Please, help!

**zanangelina** · 11th February 2012, 11:37 AM

Hello!

I have an eleven weeks old Maine Coon kitten as of yesterday. He has a left front paw issue: simply looks bigger than the right one, due to some crooked bone or joint - will only find out after the x-ray. He is not in pain, he's not limping, jumps and plays and uses that leg just fine, but it just bends more than it should.
What the breeder told us was that it's a common growing-up issue and that it will go away. And I don't know if I should trust them since I had to see this for myself, they have never mentioned it before I came to pick it up. I've never had cats before and I have zero experience with Maine Coons. So please, anyone, tell me if you've heard of such a "common" problem and if the cat will be fine later.

Thank you so much!

**zanangelina** · 11th February 2012, 10:02 PM

Thank you so much for answering!
The kind of bendy joint I see in the pictures is not what mine has. Here is a pic of my kitten, it will probably make things clearer since I haven't described it thoroughly enough - I'm sorry, I'm not even familiar with the terms yet...

**zanangelina** · 11th February 2012, 10:29 PM

I was thinking he was born with it too. What I'd like to find out and I hope the x-ray will show us is if he will suffer later. Now he's fine and not giving any signs of being in pain but I'm wondering, as he will be gaining weight later and getting generally bigger, if this feeble leg will cause him any problems.

**zanangelina** · 11th February 2012, 11:06 PM

Crankiness seems perfectly suitable to me, given the circumstances.
We've had him for just one day, he's eleven weeks old - unless she lied about this too but I don't think so. When we picked it up, we haven't really checked for "defects". Plus I counted on them delivering a healthy kitten like they should. Maybe I should have looked closely then and there but I only noticed this when we got home. According to the contract we agreed upon, if any problems occur we can give it back and get one of his brothers but it's a terrible way to look at things and we're trying and hoping to avoid it; he's not merchandise...
Here he is, playing and all

**hazelann63** · 12th February 2012, 01:17 AM

I too have cat whom i got as a 12 week old kitten she has a bendy paw and it is caused by a missing bone in her foreleg.
We had to have her tail removed as it had fused bones and was growing into her side.the paw we left with no real issues, she is now 2 1/2 years old now.

However she is a happy cat and moves around freely and can jump as well as my other coons, if you bought her as a pet.... just love her if you bought as breed or show cat, go back to the breeder as the contract you have is null envoid as the kitten is not in full health. If she is gccf registered you could get advice from them.

**jckkerrison** · 12th February 2012, 09:51 AM

Your beautiful babe is too young to have even have left the breeder so it does make you wonder about their ethics but fingers crossed it will be due to the quick growth rate of our babes & a few weeks on you will have one that has a super exagerated turned out paw like Teddy B & my Bruce,they both appear to be nearly double jointed,haven't got a crossed eyed one though yet like Candes but could still be time.....
As you say as well the contract does read rather mercenary "can has got a dent in it so return & we will replace",most good breeders have their kittens healthchecked & vaccinated before they leave so a vet would/should have picked up any visible problems at that point so no need for such wording,however good a breeder is there is always the unexpected that can happen but if you know they have done the best they can for the breed you accept it,I do hope there is nothing seriously wrong with your babe {whats his name?}& you can enjoy him as you should be able too I certainly think he has landed on his four paws as he has such caring new parents & he will reward you for it, he looks a lovely little boy....x

**zanangelina** · 12th February 2012, 10:48 AM

Thank you all for your encouraging words

We're still pretty shaken about all this; seems to me it was some sort of plan, us falling love with him and all, and it works too... We're seeing another doctor today, before the x-ray tomorrow. Wish us luck!

**jckkerrison** · 12th February 2012, 01:51 PM

Originally Posted by zanangelina

Thank you all for your encouraging words

We're still pretty shaken about all this; seems to me it was some sort of plan, us falling love with him and all, and it works too... We're seeing another doctor today, before the x-ray tomorrow. Wish us luck!

Heres wishing you lots of luck & strong vibes winging their way to you all...x

**zanangelina** · 12th February 2012, 02:41 PM

Well, the vet we just saw said it's rickets. It makes total sense since his mother had four previous pregnancies, if only I could have put two and two together when the breeder mentioned it... Anyway, the vet said that supplements should make him strong and we started the treatment today. Thank you all for being there for me, it's been pretty nightmare-ish for us these couple of days.
I'll be back with pictures of a hopefully better kitty

Thank you all again!