My kitten fell, X-ray clear, but still won't walk on his leg. Why?

Poor Tyr! My cat is also named Tyr! You can't rule out his leg being broken without an x-ray. He is in a lot of pain if he won't walk on the leg, and unfortunately there are no OTC pain medications you can give him. Many human ones are toxic to cats and are fatal if given. You need to take him into a vet today to get this diagnosed and treated. I strongly urge you to take him into a vet now. Best of luck.

Yikes. I'm concerned from your description that his leg could be dislocated or fractured. I would highly, highly recommend a vet visit so you know what's wrong, can formulate the best plan to treat him, and perhaps most importantly get him started on pain meds! In the meantime, keep him confined so he's using that leg as little as possible. Put him in a room with nothing to jump on, with his litterbox, food, and water all there, and a bed or soft blanket on the floor. If that's not possible, a large dog kennel can also work for confinement, if you can fit his food/water/litterbox and a blanket inside. A dislocation will not fix itself without vet attention, and some types of fractures require surgery to improve. However, soft tissue injuries (such as sprains), and even some fractures can heal with rest and time. Cats can be amazing healers. Do *not* give him anything for pain. There are no human medications that are safe or effective for him, and anything you give him could be dangerous, and could get in the way of more effective medications your vet might prescribe. Additionally, don't try to wrap or splint the leg, as you may do more harm than good. I would also discourage you from trying to massage it, since that will only cause further pain for him if he does have a traumatic injury. Hope that helps.

Poor Gracie! She could have fallen and broken her leg. She also could strained or torn a ligament. It's quite serious that she isn't walking on it and won't let you touch it. I would take her into a vet immediately for a lameness exam and x-rays. These tests will help diagnose what is causing this problem so she can be treated. In young kittens, it's important to get these problems checked out promptly to prevent any disruption to normal growth. This will also be very painful to her, and the vet can give her pain medications. Please do not give her any human pain medications, many are toxic to cats and are fatal if given. Only the vet can prescribe safe ones. Please take her into an ER vet clinic; if there isn't one in your area, there will be a vet on call for emergencies. The information to reach that vet is found on a clinic's answering machine or website.

Great question! The only way to tell is by having an x-ray done by your veterinarian - this will show exactly what is wrong with the bone, and will also give the information needed to determine whether it can be fixed or not. I would recommend taking the kitten to your vet for an exam and x-rays as soon as you are able to - he/she will be able to advise you further on what can be done to help the kitten, depending on what the x-rays show.

It's a little difficult to see in your copy of the x-ray, but it looks like the left femur might be fractured. If the broken bone is above the knee then a cast won't help because it's not possible to stabilize the fracture. If they have recommended pain medication and rest I think that probably is the best option with a broken hip - kittens can heal quickly and it's possible that he will have decent function in the leg. If not, then a surgery called a femoral head osteotomy might be an option once he's big enough for surgery.

Hello, its difficult to assess if he will recover from this injury as there are no x-rays to evaluate. If his does have a fractured back, and currently is unable to move legs then his prognosis for recovery may not be great without surgery. Buprenorphine is great pain medication for cats. Sorry to hear about Little bit, I hope he recovers well!!

Since he's so young the leg may heal fine on its own. As long as he's eating let him rest and give him a day or two to get better. If he stops eating or the shaking and tremors worsen please take him in for an exam. There is no safe. human pain medication for cats or kittens. Hopefully he'll improve. Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach to help you care for Mystery.