Broken tail?

KayleeMae

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Hello All,

After arriving home from work yesterday I noticed my cats tail looking “weird”. She is not lifting her tail like normal and sort of dragging it. She will NOT let me touch or feel it. I allow her outside during the day but close the cat door and make her come in at night, so I had to have happened when I was at work yesterday! My vet is out of town so no appointment are be scheduled at this time.Has this happened to anyone’s cat before, any advice?
 

Mr. Meow

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I'd suggest taking your cat to the ER right away. Kitty must be in severe pain and you don't want to prolong that.
 
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KayleeMae

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I would love to add that yes I understand my cat needs to be seen. I’m asking if anyone has had this happen what the out come was. Thank you for any relevant experiences.
 

kittenmittens84

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Yes, that exact thing happened to my cat a few years ago. He tried to jump from the floor to up between the balusters on the staircase, misjudged it, and fell. It wasn’t a high fall (maybe 2.5 feet?) but he fell backward and kinda landed on his butt. Afterward his tail was dragging and he couldn’t lift it up as much as normal.

He had a small hairline fracture about 1/3 of the way down his tail and also sprained the muscles around it. At the vet he got some bupe for the pain and they gave us onisor to give him for a day or two after while the swelling went down.

He was mostly back to normal as far as activity levels within a week or so but it took a really long time for him to regain completely normal tail movement. I think it was like 5-6 months before he could lift it all the way up the same way he could before. He was lucky, tail injuries closer to the base of the tail can cause damage to the nerves that control bladder function but he didn’t have any litter box issues. Just the droopy tail that slowly got less droopy.
 

Norachan

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This could be caused by a variety of things. Holding a tail down usually suggests a cat bite. If another cat has bitten her the bite could get infected and form an abscess. This will need to be drained and the cat will need antibiotics.

It could suggest a trapped nerve. This is more common with chubbier cats, but it is very painful and needs to be treated with anti-inflammatory medication. A drooping tail is the first sign, but if not treated the cat can lose the ability to control their back legs or bladder. I've had that happen to one of my cats. The sooner you start treating the easier it will be for the cat to recover.

It could also be a break, bruising or damage further up the spinal column.

So all in all, as Mr. Meow Mr. Meow said, it's something that needs immediate vet care. Do you have an ER vet in your area you can take your cat too?
 
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KayleeMae

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Yes, that exact thing happened to my cat a few years ago. He tried to jump from the floor to up between the balusters on the staircase, misjudged it, and fell. It wasn’t a high fall (maybe 2.5 feet?) but he fell backward and kinda landed on his butt. Afterward his tail was dragging and he couldn’t lift it up as much as normal.

He had a small hairline fracture about 1/3 of the way down his tail and also sprained the muscles around it. At the vet he got some bupe for the pain and they gave us onisor to give him for a day or two after while the swelling went down.

He was mostly back to normal as far as activity levels within a week or so but it took a really long time for him to regain completely normal tail movement. I think it was like 5-6 months before he could lift it all the way up the same way he could before. He was lucky, tail injuries closer to the base of the tail can cause damage to the nerves that control bladder function but he didn’t have any litter box issues. Just the droopy tail that slowly got less droopy.
Thanks for sharing your experience, hearing he is now ok makes me feel better. I have a vet appointment this afternoon with a previous vet we used!!
 

fionasmom

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Glad you got an appointment. I had a bite scenario with a feral and the tail became gangrenous and had to be amputated....not trying to scare you...but if it had not been a feral and I could have gotten to her sooner it could have been treated when it was still in the infection stage.
 
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