Serious tail injury

[susand]

Can anyone advise me? My cat George has a serious tail injury and the vet thinks she is probably going to have to amputate it! He was fine when I left for work on Tuesday morning but when I came home in the evening he was in obvious pain and hadn't touched the food I'd left for him. His tail was just hanging down limp. He had pain at the very base of his tail (both me and the vet agree) but no sensation or movement in the rest of it. I don't know what has happened to him ?Another cat, ?a car, ? ?a nasty person. I took him to the vet straight away and she gave him painkillers.

By Wednesday morning it was moving very slightly and he was no longer in pain. Two vets have seen him since and both think he has 'tail pull injury' and the nerve has been damaged. They don't think there is a fracture or other bony injury and don't want to X-ray to make sure because they think it very unlikely in George's case and because he is 15 years old with dodgy kidneys they don't want to risk the anaesthetic.

the vets have told me to keep him inside because of the risk of further injury but I can't do that as he will go bonkers (he's always loved the great outdoors) and I also have another cat so I need to leave the catflap open for him (I work full time so can't be there to act as doorman).

There is some movement in it now (not much though) and he isn't in pain but the vet wants to leave it a couple of months then amputate if it hasn't improved because of the risk of him getting it trapped because he can't feel or move it.

Does anyone have any experience of this? Should I let the vet amputate? He seems fine in himself at the moment and I'm guessing amputation will bring its own list of complications. I just want to do the right thing and not make matters worse for him.

[Kay]

cats do very well without their tail, so I wouldn't worry too much - and it does sound as if he might recover anyway

I would worry about how he is going to get in and out of a cat flap if he has no feeling in his tail though, as that is the last bit of a cat to go through the flap - if feeling is slowly returning I would guess the process could be set back if he has his tail trapped for any prolonged period - could you prop the flap open for a while just in case?

[fjm]

I know very little about this sort of injury, but as a general rule when feeling and movement return quickly after nerve damage - as they have in this case - it is a positive sign. Could you set him up a room with tray and bed and water while you are out, and supervise him outside when you are home? The prognosis should be clearer in a few weeks, and you can then decide what is best to do.

[susand]

Thanks both. He seems to be managing the cat flap fine. I really don't want to keep him in as i know from past experience he'll get very distressed and then I'll have other problems like him licking himself bald etc.

I've heard amputations can result in balane problems and "phantom tail", and there are risks of infection as well until the wound heals. I guess i have to cross fingers that it recovers by itself. I don't know how common all those things are though.

[Sniper1]

Through rescue work I have had experience of several cats having their tail amputated with no problems at all in yourt case its his age and kidneys the main worry his tail may just partially recover but if he copes OK with it I would be inclined to be happy with that and let him be

[susand]

Thanks Sniper. I think that is good advise and i’ll go with it. The vet is worried about him getting it trapped but balancing the risk of that with the risk of surgery, I think that unless I see evidence that it is causing him genuine problems, he’s probably best left alone I think. Actually today it is slightly better. It was completely dead with no movement at all on Tuesday, but he has started wiggling the end of it a bit. It’s not much and he still isn’t able to lift it but it's something at least.