Cat doesn't like tail after surgery

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esecosky
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Cat doesn't like tail after surgery

Post by esecosky »

Hello,

My cat (8 year old) had a tail wound in mid march on the tip of her tail. We tried to get it to heal on its own but was forced to amputate about 2 inches. Its been 6 weeks since that surgery and the tail has healed and fur is mostly

grown back. She has had a cone on since the surgery last week started to remove it for a small period of time and worked our way to having to completely removed last Sunday. It has been off for 6 days. During this time, I noticed that

she has been occasionally looking at her tail and then running away from it as though she was scared of it. After inspecting the tail, there was nothing on it that could indicate irritation. ie a scab. I thought that she just needed

to get used to the tail change and would get better. Further in the week this continued and then started to affect her eating too. She would try to eat with the cone off but then run away, in the midst of eating, from her tail again.

Throughout the week, she was hiding under the bed and in odd areas. However, she isn't being anitsocial but rather still affectionate, enjoys being petted, played with, and wants to constantly be around me. Yesterday, she continued

this behavior and was caught swatting at the tail several times. The cone went back on last night in an attempt to calm her down. It did and she slept well through the evening and the night. This morning, in addition to the other

behavior changes, she was swatting at the tail and bit it. You can touch the tail and she doesn't flinch - so I don't think she is in pain. She doesn't exhibit signs of pain either. ie. being anti social,

I took her to the ER, the same place where the tail was amputated, and they said this is common after a tail amputation and may be having neuropathic or phantom pain. She received a shot for pain and sedation and sent home with a 7 day

dose of pain meds(gabapentin). Later that evening, I noticed she was now trying to get to the tail, even with the cone on. When the cone came off, she constantly looks at the tail and runs away. I gave her a pain med pill and

monitoring if it helps. Its been two days with the pain meds and she is good as long as the cone is on but as soon as the cone comes off, she is looking at her tail and running away from it.

I wish she could speak and just tell me what the problem is so we can fix it - since she can't I am doing my best to watch and attempt to interpret her behavior and troubleshoot from there.

Is this common after a tail amputation? Is she really having "phantom pain"? Or is this psychological? What else can I do to help her?
Siameseifyouplease
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Re: Cat doesn't like tail after surgery

Post by Siameseifyouplease »

Hello
Did you ever get this resolved? My cat has had the same surgery and is exhibiting exactly the same behaviour as you describe. He is currently taking gabapentin and metacam but I am
Not seeing any progress yet.
Thanks
esecosky
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Re: Cat doesn't like tail after surgery

Post by esecosky »

After observing my kitty for a week afterwards, I found that she wasn't experiencing pain or phantom pain like the vet said. I had to keep the "cone of shame" on for an extended period of time until she would behave. I gave her the same pain med "gabapetin" and it only sedated her - I refused to medicate her for something that she didn't need and stopped the pain meds immediately. Even with the pain med, she continued to go after the tail. Which told me that this wasn't pain she was experiencing. I could touch her tail to the end without any flinching or indication of pain. However, the end of the tail seemed like the muscles were tight. the tip of the tail was moving and flexible just felt tight. I just tried to keep her distracted as best I could to keep her mind off her tail. When she misbehaved - the cone of shame went on for an hour and then was removed.

As of today, she will look at the tail rarely now and have only seen her go after it once in the past week. I see her normal behavior starting to return: walking with her tail up, sitting with her tail wrapped around her, rolling on the ground, running around, etc... Its been 3 long months but we are almost at the end of this! Yea!
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Crewella
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Re: Cat doesn't like tail after surgery

Post by Crewella »

Thank you for updating, this is something I'd never heard of happening. I'm glad she's better. :)
Cadymott
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Re: Cat doesn't like tail after surgery

Post by Cadymott »

Thank you so much for sharing this story. My cat is doing exactly the same thing— looking at her tail and attacking it, even when on pain medication. I think it’s a nerve that is tingling or something.
laurenburgoyne96
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Re: Cat doesn't like tail after surgery

Post by laurenburgoyne96 »

Hello, I know this is very late, but my poor cat is experiencing the exact same behaviour after having half her tail amputated. How did you eventually help them?
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