QUESTION
My cat has been prescribed children's Benadryl orally when she gets her yearly shots to avert a reaction. When she went in this year, the vet gave her an intra-muscular injection in the back of the rear leg. She's been limping badly ever since, but has still been active. The vet tried Metacam (4 oral doses) two weeks ago, which definitely helped. But after the four doses, she started limping again. I brought her back two weeks ago, the vet switched her to prednisone, 5 mg orally for 5 days, (no effect) now every other day. still no effect. (2 weeks left.) He thinks it's an inflammation problem, I'm starting to think he hit and damaged the sciatic nerve or a tendon in the back of the leg. I'm thinking of taking her somewhere else for a second opinion. What do you think? Should I demand she be put back on the Metacam? R. Lee
ANSWER
Dear R. Lee
It does sound as though there is an inflammatory reaction going on here and, if the injection was given in the back of the leg, it is possible that the sciatic nerve could be involved in the inflammatory response. Is there any swelling on the leg or a specific site of pain or hardness to touch? I rather think that a further investigation should be done before going back to the anti-inflammatory drugs to see if a definate diagnosis can be reached. If the nerve has been bruised it does take a fair length of time for the damage to resolve so it may well be that you will start to see improvement over the next few weeks.
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