cat with torn ligament???????????? He keeps falling over!!?

Question

My cat was just diagnosed with a torn ligament. He's 7 years old.. and weighs 17 pounds. It was apparently weight induced. He also has arthritis in his lower back and joints. I don't know what to do for him. I was given glucosamine.. but he will NOT eat it. It's been 3 days since it started.. it seems to be getting worse.. not better, although she did say 6 weeks to heal. I've been keeping him locked up in my bedroom, but I don't think jumping up and down off my bed is helping him. Where am i supposed to keep him?? I don't know what to do

Answer 1

I too have a cat who suffered torn ligaments in both back legs. As far as jumping off the bed, try to arrange some furniture so he can use them as steps. My cat has also developed arthritis and failed all the accepted cat treatments. He is currently taking Metacam, which is actually for dogs, but outside of morphine it was our only option and he is tolerating it well and it helps with the pain. Unfortunately, arthritis cannot be cured and it is only a matter of time before quality of life is the real issue. If your cat can jump off the bed, he doesn't sound too bad yet. Other things to look for; limping, collapsing when he lies down, and hiding. It does take six weeks to heal and will get worse before it gets better; the glucosamine will definitely help. Get creative, tuna water (the water you squeeze from a can of tuna) is good. Mix the glucosamine in that and he might drink it. Otherwise, ask your vet for a liquid medicine syringe, mix it in water and give it to him like that. It takes practice, I know; this same cat of mine also has seizures and has taken phenobarbital for 6+ years.

Good luck to you both!

Answer 2

You need to take him to the vet again. If he hasn't eaten in three days, he's unlikely to start again on his own. Cats that don't eat can very quickly go into fatty liver disease, and once that happens, they feel nauseous all the time and don't want to eat. (Unfortunately, that happens even faster in overweight cats, so yours is definitely a candidate.)

Furthermore, he's very probably dehydrated, which will make everything else worse. It's even possible that the reason you're seeing him fall over is lack of water and nutrients, not that the torn ligament got better.

The vet may want to give him fluids and maybe an IV with nutrients. There are also medications that enhance appetite. Any other problems, such as possible fatty liver disease or an infection, can also be dealt with at that time. if push comes to shove, the vet can give you a special food made for syringe-feeding a cat that won't eat. 8Not forever, just until they're better).

Discuss your other concerns with the vet as well. Maybe you could borrow a large cage and keep him in that for a few days, or a few hours out of each day or something.

But right now, the non-eating and dehydration are the most urgent issues - they need to be dealt with, or everything else is just going to continue to go downhill.

Good luck to you both!

Answer 3

Call the vet and explain that he's worse. You shouldn't be seeing a deterioration, it should be healing or at least the same.

Make stairs with phone books or whatever you can find so he doesn't have to jump on and off the bed.