Has anyone gone through this?
My cat has hurt his tail somehow, he has no feeling in it at all except for severe pain at the base. It just drags along 
He has pain meds (pretty strong ones!) but the vet said if he does not regain any movement in his tail in the next few days we may have to look at amputating it. Poor little guy, he will be the only bob tailed small panther.
I am wondering what recovery and care right after will look like?
Itās really not a big deal. I trapped a kitten with a severe bite wound on itās tail.
Vet recommended amputating the tail. It looks just like a dogās docked tail. Itās actually kind of cute!
Recovery is no big deal, either, so long as your cat is a house cat. He will need to be strictly indoor for awhile, as with any surgery.
If heās in that much pain, I think amputation would be a good thing!
How long was the recovery? Bandaged? How did he act? Loss of balance? Meds? Being around another cat?
It definitely can be more painful to an older cat, just as is declawing. Anytime you are amputating an appendage, itās going to hurt, a lot. We send home good pain meds. But recovery is usually non-eventful. No loss of balance, no bandage. Definitely an e-collar. Hopefully the other cat will leave the incision alone, but you may have to separate if it doesnāt.
Good luck !!
My trainerās cat got caught in the fan belt of a car and got her tail mostly chopped off. The vet amputated what was left. This was years ago, but if I remember correctly, she was inside with her meds for about 2 weeks, and then went back to the barn. She didnāt like being a house cat. Their barn was basically in their back yard, so really close, and had a lot of traffic so everyone constantly looked out for her. She healed really well, and had kind of a ānatural bobā Aussie look, cute.
I donāt remember her having any balance problems but she was a big, clunky cat and not that graceful to begin with.
Jingles & AO for your cat ~ should be fine with time ~
had a tom who had gotten into fights, the base of his tail got infected badly.
To tell you the truth, I could not tell a difference. He ran, jumped climbed as always. I think it took a couple of weeks for the skin to heal over. He did not have much of a stump left (thatās why I didnāt wait until it got worse, it was at the very base of the tail).
The neighbors named him āBobā after that, for bobtailed cat.
They in turn had to have the same thing done to their cat, she had not gotten out of the way when the neighbor came home from work, and he drove over her tail, damaging it where she could not lift it anymore. No biggy. Cats donāt feel sorry for themselves.
My cat broke his tail and had a very large laceration. Vet said we should amputate it but we didnāt want to so we tried to fix it. Long story short a year later it was amputated and is only about 5 cm long. He had a bandage, antibiotics, and pain meds for about two weeks and honestly after that heās been completely fine.
My cat got a tumor near the base of her tail that kept growing bigger and bigger so we had to amputate. She came home without pain meds or a cone but she had to go to the vet every 3 days or so for bandage changes and for it to be looked over. The vet didnāt give me the option to do that myself so in she went. IIRC I had to do that every 3 days to the vet for about 2 weeks. She never bothered the bandage or the stitches, looking back I was very lucky she was such an easy patient. She had no problems after that and was very cute with her bobbed tail.
My male cat came home with a large wound at the base of his tail. It was cut to the bone. But a clean cut. I opted not to amputate (estimate was $3000 - 3500.) I was ready to put him down during surgery but vet had already stiched him up. So I gave him a chance to heal on his own with pain meds. We did end up paying about $1800 all in. But that included Lazer therapy.
[QUOTE=sockmonkey;8503549]
It definitely can be more painful to an older cat, just as is declawing. Anytime you are amputating an appendage, itās going to hurt, a lot. We send home good pain meds. But recovery is usually non-eventful. No loss of balance, no bandage. Definitely an e-collar. Hopefully the other cat will leave the incision alone, but you may have to separate if it doesnāt.
Good luck !![/QUOTE]
The great thing about tail amputation compared to declawing is that the cat doesnāt have to put any weight on that wound. The primary reason declawing is more painful in an older cat is because sheās larger and thus putting more weight on her wounds. I canāt think of a reason that a tail amp would be more painful in an older cat than a younger cat.
Thanks everyone!
Iām just worried about the little guy.
[QUOTE=TresGauche;8503322]
Has anyone gone through this?
My cat has hurt his tail somehow, he has no feeling in it at all except for severe pain at the base. It just drags along He has pain meds (pretty strong ones!) but the vet said if he does not regain any movement in his tail in the next few days we may have to look at amputating it. Poor little guy, he will be the only bob tailed small panther.
I am wondering what recovery and care right after will look like?[/QUOTE]
So was the diagnosis bite abcess, brokenā¦? There was no swelling or?
Odd that the vet just sent you home with pain meds and no diagnosis.
If it is infected, get back to the vet for antibiotics. Tail nerves connect to pathways forward and you donāt want any spreading agents to affect nerves further into the catās spine.
Otherwise, if there is no feeling at all, amputation is the kindest thing your vet can do for poor cat.
If you donāt amputate, the lack of feeling will mean sores and further injury, not to mention peeing or pooping on himself. Cat will be fine sans tail if it comes to that.
Jingles.
You got the short story, thatās why 
Last Thursday night I noticed he kind of missed when jumping up on a 3" table and had a struggle. Seemed to be walking odd and tail carried low.
Friday he was grouchy and seemed to be in some sort of pain when he jumped, did not seem to want to sit on his butt at all. Low tail carriage. I also caught him straining in the potty box
Saturday noticed he was peeing just fine (I had been watching his potty box trips due to the straining I saw Friday night) but then straining after peeing. Called the vet who advised just to lube him up to see if it helped possible constipation. He also threw up. I started also giving him water through a syringe to stave off dehydration from lack of wanting to drink. He was very growly and grouchy.
Sunday he was even more in pain acting, and still straining and acting super sore about his hind end. Kept watering him, and still peeing just fine but no poop. He was up crying most Sunday night off and on, every time he went to sit or really do more than walk it seemed.
Monday he went in to the vets. They palpated him, nothing. Xrays had nothing. Blood test nothing. Urine test nothing.
Tuesday they redid xrays because he wiggled a lot the first go round and they were looking for a blockage in the small intestine, sent the new ones to a specialist who said no blockage. Both vets and the specialist are stumped. Cat is obviously still in pain. Tuesday afternoon I happened to ask the vet about his tail, if it had moved. He hung up and went to see, nope, no movement or even feeling below about 2" from the base. Looked at the xrays and could see a small separation in one of the vertebrae by the base. No one had been looking at his tail because they were looking at intestinal issues due to the straining. Vet said this was usually caused by being stepped on or being slammed in the door, neither which has happened to my cat. My only guess is he was rough housing with the other cat?
Tuesday picked him up, vet had given him antibiotics (serea or seriam or something), and said if there is no recovery of the tail in 3-4 days he will need it amputated. Heās also on a pretty strong opiate pain killer 3x a day.
Today he is the happiest (due to meds I am sure!!) I have seen him since Wednesday, but still no tail movement. I am giving it until Friday.
One of my cats had her tail partially degloved when I was trying to close her in a bathroom while getting ready to paint the house. She made a mad dash at the last second as the door was closingā¦
Iām sure the amputation doesnāt feel good afterwards but it seems to be much less painful than beforehand. The surgery site healed pretty quickly and without issue. It just took awhile for the hair to grow back from being shaved for surgery.
Oh. OMG poor kitty!!!
So he may have a little stump 
One of mine was grabbed by an owl, most likely-she had the prettiest white tip on her tailā¦
Hers displayed exactly as yours and had a break just beyond the base. Simple amputation, two stitches, she never looked back. Spinal nerves donāt extend the length of the tail so while the injury is painful, itās not nerve type painful.
Not uncommon at all.
[QUOTE=TresGauche;8503511]
How long was the recovery? Bandaged? How did he act? Loss of balance? Meds? Being around another cat?[/QUOTE]
Recovery was about 2 weeks w/antibiotics. Not bandaged, just dissolving stitches if I remember correctly. She acted fine, didnāt bother her a bit and no balance issues. I kept her separated from the other cats for the 2 weeks.
As others have mentioned, the surgery might be a bit harder for an older cat, but I would still do it if heās in that much pain.
The very first cat we had when I was kid had been tortured by some cruel delinquents and had firecrackers tied to her tail and lit. We picked her to take her home from the vet who did the amputation. Obviously, as a 4 year old, I donāt remember the finer details of her recovery, other than being told to be gentle with her (SOP for most kittens with kids) and to not bother her tail. She lived a long, happy, normal cat life with little bob tail.
[QUOTE=D_BaldStockings;8503974]
So was the diagnosis bite abcess, brokenā¦? There was no swelling or?
Odd that the vet just sent you home with pain meds and no diagnosis.
Jingles.[/QUOTE]
hah! do you know small animal vets? no snark intended - iāve just never gotten a conclusive answer ever from a small animal vetā¦ interesting that the vet jumped to it being caused by someone in the house ā iāve had the same thing happen to me in ER clinics. no - the cat couldnāt have possibly raised hell itself :rolleyes:
OP jingling for your kitty - i have a special soft spot for the tailless critters!
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