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Has any other cat owner ever heard of this? Our 5 year old cat who pretty much live in 3 rooms, somehow injured her knee ligaments badly this week. She hardly moves more than 3 or 4 times a day, and that's to follow the sunlight across the bed. It's not like she's playing lacrosse or anything!
We saw her holding the leg up and she yelled when we tried to touch her. We took her to the emergency center and they said this happens more often in dogs because they are so active, but the surgeon said he only sees it once or twice a year in cats, and they have usually been hit by a car! My first response was, "cats have knees???"
Our cats are all strictly indoors-only. If she fell, the tallest thing is the dresser which is like 4 feet high.
So if she can't walk on it after a week of anti-inflammatories, she will need surgery. Money isn't the problem; we love her and will pay for it. But after that I suppose we'll have weeks of physical therapy and whirlpool treatments? I don't know how we'll get her to use crutches...
What the heck could she have done? The other cats aren't talkin' and they look away when we ask them...
They actually make rear-leg wheelchairs for cats. If she has to stay off it for a while, that's one option, although I think the leg just gets babdaged up so they can't stand on it. HAve you seen the article about the horse with a prosthetic leg? Amazing!
I went through this exact same thing a couple of years ago. My cat was 13 at the time.
She and her brother (who is younger) would TEAR through the house when ever I or my room mate would get home.
One day my room mate came home and then called me because after one of their tearing through the house episodes, he had noticed she was limping. I raced home and noticed her knee down was bent in a direction that was weird.
We raced to the vet and found out she tore her cruciate which is the proper term.
We weren't sure if she would need surgery. She went home after a day at the vet and I gave her pain medicine because its VERY painful for them.
She recovered pretty well for an old kitty. She hopped around alot and it was stressful to see her like that. I felt so bad and wanted to help her but there was nothing I could do.
She has a small limp now but otherwise is fine....
Be nice to your kitty and make sure she/he is comfortable at all times. Don't let her jump off of couches or beds for awhile because that can delay the healing.
One more thing... I bought some Glucosamine for her... I broke up the capsule and sprinkled in her food twice a day. It works the same for people... it helps ligaments heal much faster.
Well, it's been half a week now. We've kept her in a big cage this week(like the size for a huge dog) so she can't run around. She is on anti-imflammatories. If she still can't put weight on it by saturday, we have to call & schedule surgery.
Yes, French Maid is right, the one ligament is the "cruciate," which I think is deep in between the humorus and the shin bones. That's the one that is almost totally destroyed. Then there is damage to the meniscus, which I think is actually cartilage and not a ligament. Then there are two ligaments on either side (forget what he said the names of those were) that are damaged, but can heal. Right now they are unstable, and the knee can be moved from side to side, like it should not move.
The doc is hoping that keeping her immobile for a few weeks will allow those two to heal. But I'm pretty much thinking she'll need the surgery. She's only 5 so it's worth it if her quality of lofe will be better.
Either way, surgery or no, she will likely need some arthritis tx later on. I actully already checked into the kitty glucosamine! Guess we're on the same page.
Sometimes cats get into things-especialy when we are away- out of curiosity. She could have been jumping and got stuck on something and tore the ligament. Poor thing.
It's ok... I have had 2 incidences where I didn't know what my cat had done. My other cat dislocated his leg back in 2002...
I came home one night and he was lying there meowing and he couldn't walk. I had NO idea what happen because I was out that entire evening until 2am.
Later on, I found some cat sand on top of my tall dresser.. and above that was a window (one of those higher types)... I think he jumped off the dresser that day and didn't calculate landing on the bed right.
I had dusted earlier that day (so the cat sand was suspect)so I am pretty sure that's what happened..
Hopefully your kitty is feeling better and won't need surgery... but I agree that quality of life is very important...
Poor thing... maybe you might want to get her some treats in the meantime
Awww, Maddie just came home from the hospital where she had the surgery.
They had to clean out the remnants of the destroyed ligament, and insert two screws in her bones to stabilze the remaining ligaments. Her shaved leg looks terrible, like a chicken leg "drumstick." And boy is she mad!
At least she has some fun drugs, though I'm sure I'll bleed trying to administer them!
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TracySam
