# Broken Leg and Cast...Possible Surgery and Recovery



## NYC_Gal18 (Oct 31, 2010)

Hi all,
On Friday night, my cat fell off the fridge, and after taking her the emergency clinic, we were told she had broken her back leg, and to see our normal vet. Yesterday morning, before we went to the vet, the kitty was just absolutely miserable with the cast that the the emergency clinic put on her. She was growling and hissing and thrashing herself around the room to try to get the cast off. We ended up going to the vet yesterday afternoon, and after much one on one attention, the vet recommended that we go to an orthopedic surgeon. We ended up keeping Chloe at the vet last nite and tonight until we pick her up tomorrow morning to take to the surgeon. We just could not give her the care she needed at home since she was so miserable. If she does need surgery, will the vet let us board her there until she does not seem to be miserable with the cast or bandage that they put on her? We love her dearly, and do not want to see her miserable at home, even if she is in a confined space. Any advice would be great! TIA!


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## Susan (Mar 29, 2010)

I would imagine that would depend on your vet, so he or she is the one you need to speak to...some vets might, others might not. Still, I would think your cat would be even more miserable at the vets' office than at home, since she will then not only have to deal with the pain of a broken leg and the annoyance of a cast, but also with the stress of being in a strange place with strange people.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

We had a cat w/ a broken leg about 15yrs ago. He was an outdoor feral I had been taming with the intent to have him neutered. We returned from a trip to find he had a broken hind leg. We took him to the vet that night and the next day he was neutered, had his cast put on and we brought him home early that evening.

He was a good patient, but I think we had several factors that helped us:
He was a feral, so was used to being alone.
His injury must have occured shortly after we left because he was very thin and dehydrated.
My husband built a sort of 'hutch' to keep him in the barn. It only had enough room for him to lay down, eat/drink and we recessed the litterbox down into the floor because his first day in it he fell over onto the side w/ the casted leg and couldn't get back up.
Anyhow ... the small space prevented a lot of movement, he was calm (due to the depleted condition we found him in) and he didn't thrash around. Eventually I felt it was getting too hot for him to be in the barn and I brought his hutch inside, he socialized very quickly with us, our indoor cats (mostly his offspring) grew used to him and we incorporated him into our home and he became a retired feral tomcat living the good life.

IMO, if you can keep your kitty in a small enough area that she cannot move around in much, that should help w/ her thrashing around. She doesn't understand why her leg hurts and doesn't work, she may think it is the cast that is doing it. She needs to be kept quiet to heal and I do feel that would be best accomplished at home. Can you get a medium sized crate to keep her in? Can you also build a 'false-floor' so you can recess the litterbox down into it?


Here are some pics of The Wanderer and the hutch my husband built for him:

















Two months after his cast came off he 'adopted' this orphaned bottle baby as "his".


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## Kobster (Feb 1, 2007)

If the fracture is repaired surgically then he likely won't have a cast after the first 24 hours. The hardware they use to repair the fracture provides the stability that the cast is there to provide, therefore, it is no longer necessary. 

Where is the fracture?


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## razzle (May 20, 2010)

My Razzle broke his shoulder and I used a baby playpen until he healed. I put the litter box in there along with food and water. He couldn't move a much which was good.

Kathy


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