Senior Cat Hind Limping And Pain

[sillywoody]

Hello!

After having a wonderful few months with my nearly 13 year old strictly-indoor domestic long hair kitty and bff Silly (Sylvester) who had complications after a routine dental surgery a few months ago (see my other posts for the details!)...he now has another issue, please advise with ANY advice you might have, anything is always appreciated by us!

problem:
Noticed today Silly was not standing his rear left limb. Avoiding it so much so he was falling trying to get to his food bowl and doubling back for his floor bed. I brought him into the emergency night vet within the hour.

-Vet pulled and prodded both hind limbs, Silly hissed and yowled and was visibly distraught by moving both hind limbs. One much worse than other.
-Vet recommended x-rays.
-Vet leaning toward arthritis but also mentioned possible dislocation or kneecap break...was slightly confused by him. No high places for Silly to jump off and I was home all day. I didn't notice any wild activity....maybe underlying problem caused injury?
-vet rec. metacam but prior bad history with meta so vet put Silly on bupenorphine.
-silly already sleeping after but dose, he loves the stuff. ok for short term i guess.
-I will probably do x-rays at his other vet tom morn
-Silly had a second bowel (one earlier in day as usual) movement after getting back from vet.

Question:
the emergency vet recommended Silly be sedated for surgery. How necessary is this? Any other advice in this situation? Sorry if i'm not making sense, been a long day.

Thank you!!

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

So what's the news today? Did you mean the ER Vet recommended he be sedated for XRAY? It's only necessary if he won't lie still, I imagine.

 

[sillywoody]

Heres an update!

-During p.m. emergency vet visit, vet kept stretching and tugging on both of Silly's legs for at least 2 minutes, probably to get a better idea of what was happening, and even had a nurse come in to hold Silly down...Silly was yowling and hissing in obvious pain. I couldn't believe this needed to be done to get a diagnosis.
-Post emergency vet visit, Silly was worse than before, holding his leg really high up off the ground
-first dose of bup (bupenorphine/buprenex) really calmed him, and he slept well, ate and drank
-Silly saw regular vet next AM (yesterday)
-Reg vet felt swelling around his hock joint; some heat around the area as well
-He did not have a fever; vet said this is likely an injury
-Reg vet did do a lot of feeling around, but not the pulling and tugging the emergency vet did, and Silly wasn't hissing or yowling
-Reg vet wanted to get him on NSAID and monitor for 3 days before doing xrays
-After 3 days if no improvement we will do x-rays to determine extent of issue or if it is cancer, but she said it would be odd for it to come on so suddenly if it was cancer, and the swelling in the hock area would be odd, but not impossible (fingers crossed its just an injury, not arthritis or cancer)
-She felt Silly had injured himself and noted that he is probably overweight and since he's getting older, he's getting some muscle atrophy in his hind legs as his tummy is getting heavier too
-I discussed my discomfort with Metacam and she suggested Onsior (NSAID, anti-inflammatory properties)
-I couldn't find anything horrible about Onsior online and I decided to let the vet make the call on the Onsior
-Silly got 1st dose Onsior yesterday, 2nd dose today
-Silly is still doing bupenorphine xtwice daily
-Yesterday he was still limping around, today he is walking slowly but touching his foot to the floor (hoping this is improvement)
-He has been eating and drinking normally
-I moved his litter box, food, and water closer to his bed so he doesn't have to treck across our tiny studio apt...but he keeps going for a little walk anyways (I hope its ok), the area is very small.

Concerns
-no bowel movement from Silly since Tuesday evening (he had two bm's on Tuesday, both large, regular and formed; he usually only has one so I was surprised after the emergency vet when he went again; possibly from stress?)
-only two pees since Tuesday evening, one long one yesterday eve and one this morning very early. (no signs of straining or interest in using it more, but he usually pees twice or three times daily, and is drinking his regular amount of water)
-Should I be worried?

Extra info:
-This is the first time the vet was very clear about him being overweight (He is a 14.5 lb domestic long hair but we all think he and his litter mate are maine coon or at least partly)
-Both the emergency vet and the regular vet said he is overweight and this could have contributed to his injury...even though he weighs a lb less than he did when I brought him in for his vet visit a few months ago...wish the regular vet had been more clear that he is overweight...I wouldn't have been offended if she told me he was fat. He's VERY fluffy, and honestly, its hard to tell if he's fat or just fluffy. Really upset this has never been mentioned to me before, because this could have possibly been avoided
-I use the Orijen cat&kitten feeding instructions for a 13 lb cat for him...
-The emergency vet though, he was rude about it, and was looking at me like I was neglectful or cruel because he is overweight, when he has been seen by a vet regularly (and multiple vets at that), and I've never been told he is overweight, although I suspected it because of his tummy.
-I was home with him all day (studio apartment) and really feel like I would have seen if he hurt himself but it's possible of course.
-He took a nap beside me for quite a while and when he got up is when I noticed his leg injury
-I'm scared I somehow squished his leg without noticing and feel horrible about that
-He has been known to get under us when he sleeps and his tail has been stepped on a few times without him even making a peep, so we try to be really careful when maneuvering about the apartment.
-Just to note, regular vet didn't do what the emergency vet did (pulling and tugging), although Silly was visibly uncomfortable, and grumbled once or twice, regular vet didn't continue it for as long in order to make a diagnosis (i'm not too happy with that emergency vet right now, but that is beside the point).

That's all for now, will update tomorrow. Really hoping for improvements throughout the day and regular bm's and pees. Hope this helps someone or if anyone has any experience with this lmk!

 

[sillywoody]

So what's the news today? Did you mean the ER Vet recommended he be sedated for XRAY? It's only necessary if he won't lie still, I imagine.

yes i believe that's what the emerge vet meant, sedation for the x-ray. i'm probably taking Silly in again tomorrow because he isn't peeing as much as i'd like and he hasn't had a bm since tuesday which is abnormal for him. he may have an x-ray done as well then. i'll see what reg vet says...hoping for good news soon.

 

[missmimz]

I can't believe any vet would recommend metacam for a 13 year old cat when it clearly isn't good for older cats that are always prone to kidney issues. I would not go anywhere near metacam. Did you do a full blood panel on this cat including kidneys and thyroid?

 

[sillywoody]

I can't believe any vet would recommend metacam for a 13 year old cat when it clearly isn't good for older cats that are always prone to kidney issues. I would not go anywhere near metacam. Did you do a full blood panel on this cat including kidneys and thyroid?

I agree fully. The weird thing is, in a separate situation a few months ago after he was post dental my regular vet put him on metacam...after one dose (and whatever they gave him in the hospital), I stopped him from taking any more once I read about it. I went to a different vet, who argued with me about taking him off metacam, and put him on bup. Then, literally, in two seconds, without explaining to me what was happening, he gave my Silly a Convenia shot! When I looked it up...I was horrified.

Now, a totally different vet (emerge) wanted to put him on metacam again. It's like, that's all they use in this neighbourhood. Fortunately, I used thecatsite and won't give him metacam...but I did go ahead with the Onsior because I couldn't really find anything too bad (it is new, this may be why). His hock joint was so swollen, I was afraid the bup wasn't enough. I'm kind of glad he's on it (for now) because some swelling has definitely gone down...thats not to say it wouldn't have on its own...and it is still definitely swollen and hes still limping a bit.
He had a full blood panel in December after the metacam and Convenia, he was slightly anemic, but that went away once he started eating again.
Maybe we should do a blood panel again. Especially if he goes in for x-rays. Before his ordeal in Dec, I wanted to get the vet's opinion on everything, after trying 3 different ones...I'm really not sure I can trust vets again.

 

[sillywoody]

Update: Good news! I decided to let my indoor-only Silly step out on our backyard grass (it just rained, and is pesticide free, extra nummy for him), he ate a couple pieces, five mins later...he had a two-days worth'a poo in the litter box. Not sure if it was the grass or him enjoying the outdoors (for all of five mins). Sorry to be so excited about bms...now I can focus on him peeing more and his leg...

 

[missmimz]

I agree fully. The weird thing is, in a separate situation a few months ago after he was post dental my regular vet put him on metacam...after one dose (and whatever they gave him in the hospital), I stopped him from taking any more once I read about it. I went to a different vet, who argued with me about taking him off metacam, and put him on bup. Then, literally, in two seconds, without explaining to me what was happening, he gave my Silly a Convenia shot! When I looked it up...I was horrified.

Now, a totally different vet (emerge) wanted to put him on metacam again. It's like, that's all they use in this neighbourhood. Fortunately, I used thecatsite and won't give him metacam...but I did go ahead with the Onsior because I couldn't really find anything too bad (it is new, this may be why). His hock joint was so swollen, I was afraid the bup wasn't enough. I'm kind of glad he's on it (for now) because some swelling has definitely gone down...thats not to say it wouldn't have on its own...and it is still definitely swollen and hes still limping a bit.
He had a full blood panel in December after the metacam and Convenia, he was slightly anemic, but that went away once he started eating again.
Maybe we should do a blood panel again. Especially if he goes in for x-rays. Before his ordeal in Dec, I wanted to get the vet's opinion on everything, after trying 3 different ones...I'm really not sure I can trust vets again.

My 14 year old just had dental yesterday and thankfully the specialist gave me buprenex, but I was prepared to tell them NO metacam. I run labs on senior cats at least twice a year, just because things can change so rapidly.

 

[sillywoody]

My 14 year old just had dental yesterday and thankfully the specialist gave me buprenex, but I was prepared to tell them NO metacam. I run labs on senior cats at least twice a year, just because things can change so rapidly.

Your kitty is lucky to have you : ). I think that running two labs is a good idea, think I might do the same now. It's all kind of dawning on me how old he is getting and you're right, things happen fast. Might as well be as prepared as one can be.

 

[sillywoody]

Update! All seems to be better now, and Silly appears to be recovered. His swelling has gone down and he is off the Osior and bup. Along eith Onsior and bup, I did daily cold compresses too as suggested by his regular vet. Im going to keep him from jumping up and down and get him to lose weight. We are also going to look into physio for his hind area muscle atrophy.

 

[mrsgreenjeens]

Great news