Fake limping?

[karsha]

My cat Oliver has recently been favoring his right front paw. He holds it up when he's not moving, and limps sometimes (NOT all the time, as when he is rushing to the food bowl!). Two weeks ago, we returned from vacation and we're getting ready to leave tomorrow on a business trip. I examined him very carefully and could find no swelling or soreness. I'm going to take him to the vet to be checked out, but I'm beginning to suspect he may be "faking" an injury to get our attention or make us stay home. Is this possible?

 

[hell603]

Could be - they are very smart. However you are doing the right thing by having him checked!!!!!

 

[fostermom28]

My neighbor had a dog that would fake a limp when she took her running. When she had enough the limp would come on. She'd even use opposite paws at times. My neighbor would always take her right home to inspect her injury and she learned that if she limped she got to go home.!!!

 

[cilla]

I knew of a little dog who faked a limp, but that was after an accident. For the rest of his life he would limp if there was anyone around. If you saw him first he was walking fine as soon as he saw you the limp would return. And he used to alternate the legs too. Cats are very, very clever, but I think it's safer to go to the vet first.

 

[squirtle]

I just have to put my $.02 in and say that I think it is adorable that a little kitty would pretend to have a hurt leg so that you don't leave, he must love you sooooo much

I never thought in a million years they could pull something like that off, guess I underestimated

 

[stephenq]

The cats isn't de-clawed, right?

 

[mom of franz]

Originally Posted by Karsha

My cat Oliver has recently been favoring his right front paw. He holds it up when he's not moving, and limps sometimes (NOT all the time, as when he is rushing to the food bowl!). Two weeks ago, we returned from vacation and we're getting ready to leave tomorrow on a business trip. I examined him very carefully and could find no swelling or soreness. I'm going to take him to the vet to be checked out, but I'm beginning to suspect he may be "faking" an injury to get our attention or make us stay home. Is this possible?

I had a Collie named Penny growing up..she was a beauty and so smart! On a move with my family she decided she was not getting enough TLC and started to limp. We stopped all our moving activity when we noticed it, put her on the bed and and consoled her...and made a huge fuss. About a half hour later the phone company rang the bell to install the phones. At the sound of the bell, Penny leaped up, ran downstairs and greeted the phone guys! What a cure huh! I shared my twin bed with Penny for 12 years..not an easy task. She also could answer the phone...drove my grandmother nuts. And if she wanted a milkbone, she knew how to open the cabinet. The funniest thing with the milkbone was when the box had only one bone left. She would come out wearing the box on her long snout..what a site! Ah..she was my girl, I nursed her till the very end in her battle with cancer.

So yeah animals are smart cookies, they can fake a limp...but hey at least they can't pass fake checks!

 

[neoncrayon]

Okay so let me tell you a story. My boyfriend and I had just moved into a new apartment. He had one cat and I had another.  The first day I brought my cat into the apartment, I instantly brought her into our walk-in closet, two doors away from the family room.  My boyfriend let his cat go into the family room.  SO I let my cat out of her crate and let her roam around for a few minutes.  I watched and made sure she was fine.  The whole time you can hear my boyfriends cat meowing to come into the bedroom from the living room (she's very loud and quite curious of other pets). So my cat is walking around fine and inspecting her surroundings. I go outside to grab her litterbox and come back not five minutes later.  I opened the door to the back laundry room and my cat follows me.  It was then that I realized she suddenly had a limp.  I obviously freak out wondering what she could possibly hurt herself on IN THE CLOSET WHILE I WAS GONE FOR LESS THAN 5 MINUTES. I call the vet and can't get an appointment for a month.  So I call my boyfriend and he comes back and starts inspecting her foot and shoulder, moving it around and pressing on it and looking for anything stuck in her foot or claws.  She shows no sign of pain, is very submissive (he put her on her back and rubbed her belly and she HATES that), and is jumping on and off the bed with no problem.  But she still has a limp.  SO this continues into the next day and i'm still worried.  On the third day, SHE SUDDENLY GETS BETTER AND IS WALKING AROUND FINE.

Apparently this is a very common reaction (mainly in dogs and in the wild)  when an animal feels threatened it will fake an injury so that the other animal (alpha) won't attack it. MY CAT FAKED HER INJURY SO SHE WOULDN'T GET ATTACKED BY THE OTHER CAT.  Upon realizing that we were keeping them separated for awhile, she instantly healed herself.  It was ridiculous. 

So, while I have read a lot of posts of people saying "no, animals don't fake injuries, that is strictly a human reaction and animals can't do it", that's very untrue and it is actually quite common in animals.  I will say that if your cat shows sign of pain or it continues limping for longer than a week, take it to the vet.  But other wise, just see what happens.  Cats are very smart and they know how to get what they want and can protect themselves.

 

[losna]

Sinbad does this all the time. 

For many cats, it's difficult to tell when they are sick because they try to hide it. Not Sinbad. It's difficult to tell when he's sick because he hams it up so often it's hard not to tune out his acting abnormal and attribute any 'sick/injured' type of behavior to attention seeking. He also tries to prolong the fussing he gets when he is genuinely sick by pretending to remain sick after he's better.