My friend’s sweet little cat came in a few nights before New Year’s Eve looking really bad. We think he may have had an unfortunate encounter with a car. There was no blood or broken bones, but he could hardly walk and all he wanted to do was hide and sleep.
My friend is living on a fixed income and had no money for a vet. So, we did the best we could to make him comfortable and watched him closely.
So here it is a week and a half later. He seems to have made a remarkable recovery, as now he is eating, drinking, and using a litter box. (Bless his heart, he is an outdoor cat and had never seen one before; yet he figured out what it was for.) We really had thought he was dying, he looked so bad before.
His main problem seems to be some kind of abscess on his ear – the side of his face is swollen and weepy.
I have a friend who’s a vet tech, and she arranged with the vet to get some antibiotics for the ear.
But here’s the question: He still can’t walk much. His legs are all fine – I have seen him scratching with both hind legs, and he does not limp or favor them. But when he tries to walk, it’s like his hind end fishtails and he falls over. He can go a few steps, but then his butt will sort of collapse to one side.
I am having trouble picturing how a four-legged animal’s inner gyroscope works with respect to balance and the inner ear. Is it possible that fluid in his ear is wrecking his posterior balance? It seems to me that it would be either one side or the other, not back vs. front.
I’m pretty sure that it’s not a hip displacement or anything like that. He does not appear to have any pain related to his legs. The vet tech examined him, and said she had never seen injury to the ear affect the balance in that way.
It’s possible that it is the ear infection. Older dogs get a condition sometimes that messes up their balance and at first they literally cannot walk. They look like they are very dizzy and some even have eye movement like they just got done spinning in circles for an hour. It gets better with time, but when one of our dogs got it, she literally would ricochet off hallway walls if we didn’t help her walk.
It was actually kind of funny to watch - I know, bad owner!
Your friend may be fond of the animal, but her inability to afford vet bills makes her a bad pet owner. Either she needs to somehow scrape up the money (perhaps by setting up a crowdsourcing website to get donations), or she should rehome the animal to someone who can afford to take care of it.
The one time I took care of a cat with an inner ear issue that was severe enough to cause her to lose her balance, it was more of an anterior problem and not posterior.
The cat needs to be seen by a vet ASAP, it is probably in a lot of pain. Cats tend to hide pain well.
curlcoat: Thanks very much for that information; it’s reassuring to know that such a thing is not completely unheard of. He really does seem bright-eyed and bushy-tailed otherwise – but I’ve been afraid of nerve damage, as purplehorseshoe suggested.
Rachellelogram: I do understand your point of view, and appreciate your advocacy on the kitty’s behalf. However, this is a kitty adopted from someone with a box of kittens on the street, and we’re not talking about shots or stitches or even surgery. We’re talking about X-rays or MRIs and procedures which would cost literally thousands of dollars. If he was suffering or mangled beyond hope, we would have had him put down. But I don’t think that only people with lots of disposable income should be allowed to have cats. (and really, you don’t have cats, cats have you.) In fact, he is as I said cheerful, alert, and eating with perhaps even more gusto than before, if that’s even possible. I think being “re-homed” to strangers for reasons he doesn’t understand after such a traumatic experience would be far more cruel and demoralizing than a slow recovery among the people who love him.
Minnie Luna: Sorry, I’m a very slow typist – your post hadn’t appeared yet when I started typing my answer. Again, although the situation was different, it is good to hear that ear injury/edema can affect a cat’s balance.
Honestly, I can only say that I am about as powerful a lover of cats as can be. I don’t drive a car mostly because I could not handle it if I ever hurt a kitty. (or a person, or dog, or bird, or armadillo … ) Because my friend is disabled, I stayed with the cat the first few days, around the clock, slept right next to him and talked to him and watched him closely. He looked like he was in pain then. I knew he was in pain. A few days later, when he started walking around and talking to me, I moved him gently to a quiet place in his mommy’s room, and I went home. I see him every day, and I sincerely believe that he is not in pain now. He has moved into a chair beside his person, and eagerly greets me when I come in. That’s the best I can do.
It may be the inner ear thing, or he may have a broken pelvis. Is there a shelter clinic you can go to? If the abscess is bad it may need to be drained.
Well, I think if his pelvis were broken, he could not scratch the occasional flea with both his right and left rear paws? (I have directly observed this.)
But I don’t know for sure. Surely it could not have knit already, if it were broken?
Yes, he could, and no, it would not be healed yet.
A common injury among cats that are hit by cars is a fractured or separated pelvis. The first concerns are that the kitty can urinate and pass stool comfortably. Sounds like you have that covered. The next concerns are whether the pelvis is fractured or separated in a way that will hinder comfortable movement without surgical intervention. There’s no way to know that without x-rays. Depending on where you live, a vet visit and 2-views pelvic x-rays will run you from $150 to $300, or see if there’s a humane society that sees low income clients or another kind of low-income pet clinic that can do the x-rays for far cheaper.
It can’t hurt to call any nearby vet clinic and ask them what an exam plus x-rays will cost. Not all pelvic fractures need surgical intervention. If kitty is having free range of the house, I would stop that right now and kennel him in a large dog crate (the wire kind). He needs cage rest for 6 weeks to heal if he’s going to. He will likely have life-long intermittent aches and pains, and early arthritis. He shouldn’t be allowed outside again unless on a harness and leash.
Of course, there’s no way to know any of this for sure without at least one exam and x-rays. Yes, he could have a shattered pelvis and still be walking around and be in a lot of pain without you realizing it.
Absolute bollocks you are. You need to have a decent, but simple, examination done on the poor fellow to ascertin whether he really is suffering. Sorry to say but it doesn’t seem to me that either you or your friend are in a position to objectively judge this guy’s suffering. I can’t imagine it will cost more than $100 and you can almost certainly rely on your starting a thread here (with moderator permission which should definitely not be implied from my post, I’m about as far from a moderator as you can get) raising that cash.
The harsh reality is that if it is determined he is in severe pain and you haven’t the ability to pay for any more investigations, then he needs to be turned over to a sanctuary, a richer owner, or he needs to be put down.
All horrible options but it comes down to exactly what Rachel said, sadly.
Dogs and cats hide pain/illness. Why do you think that cats ‘go off to die’?
My ancient cat was walking around with a tumour and organ failure and the only way we picked it up was that she was eating more, but getting skinnier and skinnier. Literally, that was the only change in her. Because she had hid it so well, it was too late to save her by the time we took her to the vet.
The cat needs the vet, now. Not being able to afford emergency vet costs is irresponsible. I understand that they can be very expensive, (I’m a university student with a dog, cat, and bird.) But that’s why you plan ahead. you either get pet insurance, or get a jar/savings account and put away as much money as you can.
Remember:
A house cat walking on broken bones is experiencing as much pain as a stray cat walking around on broken bones.
If no one can scrounge up vet fees, the cat needs to be given to a shelter that can afford to treat it.
As to whether his condition was caused by being hit by a car, did you notice anything about his nails? Typically cats who have been hit by a car get there claws shredded up by trying to hold on to the ground. Otherwise I concur with those who say get him to a vet. Wish you’d done it sooner, he could have had painkillers ya know.
Eta a bad beat up from a fight, or a fall could also cause the conditions you describe.
Yeah last two posts after mine just inspired me that I need to make this totally clear:
Most animals do their absolute best to avoid showing that they are in pain
There are obvious evolutionary reasons for this, I’m sure if you give it some thought the main ones will come to mind so I don’t have to explain. Result anyway is that just cause you are not seeing your cat squealing doesn’t mean the poor guy isn’t suffering massively. Needs to see a vet asap.
The OP says that the cat was examined by a vet tech. Perhaps you all could quit trying to diagnosis this cat thru the ether and making the OP feel guilty. Yes, it’s possible he was hit by a car but without there having been any blood is probably unlikely. How about if we let them give him some antibiotics for a few days and see if his balance improves?
If it is a ear infection, that’s all well and good… but leaving the cat ‘a few days’, if it’s something serious, could mean the difference between having a cat that needs medical treatment and a cat that needs to be put down.
These are two important things the OP should think about doing.
Confine the cat. If you have a play pen etc, put it in there,with food, litter tray and it’s bed (if it has one.) you want to limit it’s motion.
2.Please talk to vets…A lot will offer payment plans or they can inform you about loans specifically for pet owners. If possible, see if there are public vets attached to shelters. The shelter I just got my new cat from offers really really low fees (for example vets here can have fees up to 400 dollars to desex a male cat…Their fee is $100)
Ummm, I’ve been a vet tech, and I have no technical training. I certainly don’t have Xray eyes.
And all she said was “I have a friend who’s a vet tech, and she arranged with the vet to get some antibiotics for the ear.” That doesn’t sound like a hands on exam by a trained professional.
To the OP -Some vets will allow payments, or Care Credit, and there are low cost clinics around in some areas. See what you can find. And I hate to say it, but most animals really do adapt well to a change of home. It would be very sad for your friend to lose her cat buddy, I’m sure. I’m a cat addict myself, I understand. But you really need to find out what’s going on. It’s not fair to the cat to let him suffer, if he is in pain. If you find out that he’s essentially ok, just think what a relief that will be, too. You’ll know.
Are there no charities in the States with either their own veterinary clinics or able to provide finacial support for a private vet’s services? In the UK the PDSA (Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals) or the RSPCA (and I expect other animal charities) would be the place to go for someone on a low income.
For the OP:Most vets are animal lovers, too. Your friend is almost certainly not the first person to have a pet suffer an accident while living on a fixed or limited income. In fact, I’ll bet there’s a ton of decent people out there who can’t afford a surprise bill for a few hundred dollars.
Same thing goes for the Humane society. They see so many unwanted and abandoned animals, I bet they’d love to see somebody actually trying to NOT lose an animal.
I used to watch a show about the the goings on at an actual SPCA office. They often helped low-income owners get vet care for their pets. As long as the owner was able to handle a pets routine care, they’d do their best to help when somebody hit one of life’s little bumps or potholes.
@MarcusF We’ve got an ASPCA and the Humane society, but most people think (erroneously) those places are just for animals that’ve been neglected, abused, abandoned or strays.
Quite likely, if the cat needs to have serious medical treatment, such as spinal surgery, it’s going to be put down no matter what since the owner doesn’t have the money for that. Sounds like the cat isn’t obviously suffering, so I cannot see why she shouldn’t wait to see if the antibiotics work.
At the end of the OP she said the tech examined the cat. Any competent tech could tell if an animal has broken a major bone.
The ASPCA and the HSUS are for raising money, not spending it on injured pets.
I think you all are missing the fact that even a $100 is going to be too much for the owner to spend, and if the cat is actually injured as opposed to weaving around due to the ear infection, she’s going to have to put that cat down. No vet clinic or animal control shelter is going to want to spend hundreds if not thousands of dollars on care. Basically you are advocating she have the cat killed instead of waiting a couple of days, when the cat is not in any obvious discomfort.
The world is not a perfect place. People who cannot afford to have pets have children, so really all we can do is help where we can and pray for the best. Telling the owner she should be doing things you should know she cannot is not helping.