- Joined
- Oct 4, 2021
- Messages
- 4
- Purraise
- 2
Yesterday afternoon, we came home and called our cat (Tiger) in. He walked inside very slowly, and it was evident he was hurt in some way, although he appeared to have use of all his legs and was not limping. One of my neighbours told me he and a big (bully!) tom cat from the area had been in a nasty fight outside their house and he'd sprayed them with water to split them up, after which my cat made his way home and must have climbed over our metal fence (approx 5ft) to get in the back garden, where he was sheltering from the rain when we got home. He lay in the corner and growled if we tried to move him. However, he let me feel all over his body and push back his fur to check for bites/wounds, and there is nothing there. He seems able to bend and move all his paws OK. He has also managed to clean himself. I slept downstairs to keep an eye on him last night. His breathing is normal. The only signs that he is injured are when he moves around and lies in a different position, he gives a little growl before he settles (a bit like a human flinching if you touch them where they're bruised etc). As he seemed to settle and want to sleep, I chose not to take him to the vet last night as it was obviously giving him discomfort when I moved him. I gave him some cat calpol through a syringe, and managed to squeeze a bit of milk and water into the side of his mouth as I don't want him to become deydrated. Obviously it's too early in the day to assess his eating and stools etc, but his mouth and eyes seem Ok (I double checked to see if his third eyelid had appeared and it hasn't). Is it quite usual for cats that get bruised or suffer things like hairline fractures to heal themselves after a few days of sleep and care? He still purrs when we stroke him etc and his eyes are bright and alert, but he is very subdued and the top of his leg/shoulder seem to hurt a bit when we put pressure on them (although he doesn't scratch and flinch, he just kind of 'lets you know' if you know what I mean.)