Hi! It's been a very long time since I've visited rpca, and for reasons
that are not nearly good enough.

I did want to relate a recent episode with our cat, Toejams.

Three weeks ago this morning, Toejams had an encounter with a vehicle.
The good news is that he didn't get completely squashed, just rolled.
The roll knocked some bark off in a couple of places. The real damage,
though, was his right hind leg. To look at it, it looked like the hip
joint was dislocated.

A trip to the vet verified this. Also, it showed there were no broken
bones. The vet explained that it was not just a matter of "popping it
back in" and went on to explain why.

Of course, Toejams was in some amount of pain -- we just had no idea how
much or how little. We could not afford the thousands of dollars in vet
bills to give Toejams a hip replacement, which, as we understood it, was
the only option to make Toejams whole again. Putting him down was not a
pleasant option either, though it was affordable.

After a lengthy discussion with the doc, we learned that Toejams' pain
would most likely be gone in about 2 months. He needed antibiotics to
counter any infection from where the bark got knocked off. So we decided
to play it by ear for a while. If Toejams appeared to be in unbearable
pain, then we'd euthanize him. I am so glad that we made that decision!

By the next day, Toejams was limping around, getting to his food and
water and litter box. I was happy to see that he had an appitite. By day
5, he was jumping up on the furniture so he could laze in the sun.

Now at 3 weeks out, Toejams gets around exceedingly well -- much better
than I would ever have thought! He runs, he jumps, he plays, and he
still prefers being petted with our feet rather than our hands (thus his
name Toejams).

That right rear leg still cants out but not as much as it first did. I
have no elusions that Toejams will ever be 100%, but he still gives us
100% of himself! He is still a happy cat. And, best of all, his pain, if
he has any, is not evident in his behavior, activity, or attitude.

I am so glad that we did not rush him to death!