Dear Most Esteemed and Knowledgeable Kitties:
Something happened to my cat. A few weeks ago I had to pull his tail extremely hard because he had hold of my daughter’s pet bird. He had a sore of some type on the base of his tail. I noticed it just a few days ago when he could not climb the bed. I picked him up and he could not move his legs at all. The next couple of days went by, and he just pooed and peed all over himself, unable to move at all. We could not afford a vet, so we had to put him down. I’m really upset about this and would like to know why it happened. Did he become paralyzed because he was shot with a BB gun (maybe this is what caused the sore on his tail) or because I pulled his tail?
~Tonya
Siouxsie: Before we even start, let me say that we know some of our readers will get very angry about the circumstances regarding this cat’s injury and death. We do not tolerate abusive or hurtful comments toward the people who write us, and any such responses toward the writer of this letter will be immediately deleted.
Thomas: Please take a deep breath before responding to this post, and have some compassion. Not everybody has the resources to do what may have been best in a situation like this, and not everybody knows everything about cats. That doesn’t mean they’re bad people or shouldn’t be graced with the presence of a cat in their lives. People who write to us are genuinely concerned and saddened, and it’s unhelpful–to say the least–to cause them more pain.
Dahlia: That being said, we’ll talk about what we think might have happened.
Siouxsie: It’s hard to say what might have caused the sore on your cat’s tail, Tonya, particularly since you’re not sure if it was there before or after the tail-pulling incident.
Thomas: It is possible for a cat to become paralyzed because of tail pulling. A common injury of this type happens when a cat’s tail gets run over by a car, which pulls apart the sacral and/or caudal vertebrae (here’s a diagram of a cat’s skeleton so you can see where those vertebrae are) and stretches the nerves that go to the bladder, rectum, and tail.
Dahlia: Typically an injury like this causes paralysis of the tail. A paralyzed tail hangs down loosely, like a rope. Also, because the bladder and rectum nerves are paralyzed, the cat becomes incontinent and urinates and defecates on itself. But generally speaking, pulling of the tail won’t result in paralysis of the rear legs.
Siouxsie: Injuries higher up the spinal cord, or fractures of the hip that damage other nerves, however, can cause rear-leg paralysis–or the appearance of rear-leg paralysis. If your cat went outside, it’s possible that he could have been hit by a car and injured in the lower back or hips. In his shock, he may have been able to get himself back home, but once he got to a safe place the injuries may have gotten the best of him. The sore on the base of his tail may have been a “road rash” from a car accident.
Thomas: A blood clot in the junction of the arteries that go to the legs can also cause paralysis. Usually with an arterial blood clot, the rear legs are stiff and cold. The blood clot also causes a lot of pain, and a cat with a blood clot blocking the arteries to the legs will be very agitated because of that pain. Cats that get blood clots in their arteries typically have a disease called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.
Dahlia: So in the end, Tonya, it is possible that pulling your cat’s tail resulted in his paralysis. But frankly, you’d have to pull pretty darn hard to cause an injury like that!
Siouxsie: Unless the symptoms of paralysis or weakness started right after you pulled his tail, it’s quite possible that you didn’t hurt him when you did that. If he went outside between the time you pulled his tail and the time he was paralyzed, he could have gotten hit by a car or attacked by a dog.
Thomas: And if his back legs were cold and stiff, he may have had a blood clot in his arteries.
Dahlia: We do strongly recommend against pulling the tail, by the way, because of the potential for serious injuries. Not only that, but it’s quite humiliating for us cats to be yanked by the “auxiliary carrying handle,” as Mama sometimes calls it.
Siouxsie: We hope you don’t keep beating yourself up over this, though. As we said to our other readers, not everybody knows everything about cats, and not everybody has the money or resources–or the credit necessary for emergency vet care.
Thomas: Not only that, but it’s possible that your tail-pulling didn’t have anything to do with your cat’s paralysis.
Dahlia: We’re sure that this whole episode was very traumatic for you and your daughter as well as for your cat. It’s especially hard to put down a beloved animal when you can’t afford to take him to the vet. We have great sympathy for all of you, and we know that the next time you invite a cat into your family, there won’t be any tail-pulling allowed.
JaneA Kelley is a punk rock cat mom and award-winning blogger. She is a regular columnist for Catster Magazine, and she and the Paws and Effect Gang share a home in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
I am very very sorry for your loss. It is never easy to say goodbye to pets. My special sympathy to your daughter.
Last night our cat (just 1-year old) was resting at my feet on the recliner. Suddenly, he started meowing loudly. When we got him off the recliner, it acted as if he was having a seizure–he seemed to have no control over his body. I carried him outside by the scruff of his neck–I had to watch out for his teeth and claws. When I set him down, he was able to run under the house. There was no previous injury or tail-pulling, so we had no idea what was happening. Lynx was able to get outside again and kept howling. He had also done a lot of pooping, and he was laying in that poop. We got him turned over. He could not move his back legs and seemed to be in a lot of pain. After calling the emergency vet, we were told this happened frequently with cats, that he probably had a clot, and probably had heart problems. By the sounds of the symptoms, they would probably put it down. Because it would take 45 minutes to get the howling pet to the vet, we decided to put him down ourselves. It was hard for my husband to do, but we felt we could not stand for Lynx to be in pain much longer. (This was difficult because we had to put our son’s 11-year old Bassett down just a few weeks ago.) I really feel sympathy for anyone who has such sudden dramatic experiences with pets.
My condolences are always with a family that loses a pet of any kind, but I am mortified that you put him down yourself without actually seeing a vet first. I am horrified to think what you must have went through –but it alarms me when I think about what ”putting him down yourself” at home must have entailed. I don’t doubt that you didn’t want the animal to suffer, but what if it wasn’t as serious as you thought? He may have just experienced a seizure, and was more scared than anything!!! If your child was showing signs of a potentially terminal disease, and you called the doctor and he said it was ”probably” this or that, and he was ”probably” not going to survive the next couple of days, I would HOPE you wouldn’t just ”put him out of his misery!!” whether or not the child was seizing and defecating on himself and constantly screaming violently in pain, I’m sure you would have made sure he got to a hospital (I would HOPE, anyhow) and saw a doctor –I’m sure you wouldn’t have just ”put him down yourself” because you couldn’t stand to see him in pain any longer…WHATS THE DIFFERENCE?? I am SURE you would have let your child suffer to the bitter end regardless of HIS pain if he hadn’t seen a doctor, but since the poor cat was ”howling”, instead of rushing it the 45 minutes to the emergency vet, you flat out killed him.Plain and simple, because you couldn’t stand his ‘howling”.
In the future, endure the 45 minute ride to the emergency vet –get the animal to a medical professional, and don’t get a diagnosis over the phone. Like I stated before, no matter how much pain your child was in, I’m sure you would have let him suffer 45 minutes (regardless of what a doctor said over the phone) to get him to a hospital, so he could actually be seen by medical professionals instead of killing him yourself, to ”end his suffering”.
You’re an idiot
Never in the post did it say the owner put them down themselves. If anyone goes to an emergency vet, which is what I’m sure happened, the vet gives options, and one of those can be euthanasia. In a case such as paralysis, I’m sure thousands of dollars could have been spent trying find a diagnosis, one that would likely call for a lifetime of truly expensive pallative care and lifetime of discomfort for the cat anyway, which is hardly a life to live. An accident is an accident, no matter the cause… And let us not forget the owner’s gut reaction was to save the bird from a great deal of suffering! Hardly cold behavior… It is quite a tragedy.
Very sorry for your family’s loss, Tonya. The whole thing sounds heartbreaking.
It did say that actually. “Because it would take 45 minutes to get the howling pet to the vet, we decided to put him down ourselves” which is awful to to. Home euthanasing is not okay.
my cat came home one night and he was very weak and he had a bump at the base of his tail and could not move his tail or feel anything in it he also has a bump in his tail at the tip i think he got it run over but he has no problem with the litter box i dont know what to do i thought he might get the feeling back but its been about a month im going to take him to the vet
My cat is like a daughter to me and her 3 birthday is comming up. I wanted to know if tail paralysis due to tail pulling is fixable. She shows no signs of pain, and has had the condition since around the time i got her as a kitten. She loves t climb on my shoulders and jump off without giving me any warning. Several of these incidents resulted in me feeling like she was falling and trying to keep her safe, naturaly the only thing i could reach was her tail. I feel awful that she cant feel her tail, but i am still extremely over protective of my little Angel and just want to know if such a condition is cureable. Oh and i wish i had known such valuable information a couple years ago.
I recently found that my cat has also had some tail drama. He got out about a week ago and came back yesterday with a limptail, the poor dear. He’s still walking and eating and drinking, but he smells like urine. Problem is, we can’t afford right now to take him to the vet. So my question is, would it be possible for him to heal without medical assistance? I have him in a crate right now and he spends a lot of time sleeping. But without a vet’s assistance, is it better to take him to the spca and have him out down? I don’t want to see that happen, but I don’t want my poor furbaby to be in pain for the rest of his life either.
Please be aware that a lot of “tail limpness” in cats can be due to an abcess caused most often by another cat in a fight. The area becomes infected and can go right to the bone if left. This can be cure with medication if dealt with quickly, otherwise the tail will have to be amputated to stop the infection causing death. Note: An abcess is boil with puss in it and is extremely painful for the cat when touched.
Jeanette: do you have money to buy food? Clothes? Electricity to power your computer on which you typed your message? Then you have money to take your “poor furbaby” to a vet. Would you take a non-fur baby to a vet?
If you don’t take him, then you are lying to yourself if you think you care about that cat’s well being
That is a CRUEL thing to say –you know NOTHING about this poor woman’s situation. The cat was injured a week ago, she has said nothing about buying new clothes since the accident, who knows if she even has a computer! As far as you know, she’s a 5th grader using the computer in the library of her elementary school! You ought to be ashamed of yourself, Andrei!! You are a cold-hearted person who’s parents taught you NOTHING in terms of showing compassion to other people!
You demonstrate pure lack of empathy, and are totally naive to think that just because someone isn’t sitting around stark naked, is able to afford just enough not to starve to death and hasn’t had their power turned off ( by the way, this could very well be an elderly lady, or disabled woman and on assistance receiving foodstamps, getting clothes through the salvation army, and receiving assistance to keep her heat on –and before you make some snide comment about how she shouldn’t have a cat if she can’t afford it, maybe thats the only companion she has!!) that they should automatically have enough money to pay for emergency vet bills! Have you ever even took an animal to the vet? obviously not, or you would never have even typed the response you did..My guess is that you are either a child with no clue, or ”privileged” …with no clue. Either way, you’re a cold,hateful person that ought to re-evaluate the way you treat people and think about their feelings. I hope for the sake of your soul, you make a big change, starting TODAY, before you meet your maker, or he will be sending you in a direction you would rather not go..I wish you all the luck in the world with that,Andrei. I really do. God bless you.
I have one year old kitten, Treble, hit by car – a deadly mistake of letting him out for a limited time unsupervised. He came home(how grateful we were), unable to move his hind legs. Took him to animal ER, did all kinds of scans, hospitalized…just an hour later we were told that he had arterial clotting which would totally paralyze him just like Tonya described. We had him put down. We loved him so much so we cried our eyes out.
Only let the cats outdoor with a leash or build the cats an enclosure PLEASE!
my kitten is only about 4 weeks maybe more. and just fell 9ft or more he stayed in the same position he fell in for a while after calmimg him down he would shake his leg and winned his head i did as much as i could and havent found any help he can barely meow and i am out of reach for a vet
just talked to an emergancy vet min is only in shock and will be fine within a day or two
I am so happy to hear that!! Thank Goodness you didn’t do what Faith did (second comment from top) and ”put him out of his misery” yourself..As you can see by the comment I left her, I was pretty taken aback by that scenario..God bless you and your kitten! :)
I live in the bush in South Africa and we take in a lot of abandoned cats, my question is this year i have had a few cat appox 12 years old suddenly going lame in a paw overnight or even totally paralyzed and then normally dieing within 24 hrs with renal failure like symtoms if we dont get them 2 a vet in town in time. When we get them 2 a vet they just get put down. What is causing this ? because we cant take the heartbreak anymore and hubby is saying no more animals after all have passed on.
This happened nearly 2 years ago, but my guess is that your kitty had a condition called saddle thrombus… it’s caused by a blood clot in the bifemoral artery (the main artery that delivers blood supply to the lower body), and 90% of the time the underlying cause is heart disease. It causes sudden paralysis and great pain for the cat. The tell-tale sign is that kitty’s legs and feet are cold to the touch. At least half the time it’s fatal withing the first 48 hours. The rest of the time the owners may feel compelled to put the cat down either because the cat is too disabled, or because the cost of trying to save the cat (with no guarantee of of total or even partial recovery) is too great.
No owner whose cat suffers this horrible disease should feel guilty that they missed warning signs. There really aren’t any, unless you’re already aware that your cat has heart disease or a clotting disorder. Standard vet exams don’t often catch the problem, either. Kitty can seem perfectly alert and energetic and happy, and then out of nowhere is paralyzed and in excruciating pain. It’s a heartbreaking thing to witness, but it’s no one’s fault.
my cat, who rarely meows, started meowing LOUD, and all day yesterday and today. last night i started noticing he was laying down and rollng to his back and stretching out constantly. then i started touching parts of his back legs belly but and tail, noticed he meowed as if was sore. whats going on with my Rascal?
Sounds like you need to get Rascal to the vet right away. Maybe he has a bladder infection. This is a treatable illness with antibiotics, but you need to get it treated quickly if it is.
My cat that I raised from a 6week old kitten was hit by a car a
Month and a half ago…he had been my baby…he was my first real pet.
I miss him so much. He was raised in the country and my fiance
And I just moved to the city a few months ago. We got him
Neutered and he had an absess on his tail from another animal
Biting him. He didn’t have any paralysis, thankgod, but he didn’t
Act right…I thought he was unhappy from missing the country
I let him outside. Oh how he loved the outdoors. I came home that night and he was no where to be found, so I went inside thinking he has take shelter under the house.
I woke up the next.morning and went outside to fond my beloved
Family member across the street….I ran down the stairs and across
I got to.him and bawled my eyes out…I still.can’t believe he is gone.
R.I.P. bear bear…mommy misses you:(
hi all my kitten was hitted badly by a big cat last night and then onwards it cant move her rear legs,it was pretty much active before and we are tragedy now, i took it to vet as he told that it got partially paralized,common please some one help me to get my kitten back to her position.
the other day i pulled my cats tail because she was running outside and the door was open it wasnt that hard and now she could still move around and everything but her butt is always lowered to the ground and she still uses her litter box so whats going to hapen now ?????
i prayed for her and now she is runnig around back to normal
thanks to the lord for saving her
Please understand that having a pet is a privilege and that the basis of having a pet is to care for the animal. When you make the decision to become a pet owner you need to keep in mind that they are not “free” or a cheaper alternative to having children. It takes a lot of time, money and responsibility. The financial obligations of having a pet are taking it to the vet when it is in need or in some instances (as I see in another post) the financial responsibility of putting the pet down in a humane way (i.e. not killing it yourself).
I would argue that the pet is the one that’s privileged. There are far more irresponsible pet owners out there than the OP.
Tara —I couldn’t have put it better myself!! As you can tell by my response to ”Faith’s” post (second to top) I was pretty distraught when I read about them killing their cat because it suddenly got sick and was ‘howling’ and it was going to take 45 minutes to get it to the vet. I questioned if they would have put their child ”out of his misery” so easily if he was in such pain..I would surly hope not.
1.) your cat was hit by a BB gun
2.) you pulled its tail
3.) you can’t afford to take the cat to the vet
I believe the problem is that you are incompetent, insensitive, and ignorant.
I believe the problem is that you are over-sensitive, judgmental and hysterical. I have very little basis for this belief- but that doesn’t seem to prevent you from posting stupid remarks.
Robim: what if someone yanks you by the neck, shoots you with a BB gun, and then says can’t afford to take you to the doctor. All the while saying how much they care about you. Would you be sensitive of the pain? Oh of course, because it’s so different when you hurt as opposed to another creature. Would you be judgemental of their failures? Let me take a guess.
The ignorance here is entirely yours.
Actually, Amber –I believe the problem is that YOU are insensitive, ignorant, cold-hearted, and naive!! Evidently your parents taught you NOTHING about showing compassion & empathy for other people, and you either can’t read, or don’t take the time to process what you read before forming conclusions. The owners of the cat didn’t shoot it with a BB gun –that was completely out of their control, second of all, the cats tail was pulled in a sudden desperate attempt to save a poor birds life when the cat got a hold of it, and before you start making judgements about ones inability to pay vet bills, just know that not everyone is as privileged to have an endless amount of disposable income as you are evidently claiming to have. You know NOTHING about this poor woman’s situation. Who knows, maybe after adopting the cat her husband died. Or maybe she -or even worse a child became deathly ill and hospital bills left her destitute. As far as you know jobs were lost, or maybe there was a house fire –and before you start saying she should have adopted the cat out if either one of those scenarios were the case, maybe she tried and was unable to find it a home…The point is YOU DON’T KNOW, and it is extremely cruel, cold-hearted, judgmental, and just plain wrong for you to leave the comment you left and you ought to be ashamed of yourself, and if you’re not, you’re abhorrent –and God will judge you accordingly. I wish you all the luck in the world with that, because I know God don’t like ugly. Have a nice day.
Actually, Amber –I believe the problem is that YOU are insensitive, ignorant, cold-hearted, and naive!! Evidently your parents taught you NOTHING about showing compassion & empathy for other people, and you either can’t read, or don’t take the time to process what you read before forming conclusions. The owners of the cat didn’t shoot it with a BB gun –that was completely out of their control, second of all, the cats tail was pulled in a sudden desperate attempt to save a poor birds life when the cat got a hold of it, and before you start making judgements about ones inability to pay vet bills, just know that not everyone is as privileged to have an endless amount of disposable income as you are evidently claiming to have. You know NOTHING about this poor woman’s situation. Who knows, maybe after adopting the cat her husband died. Or maybe she -or even worse a child became deathly ill and hospital bills left her destitute. As far as you know jobs were lost, or maybe there was a house fire –and before you start saying she should have adopted the cat out if either one of those scenarios were the case, maybe she tried and was unable to find it a home…The point is YOU DON’T KNOW, and it is extremely cruel, cold-hearted, judgmental, and just plain wrong for you to leave the comment you left and you ought to be ashamed of yourself, and if you’re not, you’re abhorrent –and God will judge you accordingly. I wish you all the luck in the world with that, because I know God don’t like ugly. Have a nice day.
Well today I was changing my cats litter so as soon as I was about to put the new litter in she had to use it and I told her to wait and then she went back to the spot that the litter box used to be but wasn’t there yet cuz I wasn’t done and then I was done and ready to put the litter box back in the spot so I told her to get out the way and she wouldn’t move so I pulled her tail kinda hard and she meowed and just stopped frozed up so I put the litter box rite there and she could evan hold it to get in the box and just pooped rite where she was at everywhere I felf so bad I nearly wanted to cry because I didn’t know that that could happen if I did that to her…………….I’m sorry Boo!!!
I had 2 lovely Cats I lost one at the Califorina Camping ground ;-( ;-( she lean on my Family s Popup door one night when my Family was not there. She was a Calico Gray White & Ornge very sweet very nice I knew she was there she was wearing a pink halter ;-( I never had found her then I got another kitten she was not quite like the other one but this one was a Calico as well Black White & Ornge. Any way she got very sick couldn’t eat my older Sister said she’s redy too die well I had her put too sleep at age 13. I miss her soo bad ;-( these young Children who done this too make this Calico by beating it with sticks rocks they need too be takeing away from there Parents.
First of all, I am SO very deeply sorry for your loss. Let me reassure you,as a veterinarian, you did not cause the injuries described to your beloved cat. As Dahlia stated, you would have to pull very hard for an injury of that magnitude to take place. Most injuries resulting in tail pulling involves more than just pulling the tail, for example, lifting the cat from the ground by the end of the tail and swinging the cat violently. Believe it or not, some cats actually enjoy being GENTLY lifted off the ground by the BASE of the tail for just a fraction of a second. It relieves tension (though I personally don’t recommend it, for obvious reasons) the same way some humans enjoy having a lighter person walk on their back.
My cat was meowing very loudly last night over and over. Sometimes he does this and I will take my handheld vacuum and chase him with it and he will then calm down. I tried doing this last night but he would not stop meowing so I grabbed his tail and slid him across the floor and into the wall. He couldn’t get up after this. Today he still cant move his body and he woke up with pee and poo all over him. I think I need to put him down. What is the easiest way to do this at home? I heard that by using electricity to put it down, like dog fighting owners do with the dogs after they dont need them anymore, will be the most effective and painless. I heard it only takes a few seconds of electricity until it is gone to heaven. Is there any alternatives?’
regards,
concerned cat lover
Oh my goodness I hope you’re joking. If so you’re NOT funny. If not please take that cat to a shelter and never own another pet again.
Not anger at the OP, I see no wrong in that situation but after reading what some people have done to their cats in these comments… it just makes me sick, I hope the last message posted by Joshua (and a few others) didn’t really happen and is just someone trying to get a response by making up a cruel story
First of all I would like to see an END to all these tail-pulling confessions. …Wtf are people on??
DO NOT PULL ON YOUR CAT’S TAIL UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES!! … Responsible Pet Ownership 101!
Also, people … Please use common sense and do not house predator and prey under the same roof. It’s likely everyone was traumatized by this horrible story, least of all the cat losing it’s life. Let’s be thoughtful about ensuring safety and harmony with the critters we bring into our homes. Just because they are all cute, doesn’t mean they will play well together. I’m not sure which part of this story is most disturbing. All I know is it made me ill. These animals entrust us with their lives. Let’s all try to act responsibly.
My cat came in this evening with a limp tail. He’s been very picky with his food (he won’t touch the lamb I put down for him as a treat! It’s his favorite) and is curled up under the stairs looking very grumpy.
He’ll let me fuss him down to the base of his tail, but if I even lightly stroke the tail itself he shys away and mewls a little.
He’s a rough-and-tough cat, loves spending time outdoors. He has been in a fair few scuffles with other cats in the neighborhood, so I wonder if that has something to do with it.
I’ll be taking him to the vet by Friday but I wonder if any of you guys have had a similar experience with your cats.