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Cat with Broken Jaw

Only about so-so. I need to squirt it into his mouth it seems. I'm going to try keeping water near him. But he seems to have trouble lapping it up. Starts swinging his head. I'm guessing I should make the water luke warm so that the cold doesn't bother the area. The section of his jaw is swelling and its covering his teeth with the gums. So I think that's hurting more. How many ccs of slurry/liquid should I try to make sure he's getting. He's slightly overweight but that's not going to help him if I can't keep him hydrated. So how much and how often should I try squirting water into his mouth.
 
It honestly depends on the type of food you're feeding how much you need to get into him. A cat that is overweight that suddenly stops taking on calories is at risk for liver problems (hepatic lipidosis) caused by the sudden mobilization of fat from his body that floods the liver. Keeping nutrition going in is important. A fat cat that doesn't eat for a week will run into problems. A cat that has reduced intake for a couple days won't. I'm sure he's sore today. The worst is day 2 and 3 after any injury like that, but within a week he should feel much better. If the break was back far enough that there's no wound in the mouth (i.e. it's behind where the teeth end), infection shouldn't be an issue.

If you are syringing food to him in a watery form and you're getting in as much as he should eat in a day, there's enough water in there to keep him hydrated. You'll have to look at the can of cat food and see what the daily recommended feeding amount is for your cat (keeping in mind they usually recommend high, so I'd go with trying to get at least 2/3 of what they say into him daily). Break up feeding into several times a day, whatever your schedule allows. Keep offering him water, he'll figure out how to lap it, especially when the swelling is going down after a few days.
 
What about lacing the water/slurry with a plain Pedialyte?

I can imagine that would go a good way towards helping to prevent dehydration by providing the necessary electrolytes, since he's not wanting to drink on his own.

I know it worked wonders on me when I couldn't hardly eat or drink for a week. One bottle of Pedialyte and I was good to go.

Hopefully he starts to improve for ya.
 
Water!!!

He drank by himself. Okay, it was water from the fishtank but I had to give him some incentive. And this time he didn't shake his head wildly like he'd just been slapped upside the head. I'm SOOOOOOO happy. Its a step in the right direction. I'm going to try getting some recovery catfood from one of the vets and make sure its nearly water itself. :) Thank ALL Of you for your votes of confidence and support.
 
Yoda update

Well, as I sit here looking at Yoda who is sitting on my desk, I would like to thank Hurley and everyone who was supportive in this. His jaw appears almost normal. almost no drool. He's eating the slurry I make for him. :) Right now he's poking my arm for not petting him. I get so nervous since I don't want him hurting himself. :) But thank you. I feel bad that I cut his hair off around his head but well, it'll grow back eventually. :)
 
Jaw Fracture- from a cat LVT

They are generally easy to fix depending on the area.

If your cat broke it at they symphisis between the bottom canine teeth, it is easily wired and the cat can move his mouth no problem.

The wire would go through the jaw, behind the teeth and back out again and then tied under the jaw and set with a button. Yes a button. :)

Now if it is a fracture is further up the mandible then it may be required to use a small plate or fine wire in that area.

We fix at least 8 cat jaws per year from various screw ups from other places. :)

Good luck!
 
Update

The vet said that the cat broke it back at the joint of the jaw. Hurley mentioned calling it a remus fracture. That's why the vet didn't want to touch it since it was back by the joint and most of those require plates to repair and you have to cut through the muscles. Ironically, the placement gives Yoda a better chance for home repair. The muscles hold the bits together. Well either way, Yoda's mouth completely closes. I'm so thrilled. I'm still feeding him a slurry. I don't know when I can be sure he can eat on his own without the slurry or when I can at least just give him wet catfood. But I'm just happy.
 
That is fantastic news! I've been following Yoda's saga and was hoping for the best. I'm pleased that he is eating slurry on his own and hopefully he will be able to eat soft food on his own, too.
 
To be on the safe side since you aren't going back for recheck radiographs to monitor healing, I would feed slurry x 8 weeks, and soft food (canned food) x 16 weeks (including the original 8, so for 8 more weeks) just to be sure to cover for a slow-healing fracture.
 
I have been following your kitty's tale...

I am such a sucker for kitties! And it really tears me up whenever they suffer! I am really glad to hear that your treatment seems to be working.

Good luck!
 
I felt a bit bad that he had to deal with the pain without painkillers. But after two days, he started acting like his old self. He's not even wearing a bandage. He is such a dork and keeps trying to butt his head against my hand. I'm like GAH! I'm gonna hurt you if you keep that up. I'm just so happy. My boss said that he's down to 7 lives. :) This is the second time the vets have said Yoda was going to die. Two different vets too. :)
 
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