My Cat has had to have her tail amputated - What quality of life will she now have?

Question

My cat came home the other week with a broken tail - I took her to the vet straight away and they had no other option than to amputate her tail. She has about 3-4 inches of it left now but her pride and glory has for sure gone! I am under the impression that cats use their tails not only for communication but balance. I am concerned now that her quality of life wont be as good because of her trauma. Have you experienced this? what do you think?

Answer 1

Your cat will still have a good quality of life. It may find it slightly more difficult when walking along narrow surfaces & it will be harder for you to tell what mood he is in but you will discover new ways to know his moods, he'll soon adapt you'll see

Answer 2

She will learn to be as good as any other cat even without her tail. Who knows maybe she broke it on purpose so she could get rid of it.

Make sure she has her mind always off her loss for without stimulation she may become depressed.

Answer 3

Lol!  My kitty had to have a few inches of his tail amputated (we think he got it slammed in a car door, but we aren't sure) and he didn't act as though it bothered him at all.  It's kinda cute, because he used to sit with his tail curled to the side, and now he sits with his tail straight behind him, like a mouse.

Answer 4

she will be fine..and it wont take her long to adjust either. her balance may be a little off, but thats about it.

We got a cat from the vet, she had been dumped with kittens. She wouldnt let anyone near her, but when I saw her. I fell in love! On the way home 3 inches of her tail fell off! LOL I nearly died..I took her back to the vet, it had been broken that badly the skin had tore, and she had been chewing at it. The vet removed another 2 inches of her tail, because of infection in the bone, she was fine and a very happy and settled cat :)

Answer 5

I've owned a  breed of cats called a "Manx" these are cats born without tails and I never seen them have any problems what-so-ever. Here is a link to the Manx cats: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/What_does_a_ma...

It is much better to have a cat minus some of it's tail, than one that gets tail broken and running the risk of gangrene setting in and losing the cat due to internal infection isn't it?  

Answer 6

give her a few more days to adjust to being tail-less. I have had a cat that only has stump left for his tail. It took him about a week to adjust and now he doesn't even notice he doesn't have it. He gets around just fine and actually like you to scratch where his tail used to be. (his tail was run over by a car-he was out of the way except his tail) He does wonderful without it. Just give it some more time.

Answer 7

It will probably take her a while to get use to it because they do use it for balance but cats can have happy lives without a tail.  There are actually tailless breeds of cats.  

Answer 8

I wouldn't think your cat would be affected too much by it. They are very clever at adapting to changes in thier life. My cat was hit by a car when it was 5 and as a result was permanently blind. It lived a happy and problem free life until it was 14. It was amazing to watch him map out the whole house by first circling in small circles moving out to a bigger circle and remembering where objects were, he did this by doing a circle, hitting an object then retaking the circle and walking around the object the 2nd time. He could navigate he way around the whole house and soon after he was confident going out the back garden and even around the street.

So what i'm trying to say is your cat will adapt to the change in circumstances and change its life accodingly but quality of life will remain the same.. and they never stop being cuddley. hope that helps.

Answer 9

I found a kitten under a dumpster last year and its whole back leg was broken, the skin was shredded, and the whole thing was infested with maggots. I took him into my work ( I work at a animal hospital) and we had to amputate his whole leg, right at the hip.  Later that night he was trying to do back flips off of the couch. I ended up keeping him. Its been more than a year now and he still has no idea that he is missing a leg.

I have seen so many animals come in for amputations and eye removals and they all do great! Animals are great because they are not vein like people are. They don't care about body image. I think your cat will be just fine. He probably wont even notice. Its usually the owners of the animals who are more upset about it then the animals are.

Answer 10

It is just amazing how they adapt!!  I know cats with 1 eye, 3 legs, No tail at all,   no ears...    (No, this is not all on the same cat thankfully  lol)   But my point was that all of them do great!!!    

Thank you for being such a loving and responsible pet owner to take him to the vet and be treated right away.  You have a lucky kitty to be getting a second chance after something soo bad happened out there to him.  That is just one of so many reasons people are so hard on each other about keeping cats and dogs inside or leashed.  

Good luck and I hope he gets well soon   :)

Answer 11

Usually they won't show much difference except for they fact that they can't wave their tail around in your face so don't be worried about it! Make sure that you give her the same amount of attention you gave her before she had her tail amputated!

Answer 12

She will have to relearn to balance.  Some cats are born without tails and they do fine, but since she wasn't born that way it will cause her some trouble for a while.