Cat With Broken Back

[Japhrodisiac]

Hi. I came by a cat on the weekend in my neighborhood who has a broken back. Apparently one of the locals hit her with a tree brach or bamboo as she was trying to have a closer "look" at his caged birds. I live on Samui, and took her to two vets, and both said that nothing could be done. It looks like her spine is separated from her pelvis, and she can still walk though it is not a pretty sight. The vets both said that if her back was broken higher up, she would likely be paralyzed. So, one option is just to wait for her to recover, and hope for the best while taking care of her, and hope the bones mend in a fashion where she can comfortably move around. The other option is surgery - and that would have to be Bangkok (or Phuket...?). I don't know any vets outside of Samui.

Does anyone with some experience in this area have light to shed or advice to give on how best to handle this situation? I would like to keep that cat and take care of her after she is rehabilitated. Many thanks - J

[monty]

Does she still have control of her hind legs?

If so she should be able to a certain extend, cats have very powerful muscles in the rear, in so much that they can take over part of the support bones are supposed to offer.

If the hind legs are paralyzed, the only way would be a little cart to keep her from dragging her rear over the ground which will result in ugly wounds.

To be honest, I would not feel happy offering a cat life in a cart, jumping around is a big part of their life.

I have a cat which got run over by a car, where one of the rear legs was broken.

The leg bone is not connected (by a joint) to the pelvis anymore, but over the time of a few months she had enough additional muscle growth around that area that she has regained full motion including an amazing jumping ability, even when you can still see the separated bone making a dent in her skin!

If not paralyzed I would assume she could gain enough muscle growth around the area where the pelvis is normally joined with the spine to regain reasonable proper movement.

Treatment would be to keep her caged so to give the internal wounds time to heal, and to give her proper assistance when defecating.

[Japhrodisiac]

Hi Monty. She can walk, although we are trying to get her not to move around too much. We put her in a plastic cage/basket for much of the time, and gently take her out to pee, eat etc. She has not defecated yet (in 2 days) since we took her in, so we may have to give her some hairball formula/laxative at some point if she cannot go normally. Other than the misalignment, she is in good spirits, remarkable really. Hasn't complained a stitch, and she seems to trust us a lot to do the best for her. I think she will have to recoup on her own, and maybe over time she will be able to climb and jump, but given her movements so far, walking won't be a problem. Thanks for the note -

[monty]

Looking good!

Cats are a hardy bunch

Just be careful with the defecating, if she's in too much pain she'll try not too which is not good.

The usual way to help her out is to inject a laxative liquid (not sure what it is, the vet gave it once, comes in a squeeze bottle with a nozzle) in her anus, and if that alone doesn't help you'll need gloves and actual wiggle your pinky finger in to help her open/relax the ring muscle....

She'll might cry a bit in pain but it's really important...Do give her another day or so before you intervene, and let the vet show you how to do it!

Just keep her as quit as possible, the muscles will take over, but they have to strengthen gradually over time...

[Japhrodisiac]

Well, she had a bowel movement this morning, so she seems ok now. Actually, she is moving around a lot better today already, and before we could hold her she jumped off the bed this morning, no problem at all. Amazing. How long do you think she needs to be kept under wraps? I think a few weeks at least, no? Thanks for your suggestions -

[mdechgan]

dam_n shame. Some people have no respect for animals.

I think its best to get some professional help or surgery just to so the poor thing can have a quality of life.

There's more than just the bones. The shock, kidney failure, possibly in pain?

Go to a professional hospital not some vaccination, barber, clinic.

[monty]

Well, she had a bowel movement this morning, so she seems ok now. Actually, she is moving around a lot better today already, and before we could hold her she jumped off the bed this morning, no problem at all. Amazing. How long do you think she needs to be kept under wraps? I think a few weeks at least, no? Thanks for your suggestions -

I would say for a week or so caged.

I worry a bit that maybe some nerves are damaged keeping her from feeling pain, so she might be inflicting more damage to her self without realizing it.

Try pinching her at a few places at her back and see if shows some natural pull away motions, just to make sure she feels pain there.