My cat was hit by a car on boxing day and dragged himself home the following day. Bit of superficial damage to his jaw but its his front leg thats the trouble. the vet says its not broken but the nerves are damaged and it just hangs there lifeless. Hes talking about amputation but he wants to give him some time to see if the nerves repair themselves.
He says a week to see some improvement but that doesn't seem very long to me. I will be guided by the vet of course but I want to give him the best possible chance of recovery. How long is long enough?

I had a cat once that got out accidentally and was injured -with her it was her back. My then vet said to give her a month to give the body a chance to recover. Sadly she didn't improve, but I know of others that have.

One of my old cats got knocked over and broke both his hips but fortunately they slotted back into place by themselves. He had his tail amputated though and cage rest for 6 weeks.  Swelling was very bad at first.  I'd be tempted to wait a while too, the trauma of a RTA and then an amputation of a leg on top, might be too much. He will probably still be in shock.

Once he has settled down, maybe then your vet will make a decision that you will feel happier with too.

We run a cattery and have lots of cats with 3 legs to stay and they manage really well, so if it does come down to that, your cat will cope fine.  Hope he's ok though. xx

Sound like he may have damaged the brachial plexus nerve - if its just brused it will start to see signs of recovery and resposed to pain stimulus in a few days. If the nerve is severed recovery is hopeless... this is a common injury in small animal following Road Traffic Acidents and this happened to a friends GSP. Her leg wasn't amputated and as muscle wasted away the leg contracted over a period of a few months until it was rigid with elbow in flexed position, foreleg parallel to ground and pastern flexed down. She manages on three legs well but extra care is needed to prevent the skin in the arm pit become infected due to clamping of the limb to her chest wall.

This is from Merik Veterinary manual ::
Brachial plexus avulsion occurs in dogs, cats, and birds due to traumatic injury to the C6 to T2 nerve roots that innervate the thoracic limb. With severe extension or abduction of the limb, the nerve roots stretch or tear from their attachment to the spinal cord. Clinical signs vary with the extent of root involvement. Complete avulsion results in flaccid paralysis of the limb, anesthesia distal to the elbow, ipsilateral Horner's syndrome, and ipsilateral loss of the cutaneous trunci (panniculus) reflex. The injured animal bears little or no weight on the limb and drags the dorsal surface of the paw on the ground. Sensation to the ventral surface of the paw is spared if only the cranial nerve roots are affected. Avulsion of the caudal nerve roots causes loss of sensation on the caudal surface of the limb with variable loss on the cranial surface. There is no treatment, and the prognosis for complete avulsion is poor. Amputation of the limb may be necessary because of damage from dragging or self-mutilation. Recovery is possible in mild cases in which the roots are contused rather than avulsed.

K

I sympathise with what shappened to your cat. We had a similar thing happen with one of ours in AUgust the result in this case was a broken hock, he is still under treatment and if the refferal vet is still not happy with the leg in a couple more weeks we are discussing fusion of the joint or amputation so I understand your feelings.
If it is the brachial plexus nerve although rather different my husband knocked himself out on a bathroom door frame a few years ago (yes the full story would make you laugh even more ) on regaining consiousness he had no use of his left arm after a v. worrying week in hospital he was diagnosed with brachial plexus nerve damage and went on to make a full recover afet about 6months with physio. All he is left with is occasional tingling his hand. I appreciate it is not quite the same but may give you hope 

Hi
I know this post is quite old, but can you pls let me know how you cat got on with recovery.  My cat was knocked down yesterday and she has a broken pelvis and nerve damage to 1 of her back legs and bladder. 
thanks
Lyn

Not a cat but my dog got hit and broke her pelvis and had nerve damage to one leg...
Her pelvis was bolted back together and it took the leg about 5 days to start recovering(the bruising to go down).
She was stepping on the top of her toe and would not move the leg to a normal position if it was put on the floor so that top of her toes was against the floor. 12 weeks cage rest followed and it took 6 months to get her back to normal fitness level...

It is now 2.5 years ago and since she has gone to win her classes at championship show level and become a mother :).
There is still a little difference in how she steps with that leg but if you do not know to look for it, you will not notice...
oh, she is a giant breed of a dog so recovery was much more slow than with cats or smaller dogs I was told.

My cat is fine :)

I kept him for a few weeks and kept massaging his leg and foot (don't know why really lol) After a couple of weeks I tried to get a pain response out of him. Previously the paw had been totally numb but I tried pricking the paw very gently with  a pin.  nothing for 90% of the paw but there was a part that when I touched it with the pin he pulled his paw up. This was a great breakthrough because it meant he had feeling where he hadn't before.
Next stage was when he put the paw to the ground for a milli second..so brief I thought I had imagined it. But gradually the paw was put to the ground more and more until he could bear his weight on it.
He has been left with a very slight limp that plays him up now and again but I have put him Joint Aid and this seems to get rid of it.

He runs and jumps like a normal cat and I am so glad the vet decided to give him the chance to recover and I didnt jump in with the obvious choice or so it seemed at the time.

so if there is the slightest hope, never give in, explore every avenue, turn over every stone because sometimes seemingly hopeless cases can come good.

so nice to hear a recovery story hope your cat recovers too

Our elderly cat was run over some years ago and had to have his tail amputated, and both of his hips had broken but fortunately some how, they'd slotted back in to place by themselves.  He was cage rested for 6 weeks, after his tail was removed and although he never had surgery on his hips, the bruising was dreadful.

His bladder too was abit suspect for a while as was his bowel, but as they weeks went by, he improved remarkably quickly with hips, bowels and bladder. Rest and pain killers did the trick. He went on for a good few years after that.  :)

Hopefully your cat will be the same.  For such small creatures, they are remarkably tough.

hi there

Just going through google and found this site, as I have a cat that was hit by a car 5 weeks ago...she has a broken pelvis, and had to have her tale amputated as well as a hip operation....its not easy to get then to rest, but she walks around and jumps around, but just poops and wees everywhere.

I do express her bladder 3 time a day, but the last few days she does not like me doing it.....so I hope this is a good sign...but just poops anywhere....

Just wondering as the vet is not sure if she will get this back.

Has anyone had any similar issues....as I am worried that she will not get this back, and its soooo sad...:-)

k

no,sorry,but I hope you have seen some improvement,best wishes.

Hi Lyn I was wondering how your cat is doing as last night I ran over my cat Holly and I am devestated. She was xrayed today and she has a broken pelvis on the left side and no feeling in her leg. The vet is very good. He says he does not know whether there is nerve damage as it is too early to tell. He said that if there is nerve damage and if she can't pee or poo then she will have to be put to sleep. I can't stop crying it is all my fault. I have 4 cats and they mean the world to me. He is sending her xray to a nearby specialist to see if she needs an op. I just really need to know she is going to be ok. How long does it take to know if there is nerve damage? If anyone has advice please please help. Thanks :(

Hi Keren just wondering how your cat is doing? We ran over our cat 3 weeks ago and equally devastated :( he has been at vets for 3 weeks and now they're telling us he can't poop and the nerve damage is too severe and he needs to be put to sleep :( I don't want to do this. Is there any way anyone can give us some good advice. Poor boy we've had him for 18 hears! My hubby and I are both very upset. I've been non stop crying since the call from vet. Can nerve damage heal? He hasn't poopper on his own for 3 weeks :(

Nerve damage can heal in some cases, not all, but it can take months, if not years.  Honestly, with an 18 year old cat, I don't know that putting him through that would be fair, without knowing if he would ever actually get better.  He's already suffering, I think in this case you are going to have to make that decision.  So sorry.

Thank you so much for your reply. We had to put our beautiful boy to rest this afternoon. He just didn't look happy and our vet said putting him through more pain wouldn't be fair to him. He will always be in our hearts. I'm inconsolable right now and can't stop crying. He was a very loving and placid boy. I think it was just his time :(

Always remember that you showed the most powerful love by giving him peace.  It's what we have to do.  You took his pain away and made it yours.  That is what you are meant to do.  Remember the good times.    {{{{  HUGS  }}}}

Thank you so much. Such beautiful words of comfort ❤️

The last and greatest kindness we can give our pets is to know when it is time to say goodbye and grant them that last act of kindness. It's never an easy decision but it is always the right one.

My heart goes out to you. It's always hard to make that decision  for a loved pet. You did everything  you could and did the right thing. Remember fond memories with him and know his not in pain now. (Hugs)