Kitty with old leg fracture :(

[CHT]

Had our mostly feral barn cat in at the vet today for dental work, and had the xray his front leg. He was limping when we first saw him, and tends to hold his left leg up when he sits…but he climbs and wrestles just fine so we assumed it was just ligaments or something. Very surprised to find out his leg was broken for all these years! There was no active inflammation when he was neutered, so it was already old when we trapped him.

I guess the best solution is eventually going to be amputation. Now I wonder when to do it. The vet said when he becomes not weight bearing, but I am not sure how I feel about waiting until he is in that much pain.

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[Zu_Zu]

He is so very handsome !

Cats adjust quite quickly and efficiently after an amputation ~ and it will relieve him of the pain ~ Jingles for him (name please) ?

[3PonyFarm]

What a handsome kitty! I hope everything goes well!

[trubandloki]

Is he limping now?

I wonder if the holding it up while he sits is now more of a habit than a pain response.

[Lusoluv]

Is it possible to take him to a specialist or send his rads for an opinion? Maybe just removing the broken ends would relieve the pain and save leg? I know cats can adjust to amputation, but if he’s a big boy, that’s a lot of stress on the remaining leg. Our cat was diagnosed with an inoperable cancerous tumor on his shoulder, so vet recommended amputation. We took him to an oncologist for a 2nd opinion and she was able to remove the tumor and save his leg. He had 4 active years left before passing at 21 yrs.

[omare]

Amputation seems pretty extreme, At least for humans it does not always cure the pain issue. Had a human acquaintance that had a foot amputated in middle age, because of pain, that had been injured from an accident in his youth and he regretted it as the pain was actually worse after the amputation. An animal wont be able to tell you.

[CHT]

His name is Thor. His best bud is Oliver.

. We think they might be brothers, although we trapped Thor about 6 months prior to trapping Oliver. Oliver is super tame and is confused as to Thor’s fear.

[CHT]

Maybe that is why the vet said to wait until he is no longer using it at all. Amputate rather than make him drag it around. I hadn’t thought of the fact it may still hurt.

Their first suggestion was monthly selensia (sp?), but that likely isn’t realistic as he is not easy to catch.

[Zu_Zu]

Handsome boys ! I’ve had ferals (many) some full brothers and some half ( before all ferals were fixed - which took awhile) some almost impossible to trap and some riding on the top of my boot as I did chores. I LOVE FERALS ~ all mine eventually became house cats ~ “derals” = domesticated ferals. * one just doesn’t want to be holding a feral or ‘deral’’ when the doorbell rings

Good Luck with the boys !

[shiloh]

I love him. That face - that pose! Poor kitty – if he does get the amputation, could he live inside? I can’t think that being 3-legged outside would be very easy.

[CanadianTrotter]

Beautiful gingers!

@CHT

Oliver is super tame and is confused as to Thor’s fear.

I would think his old fracture is painful, I know that mine certainly are. Could Thor be fearful because of his pain?

@shiloh

I love him. That face - that pose! Poor kitty – if he does get the amputation, could he live inside? I can’t think that being 3-legged outside would be very easy.

This is a good idea. Not only would outdoor elements be hard for an amputee, but also having so much territory to cover on a daily basis. If you could tame him to be an inside cat it would be less space to cover and it would help slow down the damage to his other legs from over-compensation. Making him an indoor cat now would ease his daily pain and might also help put the amputation off longer.

[CHT]

He is pretty much inside now (in our barn/riding arena - the barn has a heated floor and the arena has heated walls). He has access to outside in the summer when the barn doors are open, but he always makes sure to stay close and be in the barn when breakfast and dinner are served. He has lots of places in the barn humans can’t (or don’t) go, so I think it is nice for him. I think moving him to the house would be more stressful for him and I would be afraid he would take off.

[CHT]

I assume his distrust of humans may be pain related, or from whatever happened for him to be hurt in the first place, but oddly, he is a very passive guy. If you pick him up (or when the vet’s handle him for appointments), he just sort of turns into a lump, while looking at you with sad eyes. He has zero fight in him. Lots of flee, but no fight. He does not understand when other kitties don’t want to be his bestie.

He wrestles with his friend Oliver, he climbs into strange places, and scratches with both paws on his scratching log. It is hard to understand how he can do all that with that leg! Possibly nerve damage? He has never minded being pet on that shoulder.

[CHT]

Like, here he is laying on that elbow! How does that not hurt. Also his classic “human is too near” look.

These are stairs to a loft we don’t really use. it is now HIS loft. He sometimes allows clients to pet him when he is on the stairs. He has decided it is a safe place. It is an unwritten barn rule to not betray the limpy orange’s trust.

[CanadianTrotter]

There could be a nerve being pushed on from the old injury. Also there could be scar tissue build up on or around the injury causing the pain/pressure. With fractures not all positions or actions cause pain.

[Rackonteur]

Jingles and prayers for Thor!

[Mosey_2003]

Awwwww look at that face

[Live_Wire]

What a sweet looking boy!

I am fascinated by how resilient and adaptable cats are.

Long story short, our one barn cat only has half a jaw. I assume he was grazed by the tire of the vehicle that hit and killed him mom. Went to move her body out of respect, and found him tucked under her. We estimate he was only two weeks old, so all we could do was manage the pain because he was so little.That little dude is one of our best hunters. He is routinely checked and x-rayed because I promised to give him a kind life and even though he doesn’t have half his teeth, he did regenerate some bone. It’s pretty amazing.

[shiloh]

Well, we need pics of that brave little soul.

[Kimstar]

My sister has an ex-feral she first saw limping along her back fence. Long story short, he is now an indoor-only couch potato.
He has an old “elbow” fracture, or something in his right leg. When x-rayed, the vet said that there wasn’t really a joint there and he cannot extend the leg fully. He does still limp and frequently holds it up when sitting, but I think it’s more “mechanical” rather than constant pain. Sis gives him a joint supplement mixed into his food and it seems to help a bit.

I would not consider surgery unless he limps a lot more as that would be a rather severe handicap for a barn cat. (My sister isn’t considering surgery at this point because her cat is over 10 years old and is also FIV positive.)