Help With Healing A Fractured Rear Leg

[jaime_6798]

My 3-year-old male tabby named Diesel has had a very hard week. This past wed, he ran through the door to get onto the back porch as the door was starting to shut and his tail got caught by the door. We rushed him to a local vet and they had to do a partial amputation. He was doing good up until this past Friday. He was out on the porch and thought he could jump up on a cat condo we have out there. Well his cone stopped him from jumping and he fell down and inured his leg. Again we rushed him to a local vet. They did an X-ray and didn’t see any breaks or dislocations. Well it’s now been 4 days and his leg wasn’t getting any better. The vet by chance called today to see how he was doing and I told him not any better. They asked us to bring him back which we did. They did another X-ray of his lower leg and have found out he has a fracture on his lower rear leg near his toes. This has now been several days with him walking on it and jumping on furniture. They didn’t want to splint it or bandage it because of the location. They don’t think a bootie of any nature will stay on the end of his leg. They want us to keep him confined for 6 weeks. They don’t want him to walk on it at all, which is never easy. But we don’t have a place to keep him that so that he can’t jump up on furniture. Or even any rooms with no anything for him to jump up on. If we lock him in a bathroom he will jump up into the sink because he was doing that before all of this. Is there anything we could do to help him heal? Confining him for 6 weeks and never letting him out is going to be extremely hard. He’s also still coned for up another week possibly before stitches are removed from surgery. Any advice would be so much appreciated. Also, we have 3 other cats that want to be with him and scream and cry at night because they can't be. The fracture on his leg isn't severe, you don't see a gap in the bone and can almost not even see the fracture on the xray unless extremely zoomed into it.

 

[Kieka]

A dog crate is really your best option. I went down the same road with my boy almost two years ago. We tried just limiting his movement and watching him; he managed to rebreak it two months after the original injury. He turned a simple clean break like you describe into a long jagged break .After that we did the dog kennel and he healed up without further complications.

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• Kieka
• Mar 28, 2017

Your vet is right about the cast. The cast you see in the above photo lasted 72 hours before Link, confined to a kennel no less, managed to twist it enough that I had to rush him to the ER vet for it to be removed and fresh x-rays. I had another cat with a cast when I was younger, that cat managed to shake the cast off.

Kennel rest can seem like a daunting task. It really isn't horrible. Link settled in nicely after a few days. We'd try to spend as much time around him as possible. I'd clean the kennel daily and when cleaning it he'd go in his carrier. He'd usually stay in the carrier for an hour or two with me carrying him around as I did chores. He'd meow when he was ready to go back.

We got lucky, my vet let us borrow a kennel from their office. But you can find kennels at Chewy.com for a decent price. I've also seen them on local ad websites for a good price. Just make sure you clean any used ones well and leave them in direct sunlight for a few hours to sun bleach some while it dries.

 

[jaime_6798]

Thank you for your reply. I have ordered a pet playpen for him to be confined in. The vet said we could use that instead of a dog crate since he's a bit on the bigger size. I'm hoping that will work but six weeks seems like such a long time. Granted I know it will fly by.

 

[Kieka]

Thank you for your reply. I have ordered a pet playpen for him to be confined in. The vet said we could use that instead of a dog crate since he's a bit on the bigger size. I'm hoping that will work but six weeks seems like such a long time. Granted I know it will fly by.

Link is 14.5 pounds and the dog kennel was just right. Enough room to turn around, lay down and a litter box. I thought about a play pen but my boy is a brute and I was worried about him breaking out. I have pretty much figured out that if something can go wrong it will go wrong with my boy. I'd just check the seams and zippers to make sure nothing will give.

 

[jaime_6798]

Here is a copy of his xray.

 

[Kieka]

Links original break,

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• Kieka
• Dec 7, 2016

Looks like yours is a little better. I know breaks can hide on inital x-rays, we thought Link broke another leg recently and that time the vet moved the leg around to stress the bone a little for that reason. The confinement though is still worth it to make sure it doesn't get worse. The good news is it is only one bone so the other should help keep it stable while it heals

 

[jaime_6798]

That's a big difference in fractures between Diesel and Link. By the way, Link is absolutely adorable!

 

[Kieka]

That's a big difference in fractures between Diesel and Link. By the way, Link is absolutely adorable!

It is, but after my last experience I tend to bebiverly cautious when it comes to breaks. You really don't want to risk it getting worse. Link has arthritis developing at his break now too. And thank you; he's an adorable trouble maker.