Alternatives to surgery? Luxating Patella

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jmc - 28 May 2004 18:45 GMT

Meep had her followup appointment today. If you read my last post,
you'll know that Meep was diagnosed with a luxating patella last week.
Didn't seem too bad, was given an antiinflammatory. The hope was that
this was an ongoing, minor problem that had been exacerbated somehow
and would clear up.

Indeed, though she seemed occassionally sore, she didn't limp or hiss
for days. Then, today, her leg locked and I caught her limping two or
three times.

So, the vet thinks surgery is necessary. Meep's booked for some
x-rays next week to see if there's any arthritic changes. I've
purchased some glucosamine joint supplements via mailorder (Drs.
Fosters and Smith, their brand-name supplement).

I'm aware the operation would be very expensive, but that's not my
concern as much as her mental well-being. She'll be confined to a
cage for a month, and it'll be 2 months before she's completely
healed. She gets upset if I simply close her off from one room of the
house, she'd go nuts in a cage - she's one of those "I need attention
24/7" cats, and follows me around.

For now, I thought to try to confine her to the downstairs part of the
house as much as I can - I'd confine her upstairs, but there's only a
door at the bottom of the stairs, so she'd be going down the stairs
anyway to see if *maybe* the door was open. It'll be hard for her,
because she does like to sleep with us, but we'll only do that for
about two weeks, then she'll be in a cattery for a week while we go on
vacation (we don't take her with us in the summertime). If she's not
better upon our return, I'll likely book the surgery.

If you've had a cat (or dog, since it's much more common in dogs than
cats!) that has had the operation to correct a luxating patella, I
need to hear your experience. Was it worth all the pain your pet went
through? Did it completely correct the problem? Were there any
complications?

Better yet, if your cat or dog had a luxating patella and it was
corrected or maintained WITHOUT surgery, I *really* want to hear from
you!

jmc,
who is really concerned about Meep the TravelCat.

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blkcatgal - 28 May 2004 21:58 GMT

I don't have a cat that had luxating patella so I cannot give you any advice
about that. However, I do have a cat that had a spinal compression,
probably due to arthritis, that required major back surgery. After the
surgery he had to be confined to a cage for about a month. (Actually, when I
was home, I could let him out of the cage. I just had to watch him to make
sure he didn't jump, do stairs, etc.) I also worried about how he would
cope with being confined as he is a "needy" cat. I was amazed as to how
well he did cope. He didn't complain much about being in the cage (I had a
big dog cage). My vet said it was because he felt so much better that he
didn't mind the cage.

So you might be surprised as to how well your cat may handle being confined.

Good luck.

Sue

> Meep had her followup appointment today. If you read my last post,
> you'll know that Meep was diagnosed with a luxating patella last week.
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
> jmc,
> who is really concerned about Meep the TravelCat.

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Ellie Pea - 29 May 2004 17:04 GMT

>Meep had her followup appointment today. If you read my last post,
>you'll know that Meep was diagnosed with a luxating patella last week.
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>So, the vet thinks surgery is necessary.

<snip>

Jodi,

I'm sorry to hear Meep might need an operation after all.
This is probably going to sound daft but, when my cat had to go
through her op, I always felt that she knew it was for the best and
that she'd be better in the end. I know, I'm soft in the head :o)

I'm very interested to hear how you get on with the supplements. Buffy
is due for a weigh-in and check up at the end of next month so I will
be asking the vet if it's worth us trying glucosamine. I've already
been searching online to see where I can buy it in the UK :o)

Good Luck with the x-rays and keep us posted with your search for an
alternative to surgery.

Lindsey and Buffy

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jmc - 01 Jun 2004 19:27 GMT

>I'm sorry to hear Meep might need an operation after all.
>This is probably going to sound daft but, when my cat had to go
>through her op, I always felt that she knew it was for the best and
>that she'd be better in the end. I know, I'm soft in the head :o)

At the moment, I think that Meep would not agree it is for the best,
since she really isn't feeling bad, in fact has greatly improved since
my last post. She was chasing her tail this morning at 3:45am,
something she hasn't done in weeks, but normally does every morning.

>I'm very interested to hear how you get on with the supplements. Buffy
>is due for a weigh-in and check up at the end of next month so I will
>be asking the vet if it's worth us trying glucosamine. I've already
>been searching online to see where I can buy it in the UK :o)

I haven't been able to find a UK supplier either, except through the
vet. The young vet I had on the first visit, though, said it should
be fine using pills for humans, sufficiently reduced in dosage. She
recommended that I confirm that with an alternative med vet though. I
haven't received the supps yet, so I can't tell you what the dosage
for the cat pills is yet.

>Good Luck with the x-rays and keep us posted with your search for an
>alternative to surgery.

Thank you. Meep thanks you too. I'm googling to find veterinary
forums to post Meep's issue, hopefully I'll find some options.

>Lindsey and Buffy

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Barb - 29 May 2004 20:24 GMT

My cats never had the luxating what-ever but when my cat had her two teeth
pulled and had to spend the day at the vet I went out and bought the softest
receiving blanket I could find. Left it out on the floor in front of the
slider where the cats like to sun themselves and they all napped on it.
When she went to the vet for the extraction I put the blanket in her carrier
and at the vet they put it in the cage with her.

She needed to stay in her carrier for a while after she came home because
she was still too groggy from the anesthesia to walk around and I think the
blanket was a comfort to her.

--
Barb
Of course I don't look busy,
I did it right the first time.

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jmc - 01 Jun 2004 19:29 GMT

>She needed to stay in her carrier for a while after she came home because
>she was still too groggy from the anesthesia to walk around and I think the
>blanket was a comfort to her.

It probably was. Although Meep's "blanky" went missing when we moved
from the US to the UK, she's now got a new one, and it always goes
with her when she's away from home, either at the vet, or in a
cattery. It's always a good idea to include something that smells
familiar...

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jmc - 03 Jun 2004 22:48 GMT

>Meep had her followup appointment today. If you read my last post,
>you'll know that Meep was diagnosed with a luxating patella last week.

> Meep's booked for some
>x-rays next week to see if there's any arthritic changes. I've
>purchased some glucosamine joint supplements via mailorder (Drs.
>Fosters and Smith, their brand-name supplement).

>jmc,
>who is really concerned about Meep the TravelCat.

Meep had her xrays today. Good news: no arthritis, and since she's
been 99% normal since the last vet visit, no operation at this time!

Bad side, is the pre-anesthesia blood test showed slightly abnormal
kidney function. Nothing serious, but something to keep an eye on.

And the x-rays clearly showed that her leg bones are not normal, they
bow considerably along 3/4 of their length from her hock to her knee.
This goes a long way to explain her knock-hocked gait. Vet even
suggested that with her conformation, the operation might not help the
patella anyway. She's a very young vet tho, and wasn't sure.

Meep's on "house rest" until vacation, then she'll be in a cattery for
about 10 days. After that, if she's going to be fully recovered, she
will be by then.

I'll just pray this was a single incident, and she'll just luxate and
fix it, as many cats and dogs do, with no more pain.

jmc

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