Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Emergency Vet Visit

Last weekend started out normal, but ended up with this:

Jack, excited to go to the vet! "Hurry up!  Let's go!!"
Shadow, not feeling well, holding up her right back foot

Saturday started out normal ~ the 2 cats played in the morning, chasing each other around the house like kittens, as they always do.  Up the stairs, through the house, sliding on the wood floors, gaining speed on the carpets.  Jack always squeaks to his heart's delight, as he cannot meow.  Shadow just loves to play.  When Jack squeaks it always calls her to play, even if she was previously sleeping.  During this play session, I heard a quick loud growl that ended with a hiss coming from near the front door, and I ran to see what was going on.  Both cats high-tailed it up the stairs and I didn't think anything about it.  They were playing. 

Daily chores and errands took over, and by afternoon we were being hit by bad thunderstorms, lightening, and thunder, complete with tornado warnings.  It was then that I realized Shadow spent most of the day under the bed.  Shadow doesn't like thunder and sometimes hides when it happens.  But by evening, after the storms passed, Shadow was still under the bed.  She wouldn't come out to eat, either.  I fed her a nibble of sliced turkey under the bed, but she wouldn't eat much.  That is not like Shadow.  She wouldn't drink, either.  Something was up.

Sunday morning Shadow was limping badly on her right back leg.  She couldn't put pressure or stand on her right back leg at all.  Her breathing was fast and shallow. She was super hot to the touch (compared to Jack).  She growled and hissed at us if we tried to touch her leg.  She never growled or hissed at us ever before.  I found an online first aid webpage and discovered her respirations and pulse were both twice as fast as normal for cats.  After reviewing both cats' vet records we realized they both were due for all their shots, and so a vet appointment was quickly made for them both Sunday afternoon.  Jack's presence always calms Shadow, and Jack is always happy-go-lucky, even when heading out to the vet.  He is the most relaxed, easy-going cat there is.  I actually think he may be a dog.

We brought out the cat carriers.  Jack was so excited to see them.  He's a strange cat.  We put them on the floor and he jumped right in and sat down.  That's when I took the picture of him.  At that time Shadow was laying in the kitchen by the windows crying loudly in pain and holding her foot up.  I took the picture of her then.  I think she had tears in her eyes.  I admit I was scared about what the vet would say about her.  Shadow is a tough, previous feral cat and never shows pain.  Jack, on the other hand, is the little sissy, comedian cat.  I should make a cartoon about Jack, he's such a goofball.

The vet admitted Shadow was in obvious severe pain and gave her a shot of buprenorphine, which is is a potent narcotic!!  She got her yearly shots, and Little Jack got his yearly shots, too.  The vet examined Shadow's back and leg, and said she must have a hairline fracture.  He said she should be better in a few days.  She didn't have to get a cast or anything.  He gave us some extra buprenorphine for Shadow to help with her pain.  Shadow's been sleeping a lot these days.  She slept all night Sunday and all day Monday.  She did start eating again on Monday morning, which was good.  I'm not too keen on giving her much more buprenorphine, I really don't want my cat addicted to narcotics.  By Monday night she got up off the bed and was limping around a little, so she must have been feeling better.  This morning she was still limping, but walking around and acting much better.  Hopefully by Wednesday her leg is showing serious signs of improvement or she'll be heading back to the vet.

Who ever knew a cat could break it's leg by running around the house?  This is a first for us.
Every year it seems there's always an emergency vet visit.  Let's hope ours is done and over with this year!

13 comments:

Karen Anne said...

Poor Shadow.

I had a cat with pancreatitis, which can periodically flare up into a painful situation. The vet gave me bupronex to use at home when that happened. It is sedating. I used it sparingly and my cat didn't seem to have any trouble with it.

When I had another cat who fell and really whacked her leg on a metal space heater to the extent that she scuttled across the floor (I thought she had had a stroke or blood clot, we only figured out later what had happened), the vet gave her some steroid and the improvement within a day was dramatic.

Knatolee said...

Poor Shadow, I hope she is feeling better very soon! Wow, your kitties play rough. ;)

Ohiofarmgirl said...

On No! Poor Shadow - sorry... we've had our share of vet emergencies also and its never fun. But cats = crazy so who knows what they do when we aren't looking. I suspect that there could have been bungee jumping involved...
;-)

Farm Girl said...

Poor kitty, they must have been running around crazy. We had a kitty we found with a broken leg and he wore a cast. He was so funny in his tiny blue cast. I hope she gets well fast.

CaliforniaGrammy said...

Silly cats . . . having fun . . . and then this! I wonder if he hit his leg on a piece of furniture or something that would cause such a fracture. Poor guy, I sure hope he's back to his ol' self in a day or two.

Razzberry Corner said...

KA - Wow, it's good to know someone else gave their cat this narcotic. I was concerned. It is sedating, that's for sure. Shadow never sleeps all day, but she slept all day and all night on this med. When it wore off she was very active although she still limped. I think she was happy to not be tired/sleeping still. She's just not one of those cats that normally sleeps all the time. We didn't give her any medicine today, so she was only on it Sunday thru Tues. She was moving around and ate and seemed ok today, athough she still is limping. That's awful that your cat whacked it's leg and scuttled across the floor like that. It would help if we could understand them and they could tell us where it hurts!

Nat - Yes, the cats do play rough. Don't kids play rough, too?

OFG - If they could, they would have been bungee jumping! Jack loves adventure and Shadow is always ready to play!

FG - Thank you, I hope she heals up fast, too. Jack had broken ribs which healed unevenly before we found him, but he never was treated for them. The poor boy had to deal with the pain all by himself out in the woods when he was wild. I'm glad you helped the kitty you found. Animals don't deserve to suffer.

CAGrammy - I know - having fun, then PAIN! It's sad! Shadow probably didn't understand what happened! She was by the front stairs, which are wood. All I can think is that Jack ran around the corner and tackled her and she slid into the stairs and hit her leg on the wooden stairs. Or maybe he tackled her on the stairs and she fell.

I think it's a good excuse to get wall-to-wall carpet all over the house - I hate hardwood, I like carpets (only because I don't have wall-to-wall carpets anywhere in this house, it's all hardwood with little rugs put here & there). I always want what I don't have!

~Lynn

Anonymous said...

Poor baby...I just hate seeing an animal in pain.....my vet is on speed dial! Lol! With so many critters we are always calling him for something!
Hope Shadow is back to herself soon!

Terry said...

Poor Shadow! My husky girl Callie hurt the kitty version of her ACL when she fell off the bed years ago. It was very painful. She had medication but didn't need surgery, and she's still going strong.

Chai Chai said...

Your vet must be a Saint if you can schedule an appointment on a Sunday afternoon.

I have never even heard of a cat wanting to go into a cage, Jack must really be special.

Toni aka irishlas said...

Aw, poor little Shadow!

Glad she's starting to feel better.

Kritter Keeper at Farm Tails said...

ditto with the above commenter about the vet available on a sunday! that person is an angel! poor baby shadow...i sure hope she heals quickly. your kitties are adorable and the one that wants to go in the cat carrier is so cute...what a good boy!

Carla said...

Oh no! I'm so glad it wasn't worse! Your cats must play like tigers. I hope Shadow feels better soon.

robin said...

Poor thing. It always seems that the emergency vet visit has to happen on the weekend when the normal vets are closed. I hope her leg heals well.