My baby Salem had prounounced limp left hind leg

by Jules
(San Jose, Ca)

when i was unemployed in Feb, my cat Salem (he's ten) & I lived in a temp location after our house burned down & he stayed in my room because my friend where we were staying had 7 children and a dog - all unfamiliar to him. he would stay under my bed all day & only come out at night to explore the house while i watched tv & all kids in bed.

after a about 2 months of this, i noticed left hind leg limp. but it seemed to get better after walking around (stretching?) and he would do his high jumps and play w/his toys, but perhaps a little delayed in his jump up on bed which was kinda high. i thought it was because he was cramped under the bed. he had difficulty reaching his left hind leg up to his ear to scratch sometimes not completing the action at all. so i inspected his body, massage his hind quarters, hips, etc but his paw on the left hind leg seemed sensitive to touch...he hissed at me.

i called my vet who gave me discount on exam as i had very little cash/no credit. he inspected him and said nothing apparent to him was wrong w/paw or leg/hips, etc. said i needed xrays, they req a min of 2 and at $90 a piece i couldn't afford it.
i told him id have to come back when i could.

weve moved into an apt. but he hides under the bed and continues to step gingerly on left paw - doesn't seem to be hip/leg its the paw. ive kept inspecting it but there doesnt seem to be anything visible on pads but i cant apply pressure or he cries out and/or hisses.he stays under my bed all day when hes normally w/me constantly ( more like a dog, i trained him to sit, fetch, roll over, jump up on things when i say to, go where i saym potty outside like a dog - he sleeps w/me and loves me to death - very unique "human cat" people call him) so its odd for him to be distant. his appetite is fine - voracious. but he wont cuddle and stays under bed by himself. and if i touch his paw pad he straight hisses at me now. i feel guilty because im back to work for two months but after deposit on apt and my car repair that costs $1000 and car rental for a week $500 im trying to catch up to take him to a vet my friend referred.

on his left hind paw there is black stuff in his claws - i was getting them trimmed every month til i lost house - so dont recall that being there before.

anyway im worried as hes my heart and soul. sorry for the long message but any input from your knowledge would be appreciated.

thank you
juliette

btw he was chubby in his pic (13.5 lbs)but now weighs 10.5 lbs as he went on a lite food for last year & i limit the steak, shrimp & chicken i give me extra fr my dinners.... doc says hes perfect weight now.
unrelated: oh & y do they say dont give cats animal liver? seems all canned food has it and i did give it to him when he got teeth pulled...just curious

thank you for your time!

Reply
Hi
perhaps now is the time to start to think about cat insurance fro the future. i know how heart wrenching it can be when you can't afford to pay for vet bills and in my experience some things can cost thousands.

Anyway, re your cats lameness. it can't be virus related as it has been going on for so long and if the vet can't find any obvious bites or injury there are not many things left.

You did not say how old your cat is. It could be the beginnings of cat arthritis and for this xrays would have to be done to discover this.

See my web apge about this condition here

http://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-arthritis.html

Other than that it could be weight related putting extra pressure on his pads , so losing some weight will help. I'm not sure if cats can get things like gout which is a build up of acids in the joints, I would have thought the vet would have mentioned this.

Sadly until you can afford to get your cat xrayed etc all you can do is support his system and joints with good food and perhaps some supplements.

As regard to liver, i have not heard that before about not giving it to cats. i would have thought that if there was a problem it would not be put in cat food. maybe it relates to raw fresh liver only. So I wouldn't worry too much about cat food containing this as long as it is not cheap cat food which is not so nutritionally as good as better brands.

Hope your cats paw is better soon

Kate