My poor Mojo had to have his tail amputated - advice please?

[alisonandarchie]

I know how you are feeling

However from personnel experience with Archie it is so important to try to prevent him having a chomp.

We felt sorry for Archie and did not persist with the collar which contributed to him having a bit more cut off his tail

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Oh dear but you have solved it now, so cheer up and if it stays secure then next weekend will come very quickly 

If it can just heal first time then it will all be over with and he will pick up your stress if you keep getting upset and that will upset him too.

[MojosMum]

Scratch the 'almost' part - I was distracted for two minutes and my daughter shrieked 'Mum, Mojo's chewing his tail!' and indeed he was. He was twisted so far round I didn't think it possible but he was happily enjoying having a good knaw on it.

We've ended up doing a Heath Robinson job on it with another collar to deepen it. He can't reach his tail at all now and is lying sulking complete with his new, larger collar on.

I feel so horrible and have just been in floods of tears all day on and off. I wish it was next weekend and the stitches were ready to come out. Its horrible watching him so depressed and I am so tired with sitting up with him I don't know which way to turn next.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

As long as it is almost reach, then he should be fine and a bigger collar would be not good for him. 

[alisonandarchie]

So glad Mojo is feeling better today.

Keep an eye out in case he tries to get a sneeky lick in

[Janeyk]

Hi and  to Purrs MojosMum    glad you've found us, poor Mojo    Our recent addition Pepper has a stumpy tail (I think he had some accident years ago but we don't know exactly what) he's 17.   I'm sure Mojo will be fine though it sounds like it's just going to be a case of monitoring him for a while 

[MojosMum]

Thank you so much everyone for your replies, its good to hear other cats have had this done and come through it well.

Last night was much more relaxed for Mojo and myself. He woke up a few times and had a little 'wander' around the room, and I did have to distract him once when he tried to lick his dressing, but I feel human today and I think Mojo is feeling more feline too!

He's had his metacam and a large breakfast, and I've just taken the dressing off his stump to let the air get to it for a while (we were worrying last night it might be getting wet under the dressing). It all looks OK, clean and not swollen, and looks to be healing OK. He's got a return visit to the vets on Tuesday to check up on it. I will mention the fact I am sure he can almost reach the wound and see if they have a slighter longer collar as I'm sure that would stop him reaching it. He's not managed to get the collar off again so thats good.

Thanks again to everyone who has replied.

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

  to Purrs,

So sorry to hear about Mojo's accident ...the poor baby.

Can't offer any advice but just wanted to welcome you and send a big hug to your little man 

[alisonandarchie]

Very sorry to hear about Mojo's accident but so glad he is recovering well

Archie who is 3 had to have his tail amputated when he was about a year old. He came home one day with his tail dragging . The vet thought he must have had it shut in a door.

Nearly three years on his little stump is now covered in fur and he can turn it at an amazing rate
His balance is perfect and I can honestly say having his tail removed has not made any difference to him

It will be very difficult but do try and top him from licking his stump until it has healed. If possible try to keep his collar on to  prevent this otherwise it could effect the healing process.

If you have any further questions just post .

Sending a cuddle to Mojo

[Liz]

Here at the Clan we have had 2 tail incidents!

Our late Alpha feral Tiger got hit by a car and went missing for 6 dats and came home in an awful mess he lost his tail after 14 days as it went rotten - you could smell it but like your wee one we had to see what the damage was - Tiger was still very feral at this time so once he got the collar off we were on our own as he couldn't be knocked out again

he had a one inch stump and 60 odd stitches he had pelvis damge as well hence all the stitches but after only 3 weeks cage rest he was out maurading the neigbourhood

Peanut one of my Tuxedo crew lost over half her tail in July this year in a snare and had to have it amputated as she came home with nerve endings showing, she had the bandage stitched on to her tail so no need for a nasty buster collar as although a cutie she is a physco and grounding her was bad enough

We had her tail rebandaged and stitched back on on a light anasthetic and never wore the trumpet she couldn't do it without major stress and being "laughed" at by the cats it also meant she couldn't junmp with the trumpet on and she sleeps high on the kitchen cupboards or on top of the wardrobes.

Can I also add it might be worth getting some feliway - plug in or spray version and popping some rescue remedy in the water and if he is still "narky" ask the vet for a weeks supply of Zylkene a natural relaxant - pop open capule and put on wet food - I have my nasty ferals on this when we first trap them to help the calming process and use the feliway and rescue remedy to

[MojosMum]

Thank you all for the warm welcome and the support, I appreciate it so much. Mojo is such a sweetheart and is so gentle and good-natured - he's my little furbaby and I do worry about him.

He does seem calmer today, I wonder if last nights wandering about and 'jitters' might have been the anaesthetic wearing off as well? I don't know. He's not managed to get the collar off at all today and has spent a lot of time sleeping quietly. I am hoping that he sleeps tonight too, I have had two hours sleep since Thursday and I don't know how much longer I can stay awake! 

He's eating and drinking well - he polished off a whole can of tuna last night and my husband bought him in his favourite Gormet tins this morning. Two of those went down very nicely followed by a dish of cat milk. He was purring like mad the whole time he was eating, bless his paws.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

We have has one very recently and cant remember the name and with her cat it was just the tip of the tail.

Like you there were terriible problems with the colllar and the stitches and orginally the vet said no collar needed!

One of the problems with amputees is they often can initially feel the missing bit but that camnnot be founs out until after its healed and stirches areout.

Afraid you must persevere with the collar and after a couple of days he will be used to it........I am not experienced in this but think that if he has real probs with collar and it is on correctly you should not remove for any reason unless itd a health one, because the more you take it off the more he will want you too,

He will get used to it if you let him

I am pleased that apart from the tail he is OK 

[Christine (Blip)]

  to Purrs, MojosMum: glad you found us and decided to join in.

I don't have any experience of this either, but as Helen says, we do have a number of members who do, not to mention our rescue members, so I'm sure one of them will be along to advise in a moment.  I suspect that the Elizabethan collar is the only way to prevent Mojo worrying his stitches, unfortunately: I empathise, because Blip would be very upset indeed if she ever had to wear one.

[Tiggy's Mum]

  to Purrs Mojo's Mum

Sorry to hear about Mojo's accident  I've no experience myself but I know we have a few tail amputees (or at least their owners!) on here so hopefully someone will be along with advice shortly.

[MojosMum]

Hi there all, this is my very first post at Purrs In our Hearts.

3 weeks ago my 1 year old cat Mojo went missing overnight and when he came home he didn't look very happy at all. A trip to the emergency vets later we discovered he'd been run over by a car and could not move his tail at all. The vet was concerned about his ability to pee/poo but luckily for us all Mojo soon began to use his litter tray again independently. He was given pain relief (metacam) to keep him comfortable while he healed and recovered. 3 weeks on no movement at all from the tail and the vet recommended the kindest action was to have the tail amputated as it was getting messy and he said Mo would get it trapped etc as he couldn't feel it.

We went ahead and the surgery took place this Friday. He's back home wearing one of those horrible collars and he HATES it. We've tried taking the collar off and distracting him etc, but he will not have any of it and is constantly trying to lick his tail stitches. I left him alone for a few minutes to use his litter tray in privacy and he managed to get the collar off, pull the dressing off and have a tug at the stitches. Fortunately they look OK and we re-dressed it with a non-stick melonin dressing and the collar is firmly back on. I sat up all last night with my little man to try and calm him, he's fine as soon as the collar is off, but I'm not stupid, I know its for his own benefit.

The vet says the stitches need to come out in ten days and the thought of trying to keep him stopping ripping out the stitches out for another nine days is filling me with dread.

Does anyone else have a cat who has had this done? Did they miss their tail? How did you stop your kitty damaging the wound?