Tail Amputation

[melontine]

Two weeks ago my cat Socks came back with a limp tail, if we touched it she would react in pain. We called up the vet and had her seen the next day, brought her in, had x-rays done... We went home with medicine so hopefully, her tail would heal. But also we were told "a limp tail is fine, a hurt tail is not," and "if it doesn't heal in two weeks it probably isn't going to".

So today, Socks still has a limp tail, and it still hurts. I'm bringing her back in tomorrow for a re-exam, but we're thinking she'll likely have to have it amputated.
This is apparently a pretty common injury in cats? I hadn't seen it before moving here, but now I have a cat with a limp tail and one whose tail is likely coming off. I wonder what causes it.

This is Socks

 

[Furballsmom]

Hi!
What a gorgeous sweetheart ! I'm sorry that happened, and am sending all my best wishes to you and Socks!
There will be other members who see your post soon.

 

[white shadow]

This is apparently a pretty common injury in cats? I hadn't seen it before moving here....

Hi melontine .

Have you moved to a new neighbourhood?

Does she roam freely in the neighbourhood?

Tail injuries are not 'common'............but, certainly some are more likely to occur in cats that roam unsupervised.
.

 

[melontine]

Hi melontine .

Have you moved to a new neighbourhood?

Does she roam freely in the neighbourhood?

Tail injuries are not 'common'............but, certainly some are more likely to occur in cats that roam unsupervised.
.

I moved from a suburban housing area in AL to a rural area in ME last year, it's a pretty different environment. First time living in an area we can have chickens, we likely have a lot more wildlife here, but I'm not sure.
We used to find lost fawns and armadillos in our backyards before, so porcupines and groundhogs aren't too different. (We always had to worry about coyotes and raccoons, though still no sign of them. Hopefully, it stays that way.)
Cars drive faster here. The neighbourhood cats aren't as regulated. (We see more strays and unaltered kitties now.)

Some of our cats roam unsupervised. It's not ideal, but it's what has worked to keep them happy so far. Any new cat added to our house is made a strictly indoor kitty.
Usually, our cats don't actually roam. Being on a two-acre lot, Socks doesn't really stray into the neighbour's yards. We can always find her out when we go outside. (Or rather, she finds us. She really loves seeing us outside.) But maybe they do when we're not around.

So tail injuries aren't common? Maybe the vet meant that they're common in this area.

 

[DreamerRose]

danteshuman just had to have a cat's tail amputated. Maybe she can tell you more about it. Her cat's tail was bitten and degloved by a dog.

 

[danteshuman]

Sounds so brutal to hear devolved but it is sadly accurate...., poor boy!!! (Next door neighbors dog & Nick was lup in a neighbor's Tree.) Nick got to keep about ?5? Inches of his tail. ( technically not my cat. I fostered Nick, his brother & sister from 4 weeks on. I adopted his brother & my mom adopted the other two. I was visiting, the boys were having a play date in the yard when it happened within 20 minutes ..... no he had never done it before. His harness free days are gone.... so are Jackie’s days of getting harness free time in my mom’s backyard.)

What I can tell you is cats can live happy long lives without their tails. That said their spines go up into their tails so a broken tail can have dire consequences (like loss of bowel control!) Since your cat’s litter box habits are OK that part is fine. So now it becomes a question of how much damage & where. I stepped on tip of one of my cat’s tail long ago. It broke the tip and his tail tip had a permeant bend but he had no long term issues. Sarah (mom’s cat) got hit by a car, broke her last vertebrae & had bladder/bowel issues. She had to have her tail amputated to a nub because it was dragging everywhere & getting sores.

Included picture of Nick with his new ‘manx’ tail ..... it is still healing. BTW it costs about $1,000 for his injuries/operation. A harness is way cheaper!

 

[danteshuman]

The dog bit and tried to pull the Nick out of the tree by his tail and ‘degloved’ the bottom 1/3 of his tail down to the bone at the end.

Here is a picture of Sarah that kinda shows her tail a bit (a bobcat nub about 1.5 inches long) and a good one of her in her senior years. I was just focused on capturing her sweet face not her tail (she peed in her sleep after she regained some use of her bladder ..... she was hit by a car when she was 5 years old. She lived 19 years..... lots & lots of ‘Sarah towels!)

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

Hi M melontine ! Sorry your Socks is going through this!

I'm assuming the vet saw specific injury with the tail from viewing the xrays? I do know that a cat's tail can be limp also from any injuries or nerve issues almost anywhere along the spine and even if injuries to the back legs. Injuries in these areas can cause similar pain to the cat so that when they try to raise their tail, it can hurt and they let it hang limp to avoid the pain. So, I'm just wondering what the xrays showed regarding the location of the injury.

 

[melontine]

Poor kitties! That sounds horrifying! I’m glad Nick is doing well now.

The X-ray showed swelling about and inch or two down the tail, the vet told me it looked better than she was expecting since there were no gaps.
Socks does lift her tail a little sometimes, but it still hurts her, I notice she even struggles to lay down comfortably now.

 

[danteshuman]

(Thank you about Nick ....... he will always be my baby panther.... now he is a Manx panther! )

She needs pain meds. Cats hide their pain; so if you know something is hurting her a little...... it is probably hurting a lot!

*I had a cat named Dante (R.I.P.) who had an inflamed pancreas, I had no idea! The vet noticed and sent him home with pain meds & anti-nausea medication.... suddenly it was almost like having him healthy again. I had no idea he was hurting! (Oh & the vet prescribed the same pain medication for Dante that she did for Nick .... only Dante needed twice as much pain meds as a cat needs for loosing their tail! That is how much cats are hardwired to hide their pain!) If her pupils are dilated more than usual then she is stressed/hurting. A good rule of thumb with cats is if you think they are hurting, have a vet give them pain medication and see if it helps them act ‘normal’ again.

*When Nick got his tail bit his pupils were fully dilated and he threw up and pooped; from the pain. He didn’t scream and he let me pet him. He wanted to hide or pace looking for a way out of the bathroom. After surgery my mom forgot to give him his pain medication one night and it was an hour past his med time. He was hissing & growling at everyone (acting all cranky/frightened.) 15 minutes after pain meds? Happy, relaxed, loopy stoned kitty.

 

[DreamerRose]

I hope it's nothing more than that and that she will recover full use of her tail soon.

 

[melontine]

Thank you!
I hope she recovers but I’m about 80% sure she’ll need her tail amputated at this point.
Socks was on pain meds for ten days and an anti inflammatory for six days. I’ll be bringing her to her appointment now.

 

[PushPurrCatPaws]

She's a complete sweetheart! Look at her - she's beautiful!

 

[DreamerRose]

Keep us posted!

 

[melontine]

We’re back. Socks gets to keep her tail a little longer.
The vet found that her tail is more swollen than before, they took a syringe to drain it a bit/check for pus. There was a little in there.
They said the tail is infected, so we’ll be giving her antibiotics to help her fight the infection and see if that helps.

 

[DreamerRose]

Bless her heart.

 

[fionasmom]

I hope that will heal the tail and that Socks will not need surgery, or to lose the tail. Several years ago I had no choice but to allow the amputation of the tail of a cat who was a wild feral. I trapped him to TNR, realizing that the tail would be an issue. In his case, it was already going into gangrene so there was no discussion about what to do. He stayed at the vet's a few days longer than I would have left a cat who was only neutered, but had to release him back outside and he was fine. He sort of became a neighborhood legend.

 

[silkenpaw]

What a beautiful cat Socks is! Is she a polydactyl? I’m glad she may get to keep her tail, hope the infection resolves quickly.

 

[danteshuman]

Socks has such pretty eyes! Plus a fluffy belly begging to be touched!

I hope she has a speedy recovery & keep her tail! L