I have a male cat who seems to be determined to walk with a limp no matter what I do. Not sure how to prevent it. He is an indoor/outdoor brown tabby, who is the "guardian" of the neighborhood (or so he thinks). He has to make his rounds to secure the area, then returns to nap a little while, then heads out for another security sweep to put the other cats in their place. He is not a large, bullying type of cat, but he chases them off and growls to let them know who the big man on the block is, which I find quite amusing because he isn't the largest cat I have had. :-)
Not long ago he came home with quite the paw injury. It was nothing visible, but he couldn't walk on it. He held the front paw up, refusing to put any weight on it whatsoever. He would let us touch it, move it, and purred the entire time we were examining him. So we didn't feel there was any immediate need to take him to see the vet. We decided to keep him in a few days and monitor how he was doing before deciding whether he should go in or not. It never did swell or get any worse. After a few days he was walking normal again and seemed fine. So we let him back out.
But he came home again, holding the same paw up, limping. So again, I kept him in a few days, watching it. This time when he was almost walking normal and I was thinking he'd be okay to let out again, I watched him jump from the top of my upright piano to the floor (our cat climber is next to the piano - he had scrambled up the climber just moments earlier in a kittenish frenzy, then dashed across the top of the piano and soared off the edge to the floor), only to start limping again and holding it up.
Now I am not sure what to think. What should I do? Every time he jumps from up high he hurts it. He keeps reinjuring it. But what do you do with a cat? Especially one so active and playful as this? And one that we have to fight with so badly to keep inside? He wants so desperately to be outside roaming. I don't know how to keep him from injuring himself.
Not long ago he came home with quite the paw injury. It was nothing visible, but he couldn't walk on it. He held the front paw up, refusing to put any weight on it whatsoever. He would let us touch it, move it, and purred the entire time we were examining him. So we didn't feel there was any immediate need to take him to see the vet. We decided to keep him in a few days and monitor how he was doing before deciding whether he should go in or not. It never did swell or get any worse. After a few days he was walking normal again and seemed fine. So we let him back out.
But he came home again, holding the same paw up, limping. So again, I kept him in a few days, watching it. This time when he was almost walking normal and I was thinking he'd be okay to let out again, I watched him jump from the top of my upright piano to the floor (our cat climber is next to the piano - he had scrambled up the climber just moments earlier in a kittenish frenzy, then dashed across the top of the piano and soared off the edge to the floor), only to start limping again and holding it up.
Now I am not sure what to think. What should I do? Every time he jumps from up high he hurts it. He keeps reinjuring it. But what do you do with a cat? Especially one so active and playful as this? And one that we have to fight with so badly to keep inside? He wants so desperately to be outside roaming. I don't know how to keep him from injuring himself.
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