Living with cats

How To Care For A Cat With A Broken Leg

Max. D Gray
By Max. D Gray. Updated: January 16, 2017
How To Care For A Cat With A Broken Leg

Cats are agile animals with incredible balancing skills that can often surprise us. This, together with their curious and adventurous spirit, makes them love climbing to great heights and jumping around. However, this can often end in a dramatic falls that result in injury. Detecting that your cat is hurt, taking it to the vet and assisting it during its recovery is important to ensure your pet's welfare. So in OneHowTo.com we describe some symptoms that may indicate that your cat has been hurt along with some key recommendations so you to learn how to care for a cat with a broken leg.

You may also be interested in: How to care for a Turkish Angora Cat
Steps to follow:
1

Unless you witness the exact moment when your cat falls and hurts itself it can be difficult to determine that the animal is injured, especially if not paying special attention to certain signs and behaviors of the cat.

The signs that your cat has broken its leg or has a major injury in the leg are:

  • Limp or difficulty walking.
  • Very sharp and frequent meowing.
  • Swelling in the affected leg.
  • Apathy and lack of appetite.
  • It is possible that the animal hides for fear of being examined.
  • If the broken bone punctures the skin you will be able to see a pretty obvious injury.

It is important that if you notice one or more of these symptoms you immediately take your cat to the vet as only a professional can examine your pet and determine if it has a fractured bone.

How To Care For A Cat With A Broken Leg - Step 1
2

When an animal has this type of injury it is important to give it greater care and attention. The first step to care for a cat with a broken leg will be to give it all the affection and pampering that may be required for a speedy recovery. Do not forget that your cat has a bond with you and that it will feel more comforted if it notices that you care for it and are there to support it.

How To Care For A Cat With A Broken Leg - Step 2
3

If its bed is on a raised platform you will needed to lower it to ground level so that the animal can reach it without difficulty. If it struggles to even get into the structure that serves as its bed it will be best to remove the mattress and place it near the area usually used by the cat to rest comfortably.

It is recommended that the area in which you place the bed be quiet and with a comfortable temperature for the animal to rest as it will require a lot of rest to fully recover.

As it will also need to go to the toilet, it may be difficult for it to climb in. The best solution is to create a new temporary litter box at ground level (use a fruit box and remove one of the sides so it can walk in), cover it with newspaper instead of sand so the cat doesn't get all the floor dirty. You will have to pay close attention that the cat doesn't do its business elsewhere, though most cats are very tidy and will prefer to go in a specific place rather than its own bed or so on.

How To Care For A Cat With A Broken Leg - Step 3
4

It is also important that their food, water and litter box be close to the place where the animal rests, especially if it has a hard time walking. Although it is not recommended that everything be put together in the same area, it is also important that they are not left at very distant points.

In addition it will be necessary to keep an eye on your cat and ensure that it does not scratch or try to remove the cast or splint put on by the vet. If the cat does this you can reinforce the area with extra dressing to make it more difficult to scratch. If the cat insists then consult the specialist to discuss methods to prevent it from doing so.

5

To care for a cat with a broken leg, it is essential to give the animal any medication prescribed by the veterinarian following his or her precise instructions. Analgesics and anti-inflammatories will reduce your pet's discomfort, promoting recovery. Continuing the treatment to the end of its course is very important for their welfare.

If you want to read similar articles to How To Care For A Cat With A Broken Leg, we recommend you visit our Pets category.

Write a comment

What did you think of this article?
1 of 4
How To Care For A Cat With A Broken Leg