My cat needs an operation on his knee

time2getalife

UPDATE ON LAST PAGE, HE IS IN SURGERY see last post
My 2 year old cat reds surgery on his knee. For the last 2 weeks he has been in a lot of pain and can barely walk, he can't jump and is hissing at himself when he moves his leg.
He has been to the vets twice, it is back leg that is causing the issues. The first vet said it was a soft tissue injury and would heal itself, the pain got worse and he was getting quite stressed so I took him back to the vets last Friday. We saw another vet who noticed that his back legs are in a strange position and that he had a odd gait. He checked him over and he noticed that his knee cap wasn't moving properly. His knee cap isn't sitting in the groove properly which is why he can't walk or jump
They would normally Xray to get an idea to the severity but with it being Christmas he couldn't Xray him as they wouldn't be able to operate straight away.
He is booked in for his operation and X-rays tomorrow, he also has a heart murmur which makes the op more risky. He said that it's very rare for a cat to have this and that he was probably born like it, but that something has happened recently that has caused it to flare up.
Has anyone had a cat that has had the same/similar issue and can tell me how their cat recovered and how long is the recovery period or the long term prognosis.
Thank you for reading if you have got this far and sorry for the long essay.

GwylimT

This is more common in our pooches than our lovely felines.

My cat had a broken leg, so not luxating patellas, but until fully healed she was on cage rest, if your cat requires cage rest you'll need a large crate thats big enough for bed, water/food bowl, litter tray and room to move around. We got two crates and pushed them together so she could move through each one via the door.

ERICS_MUM

My cat had an op for laxating patella about 12 years ago when he would have been 7 years old. Coincidentally he has always had a heart murmur too. He came through the op unscathed and there were no post-op or recovery issues. The fact that I can't remember how long it took to recover just shows it was uneventful.

He is 19 now and his knee has been fine since the op.

It's such a worry when pets need help but you've got no choice. Best wishes for you both, let us know how he gets on.

time2getalife

Thank you for your reply , GwylimT he is a very small cat looks more like a kitten. I have got him a soft sided crate which will be large enough for him to move around and have litter and food in with him. The vet said they see this more in dogs than cats.
I have 2 other cats who are nearly 6 and 1 of them is his buddy, when he was a tiny kitten the older one would cuddle and play with him. They don't go very far without each other, even now the little one can't walk properly they still play with just using their front paws, I'm concerned how they are going to be when they can't be together and don't know whether it would be worth allowing the older one to go into the cage for a cuddle as long as there was someone watching them.
Ericsmum
That's good to hear from someone who's pet has had the same op and is ok. What a coincidence of them both having the heart murmur, his was found whilst in surgery to be neutered as he became poorly in theatre, so I'm hoping that with them now being aware that he has a murmur that hopefully he won't have the same issues this time. I will post how he is doing after the operation, it's just a shame that he has had to wait for the op due to the Christmas holidays.

gettingready

One of mine, George - had both knees operated on for luxating patella, one at 7 months, one at 12 months (space between the ops).

I got him a massive dog size crate where he had his bed, litter tray, food, water as he had to be confined for quite a bit after each op.

He is 6 yo now and absolutely fine xx

time2getalife

Thank you for replies. In the end he didn't have surgery yesterday.
The vet x-rayed his leg/knee and there is no sign of luxating patella. He said that it is definately his hips that are causing the issues, apparently his sockets are too shallow and there is an issue with the top of his femur. This is the same for both legs, they are not sure what has caused him to become in pain or why he is limping as it would have always been this way.
They have sent him home for complete rest in a cage and want to see him in 4 weeks to see if he is any better.

gettingready

Fingers crossed he will be fine after a bit of rest xx

no1catman

Yes, good luck.

ERICS_MUM

Such a worry when our pets are poorly or injured. Fingers crossed for you both. Xx

time2getalife

time2getalife wrote: »

UPDATE ON LAST PAGE, HE IS IN SURGERY
We have been going back and forth as he still wasn't walking , jumping etc. They have done another X-ray today and his condition has progressed dramatically. Both of his hips need surgery, the ball is crumbling and she mentioned something about the socket but I didn't catch what. Due to this he has lost muscle mass and has been trying to stop his pain so has been flicking his legs out at an odd angle which is what is causing his knee to dislocate.
He is having his worse hip done today, followed by the other in 12 weeks then another 12 weeks after that they will do his knee. She said I will need to do extensive physio on him. She said they recover very well from this kind of surgery but will be a long recovery for him. So thankful to the PDSA for doing this for him.
My family will help to raise funds to pay towards his treatment. Use waiting for them to let me know when he is out of surgery and when he will be allowed home.


Original post :
My 2 year old cat reds surgery on his knee. For the last 2 weeks he has been in a lot of pain and can barely walk, he can't jump and is hissing at himself when he moves his leg.
He has been to the vets twice, it is back leg that is causing the issues. The first vet said it was a soft tissue injury and would heal itself, the pain got worse and he was getting quite stressed so I took him back to the vets last Friday. We saw another vet who noticed that his back legs are in a strange position and that he had a odd gait. He checked him over and he noticed that his knee cap wasn't moving properly. His knee cap isn't sitting in the groove properly which is why he can't walk or jump
They would normally Xray to get an idea to the severity but with it being he couldn't Xray him as they wouldn't be able to operate straight away.
He is booked in for his operation and X-rays tomorrow, he also has a heart murmur which makes the op more risky. He said that it's very rare for a cat to have this and that he was probably born like it, but that something has happened recently that has caused it to flare up.
Has anyone had a cat that has had the same/similar issue and can tell me how their cat recovered and how long is the recovery period or the long term prognosis.
Thank you for reading if you have got this far and sorry for the long essay.[/QUOTE

Katiehound

Glad to hear that the PDSA were able to help you and that the worse hip is being sorted now.
Oh dear, what a lot of operations for the poor little boy. Hope it all turns out well..... eventually