Cat with Broken Leg

[telecat]

Friend at work has a cat that is pretty old and it's leg broke. . Now they bandaged it up and asked for them to come back being given the choice of amputation or Euthanasia. Now I know that she is an old Cat but if they can bandage it wouldn't it be possible to set the fracture? The owner is feeling guilty as the cat slipped off the work top and when they tried to catch her the leg caught on a cupboard door.

[bexVN]

How old and in what health? To most relevant questions.

If in relatively good health I would at least go for amputate not euthanasia.

If in really good body condition and 11/12 and depending on severity of fracture, repair would be doable with an experienced orthopaedic vet but cost would be much higher.

Recently saw a,17yr old cat have leg amputated after mauled by dog, has done brilliantly.

[telecat]

Been Told She is about 20!

[bexVN]

Ok. In that case is an otherwise well 20yr (ie no kidney, thyroid issues) then amputation. If done by an experienced surgeon it should be a relatively quick procedure but will need i/v fluids through op.

However they would not be wrong if they felt euthanasia was decided. Only they and their vet can really decide but neither decision would be wrong unless they went for the op on an already ailing 20yr old.

[Thevet]

just to add, in reply to the OP's question, some limb fractures are really difficult to repair without surgery/internal fixation, so the 2 options are probably the only viable ones, just the way nature works I'm afraid. Hope it goes well.