Breeding will inevitably encounter various problems, and leg deformity is one of them.

Unable to bend hind legs

Hind legs bent inward

When such a problem occurs, both the hospital and the parents may be helpless.

The hospital may be helpless, and there is no specific treatment method available online. Only a few kittens can recover on their own, and most parents report that the disability will accompany the kittens throughout their lives.

It’s really distressing

This method is 100% curative for my own kittens, and I hope it can help more babies grow up healthily.

1. Early detection

The best treatment period is within 20 days after the kitten is born. Once the kitten starts walking, it is more difficult to correct. The hope of cure is slim for kittens over 7 weeks old.

Detect early and observe whether the joints of newborn kittens are normal.

If you find that the joint is reversely twisted or unable to bend, you should gently massage it to see if it can be temporarily reset manually.

It can be treated if it can be reset.

If you find it is too late and the joints have begun to stiffen, you can still massage more to try to see if they can be reset.

If the area cannot be reset after 30 minutes or even an hour of massage, this treatment method cannot be used.

　2. Physical fixation

After massaging and resetting, use medical tape to fix the legs on the baby at the correct curvature. Wrap it tightly and don't let it loose, but don't make it too tight. It's better if you can put your fingers in part, so as not to hinder blood circulation.

You can use an elastic bandage to fix it on the outside.

Medical tape and elastic bandages are sold on Taobao and pharmacies

Wrap with tape

Elastic bandage fixation

The tape may fall off or shift due to the kitten's activities after a few hours. At this time, you can remove the tape and massage the kitten again to relax. Keep the tape on for at least 6 hours every day. If it falls off early, you can continue to tape it in place after massaging it back into place.

It should be emphasized here that although some kittens can recover with daily massage, there are also cases of failure. In order to ensure that the kitten can recover, it still needs to be fixed.

3. Medication assistance

"Little Pet Joint Health" is given once a day, and the kitten should be fed about 1/10 bag each time within 1 month.

Calcium supplementation is required during treatment, recommend calcium trispermine gluconate. Kittens that are about 10 days old can take a daily supplement of 0.1-0.2 ml. Kittens who are almost one month old need 0.5-1 ml.

Generally, kittens can recover in 7-10 days. After recovery, it is best to continue to wear tape for a period of time, and the time can be shortened.

Kittens who start treatment at 15 days old will basically be cured when they are one month old and can walk. After recovery, the kitten can run and jump, no different from a normal kitten.

Generally speaking, if you are over 7 weeks old, but have taken massage therapy before and have not fully recovered,

Continuing treatment requires the use of more professional physical materials for fixation,

This part of the content is introduced in detail in the paid column "Family Diagnosis and Treatment of Cat Diseases" of Cat Academy.

　4. About prevention

Finally, let’s talk about the causes of leg joint deformities (cats with broken ears and other joints that may have genetic problems are excluded here, and only cats with normal genetics are discussed)

In fact, human babies also have this problem, but medicine is not yet completely sure of the cause. The main suspected factors are incorrect positioning of the fetus in the womb, or lack of vitamin D.

From my own experience, this situation is generally more likely to occur in older pregnant cats, so it is recommended that these older female cats supplement vitamin D and calcium appropriately during pregnancy.

In fact, this disease has a more professional term called muscular atrophy.

If you go to the hospital for this kind of disease, many doctors will usually recommend that you euthanize your cat, which is really a pity.