- Joined
- Aug 30, 2005
- Messages
- 56
- Purraise
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So this is a weird one, but wondering if anyone has been through something similar.
Several years ago one of our cats had a tail that overnight went from normal to where it would go up two inches from it's rear, and almost like a kink at that point it turned 90 degrees and the rest of it would hang like dead weight. We got him into our vet at that time and was told there was a lump and they thought it was a fatty tumor, but no kink or break was felt. They suggested waiting a bit to see what would happen since it wasn't bothering him. After about two months, it healed up completely and he had use of his tail again. Over the last several years the dead tail symptom has come and gone and within a few weeks was back to normal, and we were told by that same vet that he was likely doing something particular to sprain it and it was healing on it's own. We never caught any behaviours that would have lead to tail damage, but it never bothered him so we went with our vet's advice.
Fast forward to a month ago when we went to see a new vet. She was able to feel a bony growth at the bend site and was absolutely convinced there was also an old break that had healed at some point in the past because he showed zero signs of pain or discomfort. (She could touch and wiggle it and he had no reaction.) He needed dental work done so she wanted to wait until he was sedated for that to do an xray to see what the bony growth was since she didn't feel the break was causing any problems.
This morning we found out he was FIV positive. We've had him as an indoor only cat for nearly 9 years, he's never been in a fight with our other cats, and all the others were tested at some point in their lives and they are all negative. He must have had it as a kitten and when I went back and looked I realized that we had assumed the shelter had tested him but there was no written record of it. (Doesn't mean it wasn't done, just that I can't prove it was. I swore we him and his fostermate tested at the same time.)
Here's the weirdness - there is no growth on the tail today. No bumps. No Lumps. X-ray is clear and shows no break. He still isn't holding his tail correctly, but when asked about why his tail goes up and then droops the tech I spoke with said "maybe he just likes holding it that way". I don't understand how a solid bony growth that was easy to feel can just disappear in three weeks time? The vet's office didn't seem concerned about it in the least, but since this has been an ongoing problem I'm worried it's a sign of something more.
Several years ago one of our cats had a tail that overnight went from normal to where it would go up two inches from it's rear, and almost like a kink at that point it turned 90 degrees and the rest of it would hang like dead weight. We got him into our vet at that time and was told there was a lump and they thought it was a fatty tumor, but no kink or break was felt. They suggested waiting a bit to see what would happen since it wasn't bothering him. After about two months, it healed up completely and he had use of his tail again. Over the last several years the dead tail symptom has come and gone and within a few weeks was back to normal, and we were told by that same vet that he was likely doing something particular to sprain it and it was healing on it's own. We never caught any behaviours that would have lead to tail damage, but it never bothered him so we went with our vet's advice.
Fast forward to a month ago when we went to see a new vet. She was able to feel a bony growth at the bend site and was absolutely convinced there was also an old break that had healed at some point in the past because he showed zero signs of pain or discomfort. (She could touch and wiggle it and he had no reaction.) He needed dental work done so she wanted to wait until he was sedated for that to do an xray to see what the bony growth was since she didn't feel the break was causing any problems.
This morning we found out he was FIV positive. We've had him as an indoor only cat for nearly 9 years, he's never been in a fight with our other cats, and all the others were tested at some point in their lives and they are all negative. He must have had it as a kitten and when I went back and looked I realized that we had assumed the shelter had tested him but there was no written record of it. (Doesn't mean it wasn't done, just that I can't prove it was. I swore we him and his fostermate tested at the same time.)
Here's the weirdness - there is no growth on the tail today. No bumps. No Lumps. X-ray is clear and shows no break. He still isn't holding his tail correctly, but when asked about why his tail goes up and then droops the tech I spoke with said "maybe he just likes holding it that way". I don't understand how a solid bony growth that was easy to feel can just disappear in three weeks time? The vet's office didn't seem concerned about it in the least, but since this has been an ongoing problem I'm worried it's a sign of something more.
