Kitten wth Contracted Tendons (Twisted Legs), Please Help!

[mroddy2000]

I have adopted a 5 month old kitten who has twisty legs in the back. i need help. any one out there have advise as to what i need to know? any good vets? i can get in touch with? My vet only cares to want to put her down. So please help is any one can.

 

[Brian007]

This site has valuable information:

http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/contracted-tendons.shtml

 

[mroddy2000]

thank you I did learn a lot from that site. now I have a lot more questions. I would love to find some one who has a cat with the same problem so I can talk to the so I know what questions to ask when I take her to the vet.

 

[Brian007]

 I'll be watching your thread also, as I'm interested to know how things are going to pan out.  

Have you got someone around who can help you with the actual exercises and whatnot? 

I hope you manage to correct the twist, I'm rooting for you both  

 

 

[cookie91]

I have never dealt with that issues but people have cats that are paralyzed and they still live a happy life so ur vet is a moron for just wanting to put her down some vets should not be vets sadly. Some do it bc of the money alone

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

The only cases I recall seeing here on TCS were newborns, NOT 5 months old.  I did, however, see when I googled a case were an adult cat had twisted legs and they fixed them with surgery.  I've seen other articles where the cats just lived with the disability unless the legs got infected from being dragged around, in which case partial amputation was suggested rather than euthanasia. 

 

[Brian007]

I just did a TCS search in the search box at the top of this page for "twisted legs" there are quite a few few threads, I just scanned the first couple, which are all about newborns but this one is about an 8 month old kitten:

http://www.thecatsite.com/t/230325/nd-advice-on-special-needs-of-cat-with-twisted-front-leg

There are people on the thread with direct experience.....

 

@Mroddy2000  

 

[Brian007]

 

[Brian007]

 

[Brian007]

 

[Brian007]

How's it going?  I've been thinking and I don't think you should have to go through this foster on your own, without advice from the rescue centre.  It is their responsibility to enable you to foster, not just foist a disabled kitten on you with no clue as to how to care for it.  I suggest that you ask to return the kitten to the rescue centre, where at least there are many more volunteers, vet assistants and veterinarians around at all times.  Then, someone with experience might come into the rescue centre who would like to adopt her.  They should be made aware of the stress they've put you through and that it might taint your fostering in the future.

And/Or, you could put an advert in your local newspaper, explaining your situation and asking for help.  Also, put up posters with tear off strips with an email contact (set up a new email address especially for this purpose).  

 

[solomonar]

A vet I know adopted a feral cat with "twisted back leg" - or whatever you may call it:  one  back leg was mot aligned to the other, so the cat was badly limping. The vet almost work it out by a surgery procedure alone, and in few weeks the cat was ok, stepping ok. Well, limping a bit, but far less than before the procedure.

This happened few months ago, the cat (a black one, a bit skinny in my eyes I have to say :-)) is still OK, with the vet cabinet. 

I can ask her (she is a very friendly person) what exactly had the cat and what she did to the cat and post you back within few days, if you think it is usefull for you to know. Note that I am not in the USA and be aware that here the vet's bills are lower than in USA (for common practice). 

A photo (or even better - a movie) would help, or at least a more detailed description, as "twisted legs" may not be sufficiently conclusive in a vet's eyes :-). 

===

To be honest, in my eyes the reasons for putting down shall be either un-manageable pain or miserable life.These 2 criteria (in my opinion, some may have different views of the question - I do not challenge any approach, I just table my personal opinion):  none of them is  reached by the situation oft his particular cat. Well, instead of giving the cat  to a shelter, of no other chance than being kept for some days and ending by the same faith, perhaps the vet is right in this right-away solution.

 

[solomonar]

The cat had a hip dysplasia (back leg) and the vet successfully corrected it in a common surgery setting.   

I have been told that another vet  corrected dog's torticollis. I asked a friend of  mine to find more about the procedure and whether is performed on cats as well.  

I collected two different medical opinions so far about  cat's torticollis:

a) Not recommended, because the nerves can be easily damaged, thus no significant improvement can be achieved by the correction procedure

b) Can be done, still not easy and risky.

No one so far recommended euthanasia as first option, for "twisted leg" (torticolis or hip dysplasia) condition alone. It shall be discussed case by case in connection with general health and other problems the cat may have, I think.

I am  waiting for more info next week.

If you have an accurate diagnostic, that will help a lot, since "twisted leg" is far to generic.