Cat is limping after teeth cleaning

[Talcn]

Hello all,

Our cat needed his teeth to be cleaned, so we went to a vet and that of course required a full anesthesia. He received it through an injection on his back leg (we guess it was in his left leg as he was lying on the surgery table on his right side). Then, they decided to add an IV catheter in his right front leg. When we picked him up the same day at 2PM he was tired and wasn't walking much. But the next day he was noticeably limping on his back left leg and was not the same as before, not the same behavior. He was staying in a corner of the room almost all day. We took him to a different vet the next day, they did an x-ray and verified that there is no trauma or injury. Her diagnosis was that they probably hit his sciatic nerve with the needle. She administered him with cortisone for 9 days and vitamin B12 for a month. She's saying it might take 6 months to recover.

We're into the 3rd day of medicine today and still no improvement.

Anybody had any experience or have any advise on how to treat our poor boy?

Thanks!

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi! I think that giving him a quiet place/room with all his things close by so he doesn't have to go very far, at least for a little while, would be good.

Later on you might check with the new vet regarding when to start, and how much exercise he might need so that muscles don't begin to atrophy. Granted, he's a cat so hopefully he starts moving about on his own and gradually improving from there.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. If it is truly a sciatica issue, it can weeks to resolve. So, 3 days isn't much time at all in the big scheme of things. If he doesn't start moving about some on his own pretty soon though, I would call the vet ask ask if he might need some paid meds. As Furballsmom has alluded to, moderate mobility is still important during the healing process. The other thing you could ask your vet about would be using a heating pad on the area - they oftentimes recommend that for humans, so it might be an option for your cat as well.

Did the vet advise you about his care while he recovers?