Conference misery::feline

    I'd take him to your regular vet for a second opinion.....
    That way, you can feel better when what the first vet said
    is verified?
    
    

    I agree with a second opinion...and I beleive it matters how
    bad the tail is as to what the options are.  We have a shelter kitty 
    that just had to have the whole tale removed because it was broken in 
    many places. The tail just hung down and the cat could not control it.
    
    If you kitty can still move the tail...I believe that is a good sign!
    Keep us posted....
    
    Sandy
    

    THanks,
    
    	What I want to know, is if they can actually wrap the tail vs doing
    a big operation.  I would think it would help it heal right.  I know
    that a cast is out of the question.
    
    Sandy

    If the fracture/break is too close to the base of the tail,
    then I don't think they can wrap/splint it.....It would
    require surgery to put in pins to support the weight while
    it heals.  If it is a really bad/multiple breaks, they usually
    remove the tail.  

    It is about 1/2 to 2/3 up his tail.  It looks like a clean break since
    the vet found cuts around the area.  She never said it was a break for
    sure without xrays, but I did not have the xrays done until I decide
    if I am to do something other than let it heal by itself.  This cat has
    a hugh tail and is proud of it.  I feel so bad for him.  He is just
    upset that I will not let him out now.  Plus the fact that the vet is
    going to be mad at me since I let him out for a few hours after being
    told to keep him in so that his paw would heal quicker.  After the
    tail incident I noticed that he did not seem to notice his paw anymore.
    I am also worried about infection, but he did have an antibiotic shot
    and took the pill this morning. "yum mom, thanks for the tuna treat!"
    

    If the tail is bending over at the break, then the end of the tail is
    in danger of losing it's blood supply, and it that happens, then it
    will have to be removed.  A friend's kitten had his tail broken like
    this under a rocking chair.  The kitten's tail was not splinted by the
    first vet, and so the end of it started turning black, and had to be
    removed.
    
    Talk to your regular vet about maybe splinting the tail to prevent this 
    from happening.  Also talk to him about other options.
         
    Jo

    Yesterday, every so often, for a few moments the entire tail would go
    up.  I did touch the tip and he could feel something.  I talked to my
    vet and they said that they dont do bone work, and that they would have
    to refer it.  i asked about splints and they said that keeping a splint
    on a cat is very difficult.  I still might pay the 40$ and do the
    xrays.  The good news is that he is taking his antibiotics in small
    bits of tuna. I dont have to pill him!  The bad news is that the
    meowing by the door is driving me nuts!!!!!  I cant wait to be able to
    let him out during the day again.  Yesterday I tried a leash but that
    did not work out.
    
    Sandy

    Today at lunch his tail went up and it even "swished" when down.  I
    called the vet that treated him and mentioned that.  It looks like he
    is going to heal quickly.  I asked if it could have really been
    fractured and she said yes, that she did feel a fracture, but it was
    probably a small one.  Also, he is putting more weight on his paw.
    Now, if he would only stop meowing by the door
    

    Sandy,

    What did you decide to do about Chief's tail, and how is it?

    June.

    I let it heal on its own.  It is a bit crooked, but not really
    noticable to anyone who did not know.  As usual it is up and proud.
    I dont think he realizes what had happened to it.
    I can touch it now and he does not complain about it.  I am glad that
    I did not spend the money to get the operation.  Sometimes we kitty
    moms tend to almost go overboard.
    
    Im also glad we are back to letting him out during the day.  We are all
    happier that way.
    
    The scary thing is that the place that I took him to, right around, the
    corner, was on the news the other night.  There are two vets there, and
    not the one who looked him, but the other one, apparently has 14
    complaints against him here in the Atlanta area.  Boy am I glad that he
    did not look at him. This is not my regular vet, but one that is right
    around the corner from my house (i.e. for emergencies).  I will not go
    back there again.  THey have just built a new place maybe 1/2 mile from
    house that I will check out for those emergency situations.  (its a
    shame that my vet is about 10 miles away-because I like and trust him)
    
    SAndy  

    Well it has sorta happened again... THis time we know it is a bite
    from another cat/animal....
    
    Thursday night at about 8 my SO let Chief out since he had been in
    all day because of the rain. I had let him out at about 7ish and he
    had come back 1/2 hour later, but still wanted out. WE went to get
    food and Chief came home around 10ish. I let him in and went to
    bed. The next day  he never came to wake me up.  I found him on the
    guest bed with his rump up in the air.  His tail was "limp". Luckily
    I had Friday off, so at 9:30 off to the vet. He had a high temp
    and the vet shaved the center part of his tail. (it looks awful...
    fur, then no fur then fur again).  There were 3 puncture wounds, one
    on one side and two on the other. THe vet gave him a shot of
    antibiotics, a shot for the fever, and then gave me the antibiotics
    (claravox sp?) and a cream called Animax. Of course I have to keep
    him in for a week.
    
    	It has been touch and go now.... Saturday he was very perky and
    fine, but Sunday he would not move much and cried some.  I think
    this has to do with the Animax... If I manage to get it on the wounds
    he will then start licking it off right away. I think that irrates the
    wounds.  Yesterday the wounds even look like they were pussing.  Last
    night I did not put any on and this morning he was perky, eating,
    and the wounds looked OK.  I am just waiting until he can put his
    tail up....  I am so afraid of infection and then he will have to
    lose the tail... I am going to call the vet to find out what else
    I can do.  How can I stop him from licking off the Animax, or if
    he is good about licking the wound (cleaning it himself), is that
    good enuf....  At least pilling him is a breeze.  Just a dash of
    tuna does it...

    
    Sorry to hear about Chief.  Have you tried using an e-collar to keep
    him from licking off the Animax?
    
    ...Rania
    

    I'm sorry Chief was hurt again.  Have you considered keeping him inside
    for good?  Most cats adapt to that in about two weeks;  I'm concerned that
    the next time he is attacked, he might receive even more serious
    wounds.
     

Bumble Bea used to get bitten around the base of her tail
regularly until a particular cat moved out of the neighbor-
hood. The vet said I should get her some Addidas.

Maybe you could identify the bully and use a hose or some-
thing to scare him off.
                ^sexual stereotyping


                                    Susan

    I have narrowed the bully down to two "stray" cats....  As far as
    the Animax goes, I talked with the vet and they told him that I should
    stop using it since he is licking it off anyway.
    
    As far as leaving him indoors, my husband grew up with indoor/outdoor
    cats and I cant win that battle. Especially since he enjoys the
    outdoors.  WHat I do plan to enforce is the no-out after dark rule.
    It is at night that I see most of these strays around.  I am getting
    used to this.  I think Chief would not really care if he had a full
    tail or not....  It is us humans that are more concerned about his
    looks...
    
    Sandy

All the kitties I have ever had came in when I went to bed
and could not go back out any sooner than 4 a.m.

Bumble Bea is the first to ever question this rule, and she
has been so effective at it that she comes and goes as she
pleases.

Fortunately she is a big chicken and tends to avoid the street
in favor of the woods and wildlife behind the house. Even the
woman across the street who grows catnip says she sees all
the neighborhood cats over there, except Bumble Bea.



                                  seh

    No more tail injuries... I found out that one of the cats that comes
    to my house belongs to a new neighbor....  He/she(the cat) is very friendly
    with me. I dont think it was this one that did the damage
     I really think it was either this other ferel cat, or maybe
    another type of animal. WE caught some furry animal (possum) one day
    in our garage
    
    Anyway its been over a month and the shaved part of the tail is
    now 1/4 inch fuzz.  How long does it take for cat fur to grow back?
   He is the laughing stock of the neighborhood :).
    
    

My Chester managed to swallow a large rubber band (and part of one of those
rainbow colored soft rubber balls they sell in pet stores) and got an
intestinal blockage.  Poor guy wound up with his neck shaved, his forearms
shaved, a back leg and his entire stomach.  He looked quite punk actually...
Anyway, it took close to three months before I noticed that he didn't look
like a patchwork kitty any more.  Tell him just to ignore the laughter...

-Patrick

    Chester's tale [;^)] reminds me one of my SO's cats (one of the cats of
    my SO; I do not have multiple SOs!), a chinchilla persian who wasn't
    getting combed enough anyway (depite continual reminders from me of the
    responsibilities of a matting-long-haired-cat keeper) who didn't get
    combed at all while we were away on a two week vacation.  Of course,
    things got so bad that the only remedy was to shave the clumps off,
    leaving the poor little fellow looking rather like a poodle, the
    ultimate indiginity for a cat.
    
    len.
     

    If the cat is short-haired, it should take about 3-4 months to grow
    back.  If it's a long-haired cat, it takes closer to 7-9 months.  Trust
    me on this one - we had one of the strangest looking cats after he was
    shaved from his neck down to his butt!  For a week he walked around
    sulking cause he knew everyone was laughing at him.  :^(

    Yeah Cheryl, but the SIZE of that butt was what everyone was laughing
    at! ;-) I love your Chubs though. He still has the most incrediblwe
    eyes I've ever seen on a furface! Give hin a hug for me! Zelda and Lea
    the &itch cat too. 8-)
    
    Yonee

    Yonee, you're confused -- the biggest thing on Chubs is his jelly 
    belly not his back end (although that probably doesn't leave much 
    to be desired!!)  :)

    Well, yesterday I looked on his tail and in one week he had grown
    a whole bunch of fur. I guess spring growth.  Also, I have started
    feeding him brewers yeast again. Maybe that is helping
    
    

    
    I just noticed last night that one of my strays (longhair orange
    and white) appears to have a broken tail.   The tail just hangs
    down and it doesn't appear that he can lift it. (sigh!)  This
    is the same stray that disappeared for two weeks...so I believe
    something happened to him at that time.
    
    I feel so bad because even though he is SLOWLY gaining my trust...
    I still can't pat him.  He (I'm assuming he) is such a beautiful
    boy with such a beautiful fluffy tail.   Is this painful for
    them????  I sure hope I can catch him soon.....
    
    I love springtime...but part of me hates this time of year
    because it is kitten season and the shelter is already getting
    millions of calls about abandon young kittens...as well
    as all my male strays are coming back wounded.  My white sick
    kitty has another torn ear...my little shorthair orange/white
    has a cut near his eye which is making the eye tear...and now
    this one with a broken tail.  I'm not sure who the heck I should
    try to make my priority!!  Vet bills here I come!!!  
    
    Sandy   

    I dont think that it is painful as long as they dont try to sit
    on it where it is broken...At least Chief seemed OK each time
    as long as he did not sit on it.  If he sat down and the tail
    got pressure then he would move himself.  Hopefully it will
    be back up part time in a day or two.  
    
    The main concern is that if there is a wound on the tail (bite mark
    etc, ) that he may get an infection. That is why every time this
    happens to me off to the vet for antibiotics.  Maybe you could
    pill some wet food?
    
    I am keeping my fingers crossed. No injuries yet this spring. Only
    the urge to stay out later.
    
    

    Sandy, just be sure that the part of the tail that just hangs down
    doesn't cut off the circulation to the rest of the tail.  If this
    happens, the end of the tail will die and turn black.  All kinds of
    problems can result from this.  
    
    If I were prioritizing your strays, I would trap and take the one with
    the broken tail in first.  His injury could end up being life
    threatening if the circulation is cut off.
    
    Jo

    Jo...it almost looks like it goes limp right from the base of the
    tail.  But as of this weekend...I did see him move it a bit and
    he did hold it up so it wasn't dragging on the ground.  I sure
    hope it isn't totally broken...and I hope I can capture him soon.
    I think other people are feeding them too...so I'm not sure the
    trap will entice them!!
    
    Wish me luck...I need it.  I also have another stray with half
    his ear torn off and he's not looking to good either!!  
    
    Sandy

    If it is going up a bit then that is a good sign.   good luck

    I haven't seen the kitty with the broken tail for two days...arrrggghhh!!
    These strays truly know how to drive me crazy worrying about them!