Limping Kitty - Pulled Muscle/sprain?

[catlover1717]

I posted about this briefly in another post, but I'm hoping I can get something more feedback here. My coworker thought this sounded like a pulled muscle/sprain based on experiences with her own cats, and I'm curious if anyone here agrees. And if so, how long do these take to heal up? I've found a lot of conflicting information (3 days, 3 weeks, etc).

We noticed our (strictly indoor) cat limping starting Monday evening (we all leave for work in the morning, so no clue when exactly it started or what might have caused it).

{FYI - He's around 11 years old and panics to the EXTREME in the car and at the vet's office. And while everyone recommends spraying Feliway in his carrier before leaving, that stuff may as well just be water to him! Doesn't do squat}

Thing is, while he's limping - it appears one of his back legs is the issue - he's still bearing weight on it and acting 100% normal. We've been poking and prodding his paws to his hips and can't find a wound or sore spot that makes him jump or swat/bite. Nor do we see anything on his paws. He certainly was being feisty last night... Trying to crawl all over the cat stand we put on its side to keep him from jumping, wanting to jump up on the couch and bed, playing with toys, rolling around on the floor waiting for belly rubs, even trying to wrestle with his brother at one point, which I stopped. And he came to the door to greet me as usual when I got home, and ran for his treats in the evening when he heard the container. He certainly seems normal, but that limp is present. Not severe, but obviously present. His eating habits are normal too.

We did call our vet, of course. She isn't the best in my honest opinion, but she's the only one in the area. She ALWAYS wants us to come in ASAP, unlike other vets who may tell people to hold off and monitor based on the issue they're reporting, etc. She knows how badly he panics too, which can't be great for him as he gets older.

If he's no better by this coming week, he'll have to go in. But I'm feeling torn... If his behavior/attitude was affected, or he wasn't putting any weight on the limb, that'd be a different matter. But I also hate leaving him when he may be in pain, and I know cats hide pain well. Then again, do they hide it THIS well?! It's possible that it's arthritis, since he's older, but if so, it really presented out of nowhere. I will add that he is a bit overweight.

I got a delivery of Cosequin today in the meantime, and am starting him on one capsule mixed into his morning Fancy Feast.

 

[JamesCalifornia]

~ This happened to one of my cats a few months ago. Took about 6 days for him to put his weight on that foot . I examined his paw - it was slightly swollen. I watched him and he's fine today.
With all the jumping and landing cats do I am surprised it does not happen more often .
Best wishes to you and kitty . ..

 

[Furballsmom]

You're doing all the right things like calming his wrestling and not letting him jump up. My guy was racing around a corner and one front leg literally scooted out from under him, and yep, he was sore. If I recall it took a couple days, and would show up briefly now and then over the next few weeks if he did something to irritate it but eventually he ended up just fine. What with the exuberant happy play you've described, I think I'd seriously consider avoiding the stress and tension of a vet visit because it really sounds like he will be fine.

 

[ManekiNekko]

In November, our cat started limping on his right hind leg. It got worse over the course of 4 days and on day 6, we finally got him in to the vet. They thought it might be his hip after poking and prodding him, but weren't sure because he didn't react painfully or aggressively no matter what they did. They rated him a 2 out of 4 on the lameness scale. They gave him robenacoxib and sent us home.

That night, our cat's tail started going limp. When I got a hold of the vet again on day 8, he set us up for an apt the next day. After x-ray, he was diagnosed with a herniated disc that was affecting his nerves in his right hind leg and tail and given buprenorphine for pain and started on a steroid and proscribed laser treatments and enforced rest. He was on the steroid, laser treatments, and rest for 2 weeks and we saw quite a bit of improvement during that time. So basically, it was about 2 1/2 to 3 weeks till he was almost all the way back to himself with a herniated disc that was being treated. I would guess a mild strain/sprain would take less time to heal, but it could also differ with treatment versus no treatment.

Long story to say, does your cat usually hide pain will? Our vet still could *barely* tell it was his back that was hurting by the second exam they did, at which point he'd been in pain for at least a week.

Either way, resting him as much as you're able should help. We had to isolate ours in a safe (bed) room any time we weren't with him, which he did not like, but it was what the doctor ordered (and better for him than a dog crate).

Is there any way the vet would be willing to give you robenacoxib without bringing the cat in? That could help a bit with pain and any inflammation.

Our cat is also overweight, but is only 6 years old, so we were surprised with his diagnosis. But your cat could be developing arthritis and symptoms could definitely come on quickly if he has a bulging disc.

We just got cosequin to start our cat on, too, since I'd also read that that was helpful, but that will take weeks to help your cat, if it's arthritis that is setting in for him.

 

[ManekiNekko]

Our vet still could *barely* tell it was his back that was hurting by the second exam they did, at which point he'd been in pain for at least a week.

I forgot to say that the one time we could really tell he was in pain was the night of day 6, when he "cried" once and arched his back and hid in a corner (but still came out to eat). If we hadn't been with him at the time, I would have underestimated how much pain the injury was sometimes causing him.

 

[catlover1717]

I don't think he hides his pain/displeasure that well. He gets fussy when he has to have his nails clipped. One of the only times you'll ever hear him growl a bit. And on the two or three times we've had to dump him in a bath, he's perfectly willing to use his claws on us. LOL.

About 6 months ago he got a toe stuck in a little cat toy ball (which was promptly thrown in the trash). We decided to cut it off while holding him, and he got rather vocal and tried to take a few bites out of us. He sulked under a table for like an hour afterward.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

The knees are actually one of the weaker joints in a kitty, and if you have an older, obese/overweight cat, then --over time-- that can take its toll on the joints and ligaments/ muscles around the knees. Even just in older cats, there is degeneration over time of all the joints. If doesn't necessarily mean that an older, overweight cat can develop full-blown luxating knee caps (though they can), but it may mean that the cat could more easily develop cruciate ligament injuries during moderate to high activity playtimes that may have included twisting movements centered on the knees.

Any kind of what I call "rodeo moves" can torque the cat's knees, things like making your cat chase a DaBird toy in a repetitive, tight circular pattern; having them dash a bit one direction then spin on their hind legs to dash in the opposite direction. Even "balancing act" moves like when cats climb up on stair railings or on the back's of chairs and try walking across that small surface area while balancing themselves can cause ligament stress. All these can stress the knee joints, esp. with an older and/or overweight cat, or a cat who has a congenital knee issue. The repetition can really build up inflammation, etc., making that area more easily damaged during any wild, sudden moves.

It seems your kitty has been limping since about Tuesday, that you are aware of? Sometimes smaller muscle tears or sprains can improve within 3-4 days, so if you are moving into about 7-10 days of your cat having had this noticeable limping, you might want to take him in to the vet to see if the cause can be found. The vet will hopefully have some experience being able to explore if the cranial cruciate ligaments were injured.
Cruciate Ligament Rupture in Cats
cranial cruciate ligament tears in cats at DuckDuckGo

edit for postscript: some people use or recommend Cosequin and I guess it doesn't hurt. But it does take months sometimes to even have any effect, plus there is no guarantee that it will help your own individual cat's inflammation... it depends on the state or grade of the injury or inflammation. My cat Milly had congenital luxating patellas, had surgeries for them, and our very good orthopedic surgeon for her never pushed for the use of such "joint" products. I did ask him twice about it, for each of Milly's knee surgeries, but (and it could be because she is YOUNG), he pretty much scoffed at the idea -- time in recovery and a good rehab schedule were what he promoted in getting her stronger again.

 

[catlover1717]

There have been times yesterday and today that the limp seems 90+% gone, but then it's more visible later on.

Still no change in attitude/behavior. Kept pawing me in the face at 6am this morning for his Fancy Feast, then followed me around doing his happy, shaking tail thing (LOL) when I was doing some cleaning.

I wonder if trying to find a home visit vet would be pointless? I assume if this limp doesn't clear up they'll need to do an x-ray, and these mobile vets don't offer that...

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Actually, this is good as, in my experience, one sign that my cat Milly's legs were doing good on particular days while she recovered from her knee surgeries was that her tail was not drooping or hanging down - but was straight up a lot of the time when she was walking or moving. Often, a cat will be unable to raise the tail if there is a particular hind leg or back strain or injury.

 

[catlover1717]

Oh yeah, his tail is definitely fine!

I was tossing toys at him from the couch on Sunday, and noted that he's still using his back legs as usual to kinda kick at the toy while he's holding it in his front paws. Was having trouble slowing him down this past weekend... He kept going down into the basement to goof off even though I'm trying to limit his use of the stairs. He doesn't care. LOL. We moved the litter box we had brought upstairs for four days or so back down there, since he was climbing down anyway.

He's had 3 days worth of the Cosequin now. Thank God he doesn't seem to know it's being mixed into his wet food.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Good news!

 

[catlover1717]

Yeah. Unfortunately his limp is definitely worse after resting. There are times when he's been up for a while that it seems gone, and then he gets up after a long nap and boom...

 

[crunchie]

Hi catlover, sorry to hear about your cat's limp. I'm not sure if you've brought him to the vet already but I would strongly suggest doing so. It was exactly around this time 1 year ago when I noticed my cat had a slight limp on her back leg. She didn't have one the night before but the next morning I noticed it around late morning/noon.
I waited a couple of days, limited jumping etc then took her in for some x rays. Turns out she had torn her ACL (Anterior Cruciate Ligament). To this day I have no idea how she did it. She didn't have any falls, is an indoor car and I had been home with her for days prior. The only thing that I can think of was that morning while I was still in bed she had one of those crazy bolt out of the litterbox, tear around the apartment moments. She was also a little bit overweight at the time. So it really doesn't take much. After much reading and discussing options with the vet I decided that the best thing for her was surgery with included NINE+ weeks of very restricted movement (no jumping, climbing etc). She is also on daily Cosiquin because I want to try and make sure that she doesn't have/get arthritis issues as she ages (hopefully). It also prompted me to go back and start taking my glucosamine as well. (Cosiquin is the cat version of glucosamine )

Feel free to contact me if you have any questions. Hopefully it's not the same thing with your cat. Good luck.

 

[catlover1717]

I thought ACL tears caused pretty significant limping/pain, as well as limping that's clearly worse after they've been on their feet for a while?

Kitty was doing well this morning. Couldn't really detect much of a limp. But as I mentioned in an earlier post, it may be more visible later on after he's been sleeping in the same spot for a while. It improves with activity. The more he's up, the harder it is to see the limp. At times it's pretty much gone.

 

[Kieka]

I fully support a cautionary vet visit just for x-rays and a physical exam. Only because my cat broke his leg and even the vet thought it was just a sprain before the x-rays. Some cats are just really good at hiding pain and my boy is definitely one of them. The vet even manipulated the exact spot of the break and my boy did nothing more then look annoyed at the whole thing. Link also hid his limping anytime he knew he was being watched and it was only in rare moments when I caught him unaware or right after he woke up that he limped.

 

[catlover1717]

The vet cautioned us against putting him under (due to his age) for a small lump on his neck that we found not long ago. She couldn't get a sample because he was so upset (as he always is at the vet), so she told us she thought it was nothing and sent him on his way for the time being. I assume that same warning is in place for an x-ray, because he would never sit still for one and would have to be heavily sedated/completely out. Obviously if this doesn't clear up, we'll have to do one, but he seems to be getting better.

 

[crunchie]

I didn't think her limp was very significant either, but I didn't have anything to compare it to. The vet told me that I could do nothing and leave it alone, eventually there would be scar tissue that would grow over, but it would still remain unstable. He also warned that as she got older she would probably have problems with arthritis and that the leg would never be as strong as it was.
I was warned about putting her under because of her age (12) but I went for it because she did have a surgery once before about 5 years prior.
I have a little video of her limp that I was going to upload but I can't find a way to do it on this site.

 

[catlover1717]

Hm. Well, now I'm feeling rather uncertain, because most of what I've read on ACL tears suggested that my cat would be limping a lot worse, would be better after rest vs worse (& better with activity), certainly not playing, possibly not eating or hiding a lot, etc., if that were what had happened.

Well, we have an appointment made for Friday if needed. He didn't appear to be limping at all this morning, and was being a feisty little poop, so I'll be curious to see how he is this evening after he's snoozed the day away on the couch.

 

[crunchie]

Well I truly hope that it is not the same with your cat. It does sound like your cat's limp isn't as bad so pretty sure it isn't the ACL. Good luck on Friday I hope it turns out okay.

 

[nglasure]

How long did it end up taking for your kitty to heal up? I'm having a similar situation with mine atm.