Torn CCL for an outdoor cat

[purrtinent]

Hi there from Europe and thanks for this wonderful site,

One of my cats, a 2 years old male, has apparently torn the CCL (cranial crucial ligament) in his right back leg, about a week ago. The X-ray done at the vet a few days ago will confirm how bad it is and if it's ruptured or just torn, the anterior drawer test revealed a somewhat unstable knee. I think he twisted his knee a bit, i heard a very loud crying meow in the kitchen and he ran outside for a few minutes and isolated himself because of the pain. I feel guilty because i could have better secured the place where i think he injured himself.

Pretty bad limping immediately followed, which has since slightly improved, now he can walk and move around and puts more weight on the injured leg, he does careful jumps without any problem. He's a bit overweight, i'm putting him on a diet that will help him lose weight. They gave him an antiinflammatory injection and i'm giving him an oral NSAID (an equivalent of Metacam). I mix krill powder in his food for the omega3, apparently it can help with the inflammation.

The problem is that this is an outdoor cat, and he is unwilling to stay and rest in a room for weeks when it's nice and sunny outside and where he can socialize with other cats, which is understandable. But outside, he has opportunities to jump, hunt a bit, and it's clear that this doesn't help with the healing of the joint. I'm trying a compromise where i let him outside a few hours a day and let him rest in a room the rest of the day. Any opinions on that, what's the best strategy ? I don't have a cage, only a room with a bed that he can jump on. It's clear that resting is beneficial, but moving around also seems important to prevent the loss of muscle function in his leg ?

I've learned a lot about the various joint supplements. I was told that at this point, glucosamines and chondroitin based supplements have no value because at this stage the main focus should be to manage the inflammation ? One promising supplement available here is Flexadin advanced, which contains collagen and is different from the usual joint supplements. Would it be beneficial for him ? I've read that after the inflammation phase, the body starts producing collagen to repair the ligament. I've given him CBD oil in the past, is it useful for a torn CCL ? Surgery wasn't advised because it's not considered a severe case.

I'm very grateful for any information on this topic, because it's very distressing to watch the quality of life of a lovely and loving cat be suddenly reduced for an injury that happened in a heartbeat. I'm writing here as i've read many threads from people more knowledgeable than me and who had the same experience.

Thank you !

 

[purrtinent]

Reading this message has convinced me that, even if it's frustrating for the cat, it's worth imposing restrictions on movement and have a good resting environment because it really increases the odds of a good recovery.

My kitty sprained his cruciate ligament very seriously when he was 14 years old. Limped badly. Surgery not advised as cats apparently heal very well from such injuries with rest. I put him in a room with no furniture so he could not jump, and a few months later, he was completely healed.

Best wishes for a good recovery.

 

[fionasmom]

Welcome to The Cat Site! It sounds as if you have done a lot of research already on behalf of your cat. As I understand this, you do not have the x ray results yet, but will in a few days? Given that surgery is out of the question, which is completely valid in a tear that is not overly severe, I think that the cat has to be restricted to the house.

Cruciate Ligament Rupture in Cats | VCA Animal Hospitals

I absolutely understand your position with an active cat who loves to go outside and who is not looking forward to being in the house on a permanent basis. Has he ever worn a harness and gone outside with you or anyone else? I have done this with older cats who had previously been allowed outside but who were no longer safe going out alone for various reasons. It might allow him some restricted outdoor time, but if he were to fight the harness it could make things worse, so use your best judgement on that.

A previous dog I owned had an ACL tear. Being under 35 pounds, we were able to let it heal; however, it is much easier to control the activity of a dog than a cat who is used to his freedom.

I would not put him in a cage if there is a room where he would be safe. If jumping on the bed or anything else might be a problem, you might provide stairs of some kind for him. These can be anything that allow him to access the bed without jumping and do not have to be purchased.

My vet would agree that chondrotin and glucosamine after the fact would not be helpful, but you may get other opinions on that. I have never used Flexadin but it appears to be a standard collagen supplement. CBD oil will not heal anything, but may reduce discomfort although it can vary from cat to cat. It can interfere with the effectiveness of other medications and if he is on any prescription pain killers I would not use it.

If he does need pain killers, definitely don't let him outside.

 

[KittyFriday]

I think it's a fairly rare injury in cats; my dog has had surgery on both of his knees for torn CCLs. The two biggest concerns are the immediate pain levels and potential for arthritis to develop, as it will set in more quickly with conservative management (non-surgery) than it would otherwise, especially if he's moving around a lot. For that reason, I don't think joint supplements are a bad idea, but your vet could probably advise on exactly which ones would work best for your cat.

There is apparently some evidence that CCLs can heal for some humans (unsurprisingly, there is some controversy there), but the general school of thought in vet med I believe is still that the ligament itself will not heal. What happens is with rest, scar tissue develops to stabilize the knee (the goal of surgery is also to stabilize the knee). When opting to forgo surgery, rest is required to prevent the scar tissue itself from rupturing before it has time to truly stabilize the joint.

I agree that slow walks outside, or if he can be convinced to just hang out and watch the world go by, would be best. I would try to limit jumping as much as possible for the next several weeks. I know that will be hard to do with a cat - it wasn't easy with my dog, lol.

 

[purrtinent]

fionasmom Thank you very much for your reply. The harness is a good suggestion, but i've already tried that 3 days ago, after seeing a vet in a video talking about using a harness for dogs after an ACL injury. He fights the harness and always manages to get it off, and it's not a good idea to have it too tight around the neck, so i've abandoned the idea for now.

I've put him in a safe room, with only a bed that's about 40cm high. I intend to remove the bed frame and leave only the mattress so that there's nothing to jump on. The stairs are a good idea, thank you. Outside of this room, it's a cat jumping festival for him so that's not good. On a positive note, today his limping is less pronounced and he's walking more smoothly, maybe his other ligaments are strenghtening.

Vet said that he's not in pain. I've stopped giving him the NSAID because i estimate that the inflammation is better now and the risk-benefit ratio with this drug (poison) is terrible. There's a supplement made from green mussels (green-lipped mussels) that is excellent for joints health and inflammation, it seems very safe and beneficial for cats but i need to do more research.

KittyFriday Thank you ! Is your dog okay now ? Yes i was told the arthritis is almost guaranteed to be a problem down the road. You're exactly right about the scar tissue. Someone in another thread said that horses can heal naturally from ligament injuries but that you should not give them drugs to fight the inflammation and pain, because then the drugs will mask the inflammation and they'll use their legs before the ligaments are healed, that could lead to permanent injury. But if they feel the pain, they'll rest and let it heal. That made a lot of sense but i don't know if that applies to cats and dogs, probably. If the garden was a flat field, i'd let him out all the time. But there are stairs, and his favorite 1 meter high walls to jump from ...

 

[purrtinent]

Just a quick update. It's actually a ruptured ligament. They recommend either surgery, or at least cage rest. No way. His room is now perfect for resting and i won't change it. He gets the best food and krill for the inflammation. I'm praying for his recovery. Feeling terrible, wishing i could have prevented all of this.

 

[fionasmom]

Definitely do not use the harness if it will aggravate anything. Sometimes a cat who does not want to wear one with literally flip out and that could create a worse, or another, injury.

Your safe room sounds ideal, especially if you can get the mattress off the frame. I would probably just let him get used to living there for the time being.

Cats get into things and sometimes all the repairs or rearrangement of their environment will not prevent an accident. My last GSD puppy, at 12 weeks, walked out into my garden, which is entirely enclosed, and inhaled the only foxtail out there resulting in a trip to the ER.

 

[purrtinent]

Definitely do not use the harness if it will aggravate anything. Sometimes a cat who does not want to wear one with literally flip out and that could create a worse, or another, injury.

Your safe room sounds ideal, especially if you can get the mattress off the frame. I would probably just let him get used to living there for the time being.

Cats get into things and sometimes all the repairs or rearrangement of their environment will not prevent an accident. My last GSD puppy, at 12 weeks, walked out into my garden, which is entirely enclosed, and inhaled the only foxtail out there resulting in a trip to the ER.

Thank you. Yes, i've removed the bed frame from the room and just left the mattress on the floor with comfy blankets and his toys, he likes it. You're right, it's difficult to get a perfectly safe environment for our cats. I just learned about the hazards of foxtail for pets, can even be life threatening apparently ...

 

[purrtinent]

It's getting marginally better. I understand the reasoning behind making sure they can't jump during the resting period, but i don't see why moderate walking would be so bad (scar tissue ?). If they don't use the weak leg's muscles, wouldn't the pressure on the joint become greater ? Seems impossible to go on like this 4 more weeks.

 

[fionasmom]

Where is he now? Inside in the room? Did the vet actually say that he should be caged? Sorry if I misunderstood in the beginning. I don't see where slow walking or some movement would be detrimental, but I am not the vet.

 

[purrtinent]

Where is he now? Inside in the room? Did the vet actually say that he should be caged? Sorry if I misunderstood in the beginning. I don't see where slow walking or some movement would be detrimental, but I am not the vet.

He's in the room at night and most of the day. But during the day it's very difficult to keep him inside, he wants out. Cage rest was recommended but impossible with him. When he's free to go anywhere i worry about him having a bad landing after a jump and making it worse.

 

[fionasmom]

I would try to keep him inside and monitor him as much as possible. If he is ambitious about getting up to something that might result in a jump, maybe you can temporarily move furniture around or block something. Definitely keep him inside though. If he reinjures himself or makes this worse when he is outside you may not be able to locate him easily. I know that this is very stressful for both of you.