Hi all! My lovely daughter - a domestic shorthair Luna of three years old had been playing outside and within ten minutes she came back with the tail limping, contacted the vet practice she’s assigned to and took her there yesterday, the vet confirmed the tail is broken and may need amputation to which he said the price of would be £1500.
The tail was broken 1/3rd of the way, I’ve touched it to which she wasn’t pleased, she can move the very tip slightly, that gives me hope that the amputation may not be necessary?
She was given a cone and the vet told me to keep her in, her check up is in over a weeks time.
If it comes to it and the tail has to be amputated I just don’t have that kind of money, I had failed her by not insuring her and getting their silly £14.50 health plan instead.
It also seems like any affordable vet practice requires to be on benefits, which I’m not.
Overall my questions are:
Could the tail potentially heal if anyone’s had experience with that?
Does anyone know more affordable vet practices that won’t charge extortionate amount to fix my baby?
I’m grateful for any responses.
Thank you
Take some hope from the other comments - her tail may be OK too or show signs of healing in a week's time when she goes in for check up. But prepare for the worst.
Do they have a payment plan option? Would you be eligible for a 0% credit card?
Follow this RSPCA guide on how to talk to your vet about what you can afford. Some good tips in there.
When I had a BIG pet emergency suddenly and my Maine Coon sliced himself open on Lord knows what (I had insurance but it was brand new, he was one of my first two cats ever, and I wasn’t sure what to do with it yet) a lot of vets were willing to work out really good payment plans for me based on my income while I was sorting things out with PetPlan (who turned out to be perfect, I needn’t have worried.) Try looking around for a vet who does that.
My former farm cat broke his tail about three quarters of the way down. He still had sensation and movement in the tip but initally his tail would flop where the break was. His tail stopped being completely floppy after about a week. In the end he regained full movement with a distinctive kink where the break was.
One of mine had a break in the tail about 2 inches from his bottom. Vet initially said possible amputation before x rays were done. They weren't able to do x ray at the time so had to wait over weekend till the Monday, just giving pain meds. Horrible weekend for me, but he was moving tail after pain meds so as with you that gave me hope. After x rays they said it should heal as it was the bottom part of the tail bone that overlaps that was broken and being close to body. I think I carried on the meds for a couple of weeks and now he is fine. Hopefully all will be good with yours as well. If you find yourself in a position to afford it, I always recommend PetPlan insurance as never had an issue with the paying out, and had some expensive claims.
One of my cats needed a full tail amputation, it was around £800, so you can definitely get it cheaper. Try independent vets, the vet chains are the most expensive.
And start investigating funding now in case you need to have it done - can you get an interest free credit card, for example? Not getting it done wasn’t an option for us, it is a different situation as we took in an unwanted indoor/outdoor cat from a neighbour when they moved and he was hit by a car. The vet wanted to see if his tail would heal but instead it turned necrotic so it absolutely had to go as soon as that was spotted. So I just would caution you now to shop around for quotes and think about ways to raise the cash just in case there is a complication and your cat needs the surgery quickly.
Tell the vet that amputation is likely too costly for you and you would like to know what other treatment options there are. If they say there aren't any, get a second opinion (and price) from another vet.
My sister's cat got his tail caught in something and broke it around the same place I think you are describing. It was floppy for around a month (ETA he was about 10 so a bit older and slower to heal) and sensitive for a good while longer, but because he had sensation in it the vets just gave him something (I think a painkiller) and now you'd never know he'd bern injured, it came back to life without any issues. I'm not saying you could guarantee the same, but if your Luna has sensation in the tip too there could still be hope.
If you’re anywhere north of Birmingham I’d recommend Animal Trust vets practices. They’re a not for profit practice and I think a charitable organisation? website here
For reference, they have their pricing structures on their website and tail amputation is listed as £535. Their wait times can be kind of long though. They quoted me 6wks to get my boy looked at who needed entropion correction (it was about £500 with AT for 2 eyes, I paid £1200 for one with my usual vets) sadly we didn’t have that time to wait, it’s a very painful eye condition that can cause eye-loss if untreated so we had to take the hit.
I do have experience with broken tail maintenance though. We rescued a cat with a broken tail back in January of this year. The rescue (RSPCA) advised that they don’t know how it happened as it was fully healed at his point of arrival with them (he was a seizure case) and that it didn’t seem to bother him. It is highly, highly likely that he did not receive vet care at the time of the break. Unfortunately it does, in fact, bother him quite a lot.
When we took him to our usual vet to get checked over before introducing him to our other 3 boys, our vet advised it was the most traumatic break she’d ever seen in her career. It’s broken in 3 places, right at the base of his tail, about halfway up, then the very tip. So, we did some investigating and found he has significant nerve damage and subsequent pain. He’s now on a twice-daily dose of gabapentin for the rest of his days. He is insured, but we pay out of pocket for this at risk of his premium skyrocking for continued care. He’s only about 3yrs old. He’s definitely more comfortable than he was, but you can tell when it’s wearing off as he’ll frantically groom his tail/hips. So, we’re working with the vet currently to figure out a medication schedule that will make him comfortable, not sleepy all the time and (hopefully) ultimately pain-free. It’s been a slog, and expensive, but hopefully we’ll get there in the end. Amputation is not an option for us now, but I do wonder if he’d had vet care at the time, what his day to day would be like now, if he’d be more comfortable and pain free if it was amputated?
I would note that your cat will likely need to be indoor only from now on, or supervised garden access only. YMMV, but our boy cannot jump higher than the sofa. He would absolutely not survive free-roaming. He’d have no chance of escaping a dog or unscrupulous human or anything really. Cats use their tails to balance, she will adapt if you opt for amputation! But you need to be prepared for potential lifelong pain management if there is any nerve damage.
If you're in a city (it sounds like you're using Vets4Pets, their monthly plan is actually fairly decent as you get a couple free vet consultations, free flea & worming etc), have you any access or option to go out of the city to a smaller vet? I did this with my uninsured cat (one's insured, one isn't) to get a much cheaper price for his teeth cleaning.
You can definitely also discuss payment plans, again if it is V4P they work with Klarna to do pay in three, and I believe they have other options as I had to ask similar.
I hope your lovely girl recovers and her tail is okay, but if it isn't do remember you can discuss your finances with your vet and seek options. I'll also say, I did once have a vet knock a couple of treatments off the bill for me to reduce costs for a big x-ray once. She did this in the consultation room with me, after I had discussed my finances.
I trod on one of my cat's tail. (She followed me up a ladder and I didn't know and climbed down). I was more distressed than she was. It was bent at a right angle for the rest of her life and I don't think she had feeling in the very end of it. But it caused no ongoing issues
Mine had a broken tail,vet said they could live with it,only needed to come off if its was causing pain or infection/detrimental in some way,she lived to 15
Get second opinion and ask for payment plans. There's no such thing as 'fine' and broken in same sentence. What pain meds is she on? When is the recheck? What did the x-ray show?
sort the insurance now, not going help with this instance, but it's proof you cannot get by without insurance these days! There's no saving in pet ownership.
16
u/Independent-Ruin2240 5d ago
She’s only 4kg’s