Useless Vet! Limping Cat

Hi all,

So one of my babies developed a limp in her front right paw a few days ago. When she sits, she holds it up. She is still her usual self mostly, jumps up on everything, eating fine etc. A little more lethargic in that once she finds a comfy spot to lay in, she won't move until feeding time. Anyway, i took her to the vet for it yesterday. Temperature of 101.6f she didn't limp at the vets and they did x rays which showed no damage. He sent us away with no pain meds or splint or anything because i don't believe he believes she has a limp. I'm going to get her to a different vet and will record her limping for proof as soon as i can. In the mean time, is there anything anyone can recommend i do to help her? Anything i should tell or ask the vet? Thanks.

I think that a video clip of the limping should be a sufficient evidence of the problem in case the vet won't believe you.
Ask the vet for an x-ray, if it's possible.

I have two semi-feral cats in my yard and two months ago or so one of them had a limp on a rear leg. I immediately took him to the vet who had a look at him and found nothing and sent us home.
But the cat got worse two days later, I went back to the vet and she gave me ten days of Meloxicam.
To cut a long story short, it took four visits to have the vet x-ray the cat's leg and find he had an issue on his toe's bones, something that I had taken to their attention before (it can be felt by palpating the foot). Anyway they didn't know what to think, only a biopsy of the bone could tell us what it is, and meanwhile the cat stopped limping and he's fine, though the foot still looks a bit different.

Most cats will develop a limp from a slight strain or sprain. The key is to watch for improvement every couple of days. she might have been bit too, and is sore. an improvement, no matter how slight, means she is on the road to recovery. Cats hide injuries very well as you have found out, but the fact that she CAN walk normally at times points to the fact that it is most likely not broken or she has something terribly wrong.

I forgot to mention, they did take an x ray, which came back clear. I knew it wasn't broken as A) she was able to hide the limp from the vet and B) she doesn't react when i examined her leg and paw for injury. I just hate not being able to do anything much for her. You know she is in pain though as she is perfectly content to spend the day snoozing in bed under the covers and not in the least bit bothered that her siblings get to play outside.

FunnyFaceFamily said:

I forgot to mention, they did take an x ray, which came back clear. I knew it wasn't broken as A) she was able to hide the limp from the vet and B) she doesn't react when i examined her leg and paw for injury. I just hate not being able to do anything much for her. You know she is in pain though as she is perfectly content to spend the day snoozing in bed under the covers and not in the least bit bothered that her siblings get to play outside.

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Hi, you mentioned they were looking for anything broken.. but did they look for signs of arthiritis?

When you examined it, how did you do it? If it's arthirits it could be a specific angle only. Like the paw touching the ground pushing the bone up, versus you lifting her paw and looking at it around.

If it does turn out to be arthiritis, it's simple enough to treat with cosequin or dasuquin.

Bring it up with the new vet you talk to. Have the other clinic send a copy of the x-rays to the new clinic so you aren't wasting money on a new set.

I don't think it's arthritis, shes only 18months old and has never had any issues before. She's gotten worse today and upon another inspection i noticed the vet trimmed her claws super short! I have complained and will be taking her to see a new vet tomorrow.

If the claws were clipped too short, then they may be sore. It could just be that. It will take some time for the claws to grow to a more comfortable length.

Sometimes when they get their claws stuck in something they can "sprain" a toe pulling the claw out. It's not broke, they usually don't swell up, the claw can look just fine, but it's sore. If she lets you look at it, you might be able to tell which toe just because it will hurt when you touch it..

Did you or the vet really pick thru the fur on her leg/paw and see any little cut or puncture wound? If she has a booboo of sorts, that could also explain why she got worse, due to infection/abscess.

Hi, the second vet was much much better, he had a thorough look and came to the conclusion she had some soft tissue injury. She was put onna course of prednisolone, weaned off of it slowly and is now back to using all 4 legs! She still holds it up occasionally when sitting up and has the occasional limp but otherwise is her normal dragon like self! Such a relief to have her on the road to recovery again. Thanks everyone

So glad you found a more conscientious and observant vet.
Recently, I had some friends complain about the vet we use wanting to do "too many" tests for their dog... but I pointed out that it was because of the same vets persistence in testing that we discovered our dog's Addison's and our cats cholangiohepatitis. Sometimes it's worth it to have a vet that is willing to go the extra mile.