Accepted Answer

Mary,


The most common reason for a cat that goes outside or lives with other cats to suddenly start limping, is due to a cat fight abscess. This is a pocket of inflammation and infection associated with a wound from a bite from another cat. This is extremely common! Even if you feel that your cats never fight, it is still a possibility if there is more than one cat living in the house. This can happen when nobody is watching, so it cannot be ruled out until an examination is performed. It can be difficult to find the puncture area, so the vet will be best at locating this.

If your cat is actively limping, then you should take her to the veterinarian as soon as possible to have this evaluated. In some cases, the infection is already open and draining and then the cat only need be put on antibiotics to clear it up. In other cases, if the wound has closed over and an abscess (pocket of pus) has developed, then the vet must lance it open and drain it out. It is then flushed with a cleansing solution and a drain is stitched in place to keep it open for the next three days. After those three days, the vet will remove the stitches and drain and allow it to close. Oral antibiotics are given for about 7-10 days.

There certainly are other things that can cause a cat to suddenly start limping, like:

Sprained muscle

Torn ligament

Broken bone

Tumor in the leg

Arthritis



However, in most cases, the cat fight abscess is the cause, so it is the one that we look for first. If your cat is not injured, then the treatment for arthritis will involve prescription medications. Unfortunately, there are no safe over-the-counter pain relievers for cats, so I cannot recommend any for you to use. If your kitty is actively limping and showing pain, a trip to the vet today will be in order to get some pain relief that is safe.



I hope that this information is of help to you, and I wish you the best of luck with your cat. Please let me know if I can be of further assistance.



Dr. K

Expert:	Dr. K
Pos. Feedback:	99.5 %
Accepts:
Answered:	9/7/2009

Veterinarian

9 years experience as Veterinarian