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Skip to the last two paragraphs if you do not care about the circumstances leading up to the cat's injuries, and would like to simply know what is wrong. ---
I know recently we had a pretty emotional thread about another cat's health, please let me assure you up front I will do what it takes to help my cat get better, I just need to know realistically what needs to be done to help my cat get better and as quickly as possible.
It has to be some sort of cosmic law that black cats must get lost outside after daylight hours.
While watching a movie with Mrs. BB (Amadeus for those interested) I heard a clump like noise followed by a very serious meow of pain from our cat Mao Mao. I went over to the source of the noise but could not see anything amiss nor any sign of my cat. We started searching the house for Mao Mao when I noticed a door leading to our patio outside had blown open in the wind. Fearing the worst I immedietly went outside and started calling for Mao Mao. I looked for at least 2 hours both in and out of the house before midnight struck and I knew I had to get to sleep if I was going to function the next day.
We left the door that had blown open open wide enough to permit the cat to enter if she found her way back, we also left our bed room window open so that we could hear Mao Mao meowing if she ever did. We said a prayer and went to bed. Of course it rained that night and the heavy pitter patter of raindrops coupled with the knowledge that a door to our house was open and some vile goon, a deer, or worse could get into our house quite easily kept me tossing and turning all night.
Around 3:00am I decided to go outside and try again to find Mao Mao. Alot can happen in a few hours and she may just be outside pacing trying to find a way in, (Mao Mao is an indoor cat and had never been outside prior to this evening) When I checked the door we had left open I did not see Mao Mao. When I went into the living room to get my shoes and go outside there she was sitting on the couch drying herself off.
I resisted the urge to joyfully squeeze her and checked her for injuries. She was just fine for the most part.
Her only injury was on her left paw which had one claw sticking out funny. Upon squeezing her paw to unsheath her claws I realized the entire claw had been severed from the bone and was attached by some tissue. The bone itself was jutting out completely exposed and there was some dried blood around the area. Not being able to do much that night we snipped the hanging claw about half way so that the sharp bit was removed, then I just took Mao Mao to bed and let her cuddle up to us while she tried to take care of herself. I took Mao Mao to her food and water bowl this morning and she had no problem eating and drinking. She used her litter without any problems and even used her left paw to scrap at it without any apparant problems. She limps just alittle on her left claw and as far as I know her gums as of last night were still pink. Mrs. BB reports the Mao Mao has more or less licked and nipped the hang nail away but the bone is obviously still there.
I'm trying to decide how to help Mao Mao so she can recover quickest. I'm worried that at if I take her to the vet I'll pay out the nose for them to put some gauze and tape on it (both of which I already have) and tell me the claw should grow back over the course of a few weeks. But at the same time no neccessary expense will be spared in making sure Mao Mao makes a speedy recovery. I don't know if we have any vet hatrackers but really anybody with experience in this sort of problem or knowledge of cat anatomy would be very helpful.
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I suspect that since the bone is exposed there will need to be a stitch or two put in, in order for the skin to close over the wound. It is entirely possible that it might heal with the bone still exposed but I don't think that is a good scenario.
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Like AJ, I would think that since the bone itself is completely exposed, some sort of intervention beyond gauze and tape would be required. I suspect it will also need to be pretty thoroughly cleaned (probably under sedation) and some antibiotics administered. That she is only limping slightly is a good thing. Hopefully she will heal quickly and be no worse for the wear. If she was one of my kitties, I would take her to a vet.
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Go to the vet soon because if the bone was exposed and it was raining heavily out, then she could have gotten a lot of mud on her paw which may lead to infection.
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Thanks for the advice so far guys, I will certainly talk to a vet when I get home from work, I too am pretty worried about infection, would applying neosporin or perhaps cleaning the paw in warm water help at all?
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Don't do anything except maybe irrigating it with clean water. Take her to the vet and let them deal with it. Some human drugs can cause serious complications in cats (although some are fine); I don't know about Neosporin so I wouldn't use it. (I wouldn't use it on that kind of injury on a human anyway.) She'll take care of herself until you can get in, but do get her in ASAP.
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You can try calling the local SPCA or shelter and ask if they have a vet they'd recommend for someone who doesn't have a lot of money. I've found (through a friend) that the shelter here recommends the vets they use, and that is the only place she can go without the vet expecting to be able to provide boutique services.
(I am phrasing that delicately. Vancouver has a lot of pets and a lot of people with plenty of money lying around. There must be at least a dozen doggie daycares.)
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You know, I went through this same question when I severed my daughter's finger in a door. I only considered not seeking help for a fraction of a second.
"But for an android, that is an eternity."
We used to have a cat named Mao mao. But it became Maui.
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Well according to the vet it's likely the one claw is going to have to be surgically removed along with the bone. I'm guessing they are going to use sedation which will knock the bill up significantly but it really needs to be done. All of her claws clearly show marks of wear as if she skid down something very harsh and fell, I'm fairly certain at least one other claw is perhaps worn down to the nerve. But Mao Mao is acting like a champ. I'm going to wake up 2 hours earlier then I normally do so I can take Mao Mao to the vet at 3:00, (it's the only time they had available) the other vets were too vague with their estimates. All in all if they have to sedate her and surgically remove the claw we are looking at at least $150 and I am sure that will balloon into something closer to $200 when they are actually done.
I'd complain, but I knew what I was getting into when I got a cat, looks like Mrs. BB and I will be cutting it alot closer then I thought we would this month. Thems the breaks I guess.
I'm just glad Mao Mao is back and going to be OK.
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Best of luck to you and your family (including your cat)!!! Here's hoping for a speedy recovery!
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Good luck. It doesn't sound like a much more serious surgery than a declaw, and while I am apposed to declawing cats, it is a standard procedure and she should be fine. I'd reccomend getting paper kitty litter (sometimes called Yesterdays News or something) for recovery.
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Oh we won't be declawing her completely. Just the one that has to come out, currently its growing into her paw and that's bad news. It just sucks looking at your plans for the month thinking, "OK if we pay all our bills we should be fine this month," and then WHAM!
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Right, I understand that, but I think the surgery is pretty comparable of a surgery, nothing that life threatening. The money is the biggest issue.
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quote:Originally posted by breyerchic04: Right, I understand that, but I think the surgery is pretty comparable of a surgery, nothing that life threatening. The money is the biggest issue.
Quite right. TBH I am grateful it's just a matter removing claws rather then the many myriad surgeries that could be far worse.
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I'm so glad you took her to the vet! Poor Mao Mao! Let us know how she does with the surgery and stuff.
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I'm so glad you took her in (though I'm really sorry that the solution will be more serious and cost-intensive - I know how not fun that is with sudden vet problems). I'm glad she's taking things fairly well and I hope her surgery goes really well.
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Mao Mao is being treated right now, I'm going to pick her up in about 30 minutes.
According to the doctor it looks like she was hit by a car (It boggles the mind that she could have been outside less then an hour and managed to get hit by a car in a sleepy residential area) The impact must have not been too serious but she said that since every single claw is worn down usually only asphalt is capable of damaging the claws so badly. We do trim her claws on the tips, so that may have contributed to it slightly. She has some funny stuff going on with her heart but the vet said that is most likely a result of the trauma of the accident.
Fortunately Mao Mao won't need surgery.
She is bandaging Mao Mao's front left paw and back left as both have severely damaged claws and one is infected. The litter we are using is no good as its fine grain that clumps and she needs something more like gravel or wood chips so that it won't get trapped in her paws. We are keeping her on antibiotics for about 5 days and then the bandages can come off. All in all its going to cost about $230 as I predicted.
I'll post about post op Mao Mao when I know. I just hope everything goes off without a hitch and no complications develop. The doctor seemed like a very sweet and concerned lady.
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Poor little MaoMao! Thinking of her being hit by a car breaks my heart! I'm glad she won't need surgery, but I'm so sorry she has an infected paw (and damage to more than just the one). Giving her antibiotics won't be any fun, but thank goodness the infection has been caught early. I hope she will be good with her bandages (one of our kitties must be Houdini reincarnated because he is adept at getting out of bandages even with a collar on) and heal up quickly.
Feline Pine might be a litter option for her as she heals (though the wood pellets do break down into a sort of big sawdust over time, so I'm not sure if it'd be ideal) but your vet should be able to recommend a good one to you when you pick her up.
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If you're looking for a cheap litter option, newspaper ripped into 1/2-1 inch strips is supposed to be fairly effective.
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My tortoise uses cedar chips. He probably doesn't create nearly as much waste as a kitten, but they stay smelling fresh for a long time (I change/wash out the tank every three or four months).
Is she okay with taking the antibiotics, or is it going to be a wrestling match?
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pH, your tortoise is potty trained? That's very cool.
I'm glad Mao Mao has wonderful parents like you. There are so many helpless animals out there that do not have anyone. When I was younger I spent many, many hours worrying about that. I still do.
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I just read your post again. I'm very tired. I was picturing your tortoise going into a litter box and taking advantage of it.
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Yes it breaks my heart how many cats and dogs have to fend for themselves in the cruel world. They aren't equipped to do that. Thank goodness for loving humans who take good care of their pets.
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Mao Mao is doing fine, she was alittle loopy after the procedure but that wore off after about 2-3 hours. As soon as we got her home she started bouncing around the house trying to get her two bandages off but we calmed her down for the rest of the afternoon/evening. About the middle of the night though she was pretty mad at the bandages and growling at them. She nearly got the front one off and we had to unwrap it and put it back on and use some scotch tape to reinforce it. By morning she had it off again and we figured she was probably in the clear now so I helped her remove the back bandage while she growled at it. Afterwards you'd have thought she had obtained nirvana because she was following me around giving me affection every moment I held still long enough.
Antibiotics? We had to give them to her once when she was a kitten and she just looked miserable while we gave it to her, followed by foaming at the mouth. We just gave her more antibiotics it was just a matter of gently scruffing her and inserting the dropper into her mouth, and squeezing during that fraction of a second it makes it to the back of her mouth. It only took us about 2 minutes to administer her medicine and she scampered off afterwards.
Mao Mao so far is looking well, she is still eating and drinking just fine, her activity levels are increasing and we are just waiting for her tail to assume the happy question mark position.
She has a return visit setup for this coming Friday so hopefully she will just heal up until then. We ended up purchasing large grain litter and it seems like it's fine for our purposes.
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If the bandage is changeable, you might try this trick I learned while studying to be an equine massage therapist. Mix sugar with betadine intil gloopy but not runny and pack the wound with it. The betadine disinfects while the sugar supplies the tissue with energy it needs to regenerate. It just speeds things up a bit. A horse will learn to rip the bandage off so he can get to the sugar, but cats don't usually go for sweet things. Ask your vet first.
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Glad to hear that Mao Mao is recovering well after her very scary and potentially much worse foray into the wide world.
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Sugar is glucose + fructose. In order for the glucose to be helpful, that bond has to be broken.
That's what the digestive system is for. Pouring sugar directly onto human cells does NOT supply them with energy. However, saliva can break it down a little - if the horse licks the sugar trying to get at it, that might do it, althoughI don't know the details of equine saliva.
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Mao Mao's tail was doing the familiar question mark position and she is quite active now. I'm a very happy human.
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Aww, I'm glad to hear she's feeling better My poor girl came down with a bladder infection due to the stress of my recent move; I have to give her antibiotic pills every day. But I just grind 'em into powder and mix them with a spoonful of chicken baby food, and she thinks it's a treat.
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I'm glad to hear Mao Mao is doing better. It's kind of funny, though. I've lived with cats with deformed tails for so long that at first I didn't know what you were talking about with the question mark thing. One of them has a shortish tail that branches slightly at the end, and it doesn't bend at all. The other has an extra long tail that curls over her back like the spitz-style dog breeds.
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I have a cat with a deformed tail too, Mel. It's bent and she can't move it around like most cats do. She's funny-looking and beautiful at the same time--but all I see is the beautiful, mostly.
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Is she a calico or tortoiseshell, by any chance? My girls are littermates, but their two black brothers had normal tails. So I've suspected that the tail issues are related to the genes that make up their coloring.
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Mel! One of our ferals has a tail that curls like a spitz, it does move though. She is a tortie, kind of. More like patched tabby but not that either. (I have done extensive cat color research even before I got this cat, she doesn't match anything).
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Oh, the one with the curled tail can move it, except for the tip which she seems to not have much control over. The default position for both of them is up over their backs, though.
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Yeah, it's possible. I haven't actually seen another cat with this much of a weird tail curl, or this color, but I cant seem to get pictures of her that show any of it off. Her base is something like that of a cougar, and then she has little stripes, not much darker, a bright red dot on her face (right between her eyes), her tail has cream with black agouti, and a white tip, the bottoms of her legs are black. She probably weighs about 6 pounds, and we think she was less than a year old when she had her first (and only) litter of kittens.
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Wow. I propose we start a club: Funky-Tailed Torties.
Now for another theory. Do either of your cats have claws that don't fully retract? Both of mine are that way (especially the tortie), and I had a friend with a pair of calico littermates that were the same way. If I don't keep the claws regularly trimmed down, it gets rather painful to have one on my lap.
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I'd complain, but I knew what I was getting into when I got a cat, looks like Mrs. BB and I will be cutting it alot closer then I thought we would this month. Thems the breaks I guess.![[ROFL]](graemlins/rofl.gif)
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My poor girl came down with a bladder infection due to the stress of my recent move; I have to give her antibiotic pills every day. But I just grind 'em into powder and mix them with a spoonful of chicken baby food, and she thinks it's a treat.
