Topic: Traumatic Tail injury/ broken tail...Anyone else experienced this? (Read 3662 times)

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #20 on:** January 05, 2007, 11:04:35 AM »

I am glad the vet is pleased with him, and you must be relieved there are no vet visits for a while!!

Claire M · « **Reply #19 on:** January 04, 2007, 21:05:01 PM »

Fantastic news! I'm so chuffed for you and Bailey,it seems like he is on the road to a full recovery, he is indeed a gorgeous boy! Hugs, Claire and Felix x

Sam (Fussy_Furball) · « **Reply #18 on:** January 04, 2007, 19:41:07 PM »

What great news. I'm sure with the break there would be alot of swelling and bruising which may have contributed to the bladder problems but as the swelling has started to go down he seems to be improving.

suzi · « **Reply #17 on:** January 04, 2007, 19:05:34 PM »

Aww thankyou! That is Bailey in my profile pic. I will try uploads some others too! Ive been taking a few of him with his tail before he loses it coz it has lovely markings.

Took him to the vet today, and the vet was very impressed with his progress over the last 24 hours. He has told me that i dont need to go back now for two weeks....all things going well!! So im really really chuffed! I cant believe the progress he has made, almost overnight! He has continued to use his tray all day today, and had no mistakes so im impressed! Ive to keep him on his lactulose for the next week, then try a week off it before i go back to the vets, and he is no longer to take his other meds!

Yipee!!!!

Tiggy's Mum · « **Reply #16 on:** January 04, 2007, 17:30:06 PM »

Good news about Bailey, hope he continues to improve... You obviously love and care for him very much, he's lucky to have such a good cat Mum. If that's Bailey in your profile pic then he's a babe

Christine (Blip) · « **Reply #15 on:** January 04, 2007, 14:00:15 PM »

It sounds to me as if Bailey is making remarkable progress in such a short space of time. Fingers tightly crossed that this continues - please do keep us posted.

Sam (Fussy_Furball) · « **Reply #14 on:** January 04, 2007, 12:45:24 PM »

What great news .... I also understand why you are getting excited about him pooing and peeing

Fingers crossed he will continue to improve .... any chance of some photos of your gorgeous boy?

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #13 on:** January 04, 2007, 11:38:54 AM »

this sounds very encouraging indeed.

Desley (booktigger) · « **Reply #12 on:** January 04, 2007, 11:28:30 AM »

I am glad things are seeming a lot more positive for you and him.

suzi · « **Reply #11 on:** January 04, 2007, 11:04:11 AM »

Woke up this morning and he has used his tray again for his number two, then after his breakfast used it again for his number one! It's all looking good! I can't help bt get excited because i think if he has made this much progress since Christmas eve, and it can take months, then he is definalty on the right track!
I hoping the vet will be pleased enough with him today that we dont have to go back there till next week, coz poor bailey hates traveling! I've been using a traveling spray which works a bit, but he still get distressed!

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #10 on:** January 04, 2007, 00:48:57 AM »

I am no expert on this type of injury but this sounds good and I can understand why you are excited

Keeping my fingers crossed that everything keeps going fine.

suzi · « **Reply #9 on:** January 03, 2007, 23:37:38 PM »

Thanks for everyones support and advice. Bailey has been on lactulose since Saturday. He was also on a course of anti biotics..i think this may have been myotonin??? He is also on a drug called Metacalm. I have been showed by my vet how to express him, and check his bowels. Luckly I have not had to express him yet as he has been peeing, just not always in the right place. I heard about the bladder becoming full then emptying, but i dont think this is the case, as there is often quite a lot of urine.
I am prepared to continue to care for him, even if i have to express him, but the fact that I haven't had to do this so far i think is good.

The vet doesn't want to amputate his tail just yet, as they are waiting to see how he progresses. They have told me it wont affect the damaged nerve damage any further. It will definatley be beneficial once it has been amputated though, as I have to wash and clean it a lot at the moment as it ofte gets in his way.

He has been constipated recently, and has had to enema's in the last two days by the vet. Im all excited coz he has done 4 poo's tonight, 2 in his tray, and has pee'd in his tray too!! I think people think im mad that i get exited about this!!!!

He has been xrayed, and other than his tail break there is no other damage.

Now that he has been able to unblock his bowels, im continuing with his lactulose so hopefully he will pass more regularly!

Back at the vet tomorrow, so see how it goes!

Most of the time i feel quite positve that he is recovering well, to look at him you wouldn't know...he's still full of fun, and cuddley!!!

I used to feed him dried food, but have permenantly switched to wet..whiskas in gravey at the mom. Also considereing getting a water fountain to encourage him to drink more.

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #8 on:** January 03, 2007, 21:27:25 PM »

yes i agree he should be something to soften his faeces aswell.

also perhaps the vet is waiting to see if there may be any sign of improvements before amputating the tail then needing to be let go after all that..its a catch 22 situation but if he is happy and is showing signs that he MAY improve and you are ok with the costs involved then perhaps more thought should be put into whats to be done with the tail.

however if he cant move it and the blood supply is ok then its probably not hindering the toileting issues just now. (it cant be left like that though indefinately.)

Amanda (mad4moggies) · « **Reply #7 on:** January 03, 2007, 21:21:11 PM »

Hi Suzi, i`m so sorry to hear about Bailey.

I have seen a few cats that have gone through a similar thing and time really can be a great healer. Obviously this is not always the case but nerve damage can take a long time to resolve. A vet is used to work with took a cat on that had been in a road accident and had the same things that you describe. The owners didn`t want to pay for any more treatment after the first couple of weeks. Now he is back to normal but things really didn`t look good for him at the beginning. If he is happy in himself then this is a very good sign.

The one thing i would say is that it would be a good deal to get the tail amputated as soon as possible so that the healing process can begin. As the tail is broken it may delay any improvement if you leave it on. I would have thought the vet would have removed the tail asap, have they given you any reason why it should be left?

Maybe you could get a big dog crate for when you have to leave him on his own or maybe just confine him to one room.

The fact that he is already going to the toilet sometimes is a good sign as some cats like this are unable to go at all and need to be expressed all the time. Have you been giving him anything to help keep his faeces soft like lactulose or Katalax as you need to try and make sure he doesn`t get constipated.

I wish him all the best and i hope he`s on the road to recovery soon!

Claire M · « **Reply #6 on:** January 03, 2007, 20:51:41 PM »

Hi Suzi, my old girl Smokie came in one night with half the fur and skin missing from her tail ,we thought she had been captured by a dog, and she had her tail amputated the next day. She recovered well and it didn't affect her balance or anything, she was left with just a little stub.She lived till the ripe old age of 19.
Not quite the same thing as Bailey though, and I hope from the bottom of my heart that he recovers well, will have my fingers crossed for you both, hugs, Claire and Felix xx

CurlyCatz · « **Reply #5 on:** January 03, 2007, 20:16:51 PM »

firstly i hope hes on a drug called myotonin ??

and the times where he has no control over his bladder will be poss because he hasnt been able to empty his bladder and then it overfills and pushes open the sphyincter that keeps the urine in.

the vet could show you how to manually empty his bladder, but it would depend on how confident the vet felt you were if he'd let you.

the bowl thing may be a prob..it will eventually lead to megacolon prob if it doesnt correct.

normally we gave these injuries a few weeks but then you have to make a realistic decision... we had one that bowels were ok but couldnt pee and had permanent overflow, after about 6 wks they had to pts..cat getting no better and they couldnt keep paying the bills...they were good clients and so the vet rehomed the cat with their permision to himself (they had so many other pets too) he had to empty the cats bladder several times per day himself (lucky cat was laid back) then after a year or so tinker eventually got a wee bit of control back but never fully..he was happy though.

like i said his bowel function was ok.

has your puss been xrayed to make sure the pelvis is ok ??

Sam (Fussy_Furball) · « **Reply #4 on:** January 03, 2007, 19:43:40 PM »

Hi Suzi,

I remembered a similar post on chatchat and thought there might be some useful info in it. Philip Morris's comments might be be useful http://www.catchat.org/discus/messages/18/41005.html?1153420133

http://www.catchat.org/discus/messages/18/45549.html?1156437869

suzi · « **Reply #3 on:** January 03, 2007, 16:49:55 PM »

Thankyou, I know!
Think it was my visit to the vet today that made me feel a bit down. Some days the vet can be quite positive, and other times he comes across as more negetive. Today he sounded more negetive, and mentioned that he may not improve. Another vet who sometimes see's us always seems to give us a bit more hope. I just feel so bad for my cat, he's only a baby. Im just hoping that he recovers. He needing constant care to clean up after him, which ive been able to do coz im a student and on holiday, Im also a little worried about going back to uni next week, leaving him during the day.

saffron · « **Reply #2 on:** January 03, 2007, 16:39:03 PM »

OH! please dont have a down day, the fact he is eating, playing & enjoying cuddles say's alot. Many

suzi · « **Reply #1 on:** January 03, 2007, 16:29:21 PM »

My 1 year old cat, Bailey, was hit by a car on Crimbo eve, and as a result has a broken tail. The break is at the point in the tail, where it meets the spinal cord. This has caused secondary damage to the nerve cells that help control his bowels and bladder. At first the Vet was not giving me much hope and was advising for him tp be put down. I spent all nght crying, then began to look up the injury on the internet and found that the nerve cells can heal if they have not been too overstretched, but that this can be a very slow process and can take up to 6 months with an awful lot of TLC. Bailey was hospitalised for the first week, then i told the vet i intented to care for him at home, with thier support, and give his nerves a chance to improve. It's now a week and a half on, and he has good days and bad days.

He has some control over his bladder, and only very occassionaly goes to his tray. He has started to choose to pee on my cushions, which the vet is saying is good as it shows he has some control. At other times he has no control and will not even realise he has pee'd. He is also having problems with his bowels and is constipated, i have been at the vet with him every other day( since he got out of hospital last friday ive been three times, and back tomorrow) so he's on all his meds and things.

Appart from his toilet probs, and broken tail ( which will eventually need to be amputated) he is completely fine, and in no pain. He runs around mad playing games, and enjoys his cuddles, eats well, etc...

Today im having a down day, and was just looking to see if anyone had experienced something similar?

Author Topic: Traumatic Tail injury/ broken tail...Anyone else experienced this? (Read 3662 times)

saffron