Some additional findings the veterinarian might notice include: A dilated, flaccid anal sphincter with or without diarrhea or fecal incontinence.Īny of these symptoms might lead the cat into the vet’s office for an evaluation.WHAT MIGHT BE NOTICEABLE AT HOME AFTER A TAIL PULL INJURYĬats with a tail pull injury might show any of these symptoms: Only 21% had the tail pull as the only injury. In one study presented at the World Small Animal Veterinary Association Congress in 2016, 46% of tail pull injuries were accompanied by pelvic fractures or sacroiliac dislocations, 18% were accompanied by broken rear legs, and 11% had additional spinal fractures. In many cases, the tail pull injury is eclipsed by bigger injuries. One might think a tail break would involve an obvious external wound but usually this is not the case instead, signs of nerve damage (from stretching of the cauda equina nerves) are often the only tip-off. A tail can get bitten during a cat fight and, of course, automobile accidents can easily lead to dislocated or broken tails. When one looks down at these nerves (an “aerial view” if you will), these nerves are said to look like a horse’s tail and thus this area is called the “cauda equina” (which literally means "horse's tail") by anatomists.Ĭats get their tails pulled or broken through an assortment of traumas: A child might pull a tail or a tail might get caught in a closing door. Because the spinal cord ends so high up, nerves exiting the cord to provide control and sensation to the tail, hind legs, urinary bladder, large intestine, and anus must extend long branches to reach their destinations.
Unfortunately, injuries to the tail can still cause serious nerve damage. The spinal cord itself does not extend down to the tail (it typically ends at the level of the fifth lumbar vertebra) which means that injuries to the tail do not damage the actual spinal cord. Order to serve the body parts to the rear of The spinal cord must stretch out behind in The spinal cord ends around the level of theĥth lumbar vertebra. The tail attaches to the body at an area called “the tail head.” The first caudal vertebra attaches to a special backbone called “the sacrum” which connects the tail and lower back (“lumbar”) vertebrae. The tail consists of a varying number of vertebrae (called “caudal” vertebrae) and voluntary muscles with ligaments and tendons holding it all together. Tails are wonderful, expressive body parts used by cats for communication purposes as well as for balance. The cat in this radiograph has a dislocation of the tailīetween the first and second caudal vertebrae (see flashing red arrows).Īlso note the distended urinary bladder (flashing yellow dotted line). (Also called "Sacrocaudal Fractures in the Cat")
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