Peer-reviewed veterinary case report
How to treat serious cat leg injuries from car accidents
By Corr, Sandra·Published in Journal of feline medicine and surgery·2009·Royal Veterinary College, United Kingdom·View original on PubMed →
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Original publication title: Intensive, extensive, expensive. Management of distal limb shearing injuries in cats.
- Species:
- cat
Plain-English summary
A cat with a severe leg injury from being hit by a car was brought in for treatment. The injury involved damage to the skin, soft tissues, and bone, which were heavily contaminated. With intensive and careful wound management, the veterinary team was able to save the limb, even though the treatment was costly and required significant effort. This case highlights the importance of prompt and thorough care for outdoor cats that may suffer from such accidents.
People also search for: cat leg injury treatment · outdoor cat accident care · shearing injury management in cats
Abstract
PRACTICAL RELEVANCE: Cats often present with distal limb shearing injuries as a result of road traffic accidents (RTAs). Many apparently unsalvageable limbs can be saved through intensive and appropriate early treatment if the basic principles of good wound management are followed. CLINICAL CHALLENGES: When a limb is crushed under the wheel of a car, the skin, soft tissues and bone can be injured in a variety of ways, and the wounds are invariably heavily contaminated. Management of such cases is intensive, extensive and expensive. As well as the client's financial constraints, the ethics of prolonged treatment versus the alternative of amputation should be carefully considered. This article reviews the priorities for managing these cases, and presents a logical approach for achieving optimal outcomes. PATIENT GROUP: Any cat allowed access to the outdoors is potentially at risk of sustaining RTA injuries, young cats particularly so. EVIDENCE BASE: Many textbooks and original articles have been published on aspects of managing soft tissue injuries and skin grafting. To the author's knowledge, only two peer-reviewed papers have dealt specifically with shearing injuries, both presenting a retrospective analysis of cases in dogs.
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Search related cases →Original publication on PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19712893/