Failure of a cat’s hind legs is most often provoked by serious illnesses or previous injuries that require immediate contact with a veterinary clinic. Even the slightest delay can lead to the death of the animal.
Gait disturbances, paralysis of the limbs and spinal injuries can only be cured by a specialist; it is impossible to relieve such conditions on your own. Failure to see a doctor in a timely manner increases the risk of complete loss of sensitivity and mobility of the paws. That is why, in order to avoid complications and return the animal to a confident gait, at the first manifestations of paralysis, you should take the animal to the veterinarian.
Failure of a cat's hind legs: causes of a dangerous condition
Impaired mobility of an animal's limbs can be caused by various reasons. It is very difficult for the owner to independently understand what caused the paralysis, so in this case it will not be possible to do without a trip to the veterinarian.
Failure of a cat's hind legs can be caused by:
- Spinal injuries. Limbs often lose mobility as a result of spinal column injuries. Trauma to the lumbar region especially often leads to such consequences. Animals with access to the outdoors are susceptible to similar injuries. They may be run over by a vehicle or fall from a height or jump awkwardly from a tree. Apartment pets also get injured when jumping from a closet or windowsill. Problems with the limbs are indicated by immobility of the hind legs, tail and general weakness.
- Thrombosis of the femoral arteries. Thromboembolism of the femoral arteries leads to loss of sensation in the limbs, which develops gradually. During its development, the animal experiences severe pain in the lower back, screams and behaves restlessly. If you do not show your pet to a doctor in a timely manner, tissue necrosis will begin and it will be impossible to restore the mobility of the hind legs. In addition, after a few days, thrombosis will lead to death.
- Tick bite. Tick bites, although rare, cause paralysis, leading to the death of the animal. After a tick bite, the animal becomes agitated, followed by weakness, apathy, trembling and paralysis. If action is not taken in time, death occurs.
- Inflammation of the spinal fluid. Myelitis develops against the background of infectious diseases, helminthic infestations, injuries and poisoning. The pathology is characterized by failure of the cat's hind legs, chaotic movements, elevated temperatures, upset stomach, diarrhea and urinary incontinence. Timely treatment will lead to relief of the disease and complete restoration of the mobility of the pet’s limbs.
- Hip dysplasia. With this pathology, bone formation is disrupted. The disease primarily affects large breed cats. The disease leads to the development of severe pain when walking and jumping. If the owner does not provide supportive treatment, this will lead to limb failure.
- Stroke. A cat's hind legs may also fail due to a stroke. The disease can affect both older and young animals as a result of poor nutrition or a sedentary lifestyle. When the cerebral vessels are blocked, paralysis of the limbs develops. Timely treatment, which should begin immediately after diagnosis, will help eliminate it.
- Heart failure. If the cardiovascular system does not work properly, the animal's limbs may fail. This occurs due to oxygen starvation, against the background of which muscle tissue atrophy develops. In addition, heart problems manifest themselves in shortness of breath, dry cough and lethargy.
Other pathologies also lead to loss of limb mobility, which can only be identified by a specialist after a complete examination of the sick cat.
What to do if a cat loses its paws?
Therapy is prescribed by a veterinarian individually. For injuries and thromboembolism, surgical intervention is performed. Symptomatic treatment and antibiotics alleviate the condition of a stroke or after a tick bite. In case of a herniated spine, the protrusion is removed and the displaced structures are put in place. You should massage the cat's hind legs - stroking, flexing and extending the legs, kneading. Hyperparathyroidism is treated with calcium supplements, and for vitamin deficiency, a balanced diet is prescribed.
Symptoms characteristic of limb failure
Paresis of the limbs is represented by the following symptoms:
- complete or partial impairment of motor functions. The animal stops moving quickly, drags its paws or moves crawling;
- change in gait. If swaying and pulling up of the limbs is normal for a small kitten, then failure of the cat’s hind legs requires immediate intervention by a veterinarian;
- atrophy of the muscular system. The muscles of the hind limbs lose their elasticity;
- soreness when feeling the hind legs. The cat screams and struggles when the back of the body is probed;
- lack of sensitivity. The animal stops feeling cold and warmth with its paw pads.
If such symptoms appear, your pet should be taken to a veterinarian immediately.
What does it look like
Failure of the hind limbs is easy to notice, but there are cases when the animal prefers to lie down for several days and refuse to eat or drink. As a rule, the cat still gets up to go to the toilet. At this point, changes in gait can be seen. In the early stages, disorders may look like this:
- an unsteady gait that looks like you've lost your balance;
- severe wobbling of the back of the body;
- the hind legs move apart;
- after a few steps the cat sits down, doing this many times until the path is completed;
- the animal drags its legs along the floor without lifting them off the ground.
Worsening usually occurs very quickly, but if the owner manages to contact a veterinary clinic at an early stage, then treatment will have a greater chance of success.
First aid
If the owner notices a failure of the cat’s hind legs or problems with mobility, then before taking it to the veterinarian, he must provide first aid to the animal.
First you need to calm the pet and put it in a carrier or house. Then, if the hind paws are cold, you need to warm them up with a heating pad. After this, you need to immediately go to the veterinary clinic.
Main symptoms
Paralysis may have a pronounced or blurred clinical picture. As the disease progresses, symptoms will increase. At first, the owner may notice that the pet has become more lethargic, drowsy, moves uncertainly, and tries to crawl into a secluded corner where no one will bother him.
Sometimes he becomes aggressive if someone tries to pet him or pick him up.
It is difficult for a cat to keep his head in the usual state, swallow, lap, food falls out of his mouth, so his appetite, as a rule, decreases. He stops washing his face and looks unkempt. Such phenomena as hypersalivation, involuntary release of feces and urine become commonplace.
In case of injuries, thrombosis, hernias, the damaged limbs become cold, turn blue, and the pulse drops to a critical level.
With facial paralysis, asymmetry of the muzzle is observed: one of the corners of the mouth and eye goes down, blinking and movement of the facial muscles are absent. If the paralysis is bilateral, both corners of the mouth seem to slide down, causing the expression of the muzzle to become dull.
If you notice suspicious signs, you should immediately take the animal to the veterinary clinic. If help was provided to the animal at the initial stage, there is a chance of saving it.
How to treat paresis of the lower extremities?
After delivering the cat to the veterinarian, the specialist conducts an examination, determines the degree of sensitivity of the hind limbs, takes an X-ray and ultrasound, and also takes the tailed patient’s blood and urine for analysis.
Therapy is prescribed only after an accurate diagnosis has been made. It includes medication, physiotherapy, massage, and sometimes surgery.
Diagnostics in a veterinary clinic
Diagnostics is carried out comprehensively. First, the veterinarian examines the animal, conducts tests for tendon and neurological reflexes, and feels the paralyzed limbs. It is necessary to understand whether the cat feels touch, is in pain, or is no longer able to respond to stimuli.
Necessary diagnostic methods for paralysis include blood tests, urine tests, ultrasound of internal organs, MRI of the brain, X-rays, and Doppler sonography. If an infection is suspected, perform a bacteriological analysis.
Drug treatment
If paresis of the limbs is confirmed, appropriate drug therapy is selected for the cat. Depending on the disease that caused the paralysis, various drugs are used. They can be presented:
- antibiotics to relieve inflammation caused by infection;
- vitamins to strengthen the immune system;
- drugs that thin the blood for thrombosis and stroke;
- anti-mite drugs;
- diuretics.
The treatment regimen may differ depending on the underlying disease that caused the failure of the cat's hind legs.
Physiotherapy
Recovery from limb paresis is very long and requires mandatory physiotherapeutic procedures.
To help your pet recover faster, veterinarians advise performing a number of exercises that will help restore neurological functions:
- Bike. To perform this exercise, the animal must be placed on its back and alternately perform circular movements with its hind legs for five minutes, simulating riding a bicycle.
- Paw massage. Every day, the owner must knead the cat’s paw pads and the paralyzed limbs themselves.
- Carding. A sick pet needs to be scratched in different places on the body. Progress will become noticeable when the cat, after the next “scratching”, begins to try to scratch itself with its hind paw.
- Rolling on the ball. To do this, take the cat and place it with its stomach on the ball, making sure that its limbs slightly touch the floor. In this position, the animal must be slowly rolled back and forth, holding it by the back.
- Support. You need to pass a wide strip of fabric under your pet's belly and walk with it around the room, holding the ends of the fabric.
- Moving the hind legs. To perform this exercise, you need to grab the animal by the hind legs and slowly move them, imitating walking.
- Swimming in the bathtub. This exercise is suitable for those cats who are not afraid of water. To perform this, the animal must be forced to swim in the bathtub every day, supported under the stomach and head so that it does not swallow water.
"Important! To speed up recovery, after a cat’s hind legs fail, it is necessary to work with it daily, devoting at least an hour a day to physical therapy.”
What are the consequences of failure of a cat's hind legs?
Failure of a cat's hind legs is a complex ailment that requires immediate treatment at a veterinary clinic. Self-medication of paresis is completely excluded, since it will not give any results and will only worsen the animal’s condition.
In the absence of proper drug treatment, paresis of the limbs can cause death, which will occur within a few days and will be extremely painful for the pet.
What to do
It must be emphasized that when cats' back legs begin to fail, it means that something is happening to their body, and it can be quite serious.
Causes can range from simple constipation to cancer and fracture. Whatever the origin of the disease, only a veterinarian can make the correct diagnosis and possible treatment.
You can examine their feet, toes, pads, and nails for damage. While you are investigating the cause of the disease, keep an eye on where it lies to prevent it from getting worse. Make sure there are no dangerous items or toxic substances in the environment that could worsen the condition.
Once the diagnosis is confirmed, your role will be to give him enough attention and care so that he recovers as quickly as possible.
