cat with a limp tail help ??

Question

hi ive got a 7yr old tom cat ive had him about 6 or 7 months hes quite big and does get let outside this morning me and my partner have noticed his tail is limp and hanging down its normally standing high. hes finding it hard to sit down but is waling i tried lifting his tail and he miawed which is something he never does he is quite a content cat and never miaws just purrs im really worried about him what could it be? with it being saturday in the area i live in its will be reallyhard to find a vet so i was hoping some one here could give me a clue as to what it could be

Answer 1

i would advise a trip to thevets as it could be a cat fight abscess at the base of the tail in which a clean out and antibiotics may be needed. if the base of the tail hot. it cold also be more serious problems such as a dislocated tail if the tail was pulled - could be nerve damage. obviously a vet would need to see it. we cant help at all

Answer 2

He probably broke it or really strained the back muscles. Don't cause him further pain by lifting or handling it, a vet needs to do an x-ray to see if the spinal cord has been damaged by bone.

It could have happened any one of a number of ways, the first thing I'd think of would be he tried going over a chain link fence and got it caught as he went down, which would do a lot of damage. He could have fallen from a height onto his tail/hip area or caught it on something going under a barrier of some sort. Either way, he's got a significant injury that I woulnd't trust to heal itself. It needs to be checked to see if a bone is shattered there, if the cord was severed behind the hip area, or if something else is wrong.

Don't overstress him, if there's no emergency clinic in your area have him in a carrier and at the vets door for Monday as they open, to get an emergency exam. I've done that twice, work was really nice about my 'emergency' both times.

Answer 3

This may sound weird...but...here goes... A friend I work with has a dog who had similar sounding symptoms several months ago. It hurt for the dog to sit down and she kept her tail between her legs, close up under her body and was wimpering softly like she was in constant pain. Long story short.....after a trip to the vet, turns out the dog was merely constipated. But, so hard to know with animals, since they can't talk and tell us what's wrong. Breaks your heart, I sure! The sooner you can take your cat to a vet, the better, obviously. Good luck!!!!! Hope your cat is going to be A-OK very soon!!!!!

Answer 4

take him to the vet ASAP if he doesn't get over it by Monday.

this sounds crazy but...
You might want to check for puncture wounds as well, for some reason Toms like to bite each other at the base of their tail for some odd reason. That can cause a gnarly infection, I've seen it more than a few times at work. Crazy kittys.

Answer 5

Oh dear, poor puddy. ! The tail may well be broken or badly bruised. You need to get some advice from your vet. If you ring the surgery, you may find they have an on-call service in your area. The vet will call you back and be able to advise you what to do.