My cat 3 years old, male, neutered, 14 pounds had a catheter put in his hip after a urinary blockage and is now walking with a heavy limp.
We are in Oregon.
link to him walking
https://streamable.com/jdiqh1
The vet ER we took him to doesn't have a reasonable explanation. Every time I would call they would bring up his front paw where they put the IV in and I'd have to tell him no it was his left rear leg. Finally, after the third call they told me that is where the catheter was inserted but it was all surface level and wouldn't cause any structural damage. That's all concerning to me as it doesn't sound like something they would expect.
They offer for me to bring him back in to check him out if I'm really worried but any one familiar with pet ER's knows how much they cost. We just spent quite a bit on the procedure and are a little strapped for cash now, so that combined with the fact that his blockage was likely stress induced from a recent move and that the vet and his carrier stress him out heavily, we would like to avoid that scenario if possible to not reaggravate that.
It's been 3 days since we picked him up and the only advice we have gotten from them is to basically wait it out and he hasn’t shown any real improvement. He had the limp as soon as he stepped out of his carrier, and they also said well maybe he tweaked it getting out of his carrier. The DR. also told me he didn't watch him walk at all during the two days he spent there which seems a little odd to me.
I'm not a vet so this is why I am posting it here as it looks structural to me, and I would like to know if anyone else's cat went through something similar or if this type of thing is to be expected with this type of procedure.
He can put weight on it but can't walk further than 10-15 feet without laying down to rest. He normally walks a little pigeon toe'd in his rear legs and this is an extremely awkward outward gaunt for him with a heavy dip when he goes to step on that leg. It's honestly really sad to watch. It looks to be at the hip. When I feel around he doesn't get upset, just mildly irritated sometimes and he kicks back at me occasionally. He has a lot of trouble getting up onto his tree, and into the bed.
My fiance has more video of it and I'm waiting for her to get those over to me so I can potentially update the post with that as well, as that video shows it a little more clearly.
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