My aggressive cat is limping. How can I safely get her to the vet?

You should take her to an out of hours vet or Pet ER today. Your vet;s office should have emergency information on their answering machine. In the UK all veterinarians have to provide an out of hours service, be it themselves or via referral to another veterinary clinic. This is obviously a painful condition which should be addressed today.

It sounds like this is a feral cat, so the best way to catch her is to use a trap cage. Often cat rescue organizations or shelters will let you borrow them. You put food inside and the cat enters, then the door closes. Then you can take her in the cage to the vet, where they can safely administer drugs to anesthetize her so that she can be properly examined. At that point, the best thing to do is x-ray the leg. It may not appear to bother her, but an x-ray is needed to fully assess that. If there is pain, amputation may be indicated to help her be pain-free. At that point I would recommend making her an indoor cat for life, to keep her safe for good.

A clot that causes limping is VERY painful. We do not expect cats that have thrown clots to recover without significant treatment. So, that certainly makes it less likely that Luna had a clot. However, I would strongly recommend having her examined to see what is going on. It certainly is not normal for a 6 year old cat to be limping. If Luna does not do well at the vet, maybe a house call vet would be a good option for her. I'm not sure if there is one in your area, but this might be a good place to look for one. http://www.homevets.org/Find_A_Mobile_Vet.html Good luck! I hope that was helpful and that Luna feels better soon. Thanks for using PetCoach.

I am sorry to hear about Luna. If Luna is limping there are many different possible causes, including soft tissue injury (such as a muscle sprain/strain, torn ligament), a fracture (it isn't always obvious when a pet breaks a bone if the fracture is not displaced), a torn or sore toenail, a skin infection of the toenails or bottom of the foot, nerve disorders, or in older pets tumors of the muscle or bone. I would recommend examination by a vet if the issue has been present since Sunday with no improvement. Unfortunately there are no safe pain medications available over the counter for cats, so I would just try to keep her quiet/restrict her activity/keep her indoors until she can be seen.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! Unfortunately, it is difficult to know what kind of injury he has sustained and what kind of therapy he needs. This could be as severe as a fracture or something more mild like a soft tissue injury. The fact that he is crying when the leg is manipulated indicates that he is quite painful requiring pain control medications at least. If he does have a fracture, he may actually require surgery. For this reason it is crucial that he is indeed evaluated by a veterinarian. You could consider taking him to your local humane society as often times they offer less expensive veterinary care. I hope you are able to get him some help. Good luck!

Poor girl. It sounds like she may have a serious injury there and could have dislocated her hip joint or tore her ligament. You really should take her to your vet now to get some x-rays done of her leg. Most cats with mild injuries won't show you that they are hurt, so if a cat is limping its usually pretty serious and should be looked at quickly. I do hope that your fur baby Mina is going ot be ok moving forward and I am so sorry that your first pet has injured herself in this way. Best of luck moving forward. Take care.

It sounds like he needs to be examined by a vet to determine the cause. He could have an infection (Lyme disease, etc.), immune mediated polyarthritis, panosteitis , etc. Your vet can run lab-work and take an x-ray to help diagnose. You could try to find a mobile vet to come to your house or call your vet and see if he/she could prescribe a sedative to make the visit easier. You definitely want to make the experience positive to try and change his aggressive behavior. He will need medical care throughout his life and it makes it very difficult for both the dog and vet. Hope he feels better soon and the visit goes smoothly!