem is, is there something I could try to do to help this? He said if cartilage (calcium) grew back in that area, it could help, but that’s not anything we can do without extensive surgery that he doesn’t feel is necessary. He doesn’t want to try cortisone to help with inflammation (says it isn’t inflamed and cortisone is so bad for cats). Do I accept his opinion? 

Bringing her indoors is not an option. I guess it would be, but I have 7 indoor cats, a small house, and she has really safe quarters outdoors. Several barns, buildings, and even an old RV that we had bought to remodel but never did and now she stays in. I’m still dealing with letting an outdoor cat get used to the indoors, and letting cats get used to each other along with home remodeling, that I don’t think I can do it again right now. But I really care about Esme, and I want what’s best for her. If there is anyone who knows about these types of issues or sprains in cats, or if I should try vet wrap, or anything, I would love some advice. Caring for these colonies has been both a huge blessing, and a huge challenge, but I do love it and accept it as part of my life. Thanks in advance!

I recently brought a semi feral cat inside my house who was limping quite badly.  At first it was just now and then, but it escalated to the point that it was really bothering him.   I was able to catch the cat and get it to the vet.  The cat also had an injured tail at the time.  He too did not have anything broken, but it was suspected it was an old injury that he had reinjured.  I needed to keep him inside to care for his tail.  Once inside it took almost 4 weeks, but the limp went away.  He does not like to jump very high, but he now no longer limps.  It was just rest that he needed.

Is there anyway to quarantine her for a few weeks and see if it gets better.  If she could just have a small room or even small outside space and see if the injury will heal once she is no longer able to move so much.  With the limp, it does put her at a disadvantage to predators.  She may not be able to run or jump as well. 

You could even use a large dog crate if you don't have the space for her in a room of her own.  

I, too, have cared a feral cat who has a leg injury. Someone had shot her several months prior, and the bullet was, and is still is, lodged in her pelvis, but the vet had determined it was not causing her any discomfort. The bullet had broken the leg and the leg had healed on its own, but crooked. She can move quickly when she needs to, and she can play with a wand toy, but she can't jump very high, and she walks with a gait. She was supposed to have been a TNR cat, but when I learned of her disability, I kept her inside. I've had her indoors three and a half years now, along with 4 other rescued cats. She has a fairly content life. The other cats know she has a disability and sometimes bully her a bit, mostly by not wanting her to go downstairs, and chasing her back upstairs when she ventures down--but she has accepted her situation because it's a lot better than it had been. It is a reality that other cats, feral or not, may bully a disabled cat.   

If you could take her inside your home and separate her from the others for a week or two, that might be a good opportunity for her leg to heal, and for you to see if socialization could be possible to the point of her being adopted into a forever indoor home. But at her age, this might not work out, because adult ferals can't always adjust to indoor life, and aren't always capable of being socialized to people other than their caregiver. At least you would know.  If you leave her outdoors and continue to provide a warm shelter and food for her, she can  live a long, happy life as your outdoor cat--cats with foot and other injuries can adjust--but you'll just need to keep an eye on her and chase off any aggressive cats who may appear on your block. It's wonderful that you've done so much to take care of this cat.