*UPDATE - HER STITCHES ARE OUT* Our cat tore her ACL ligament and is having surgery!

[LoveBWVVBR]

1/28 UPDATE - Her stitches were taken out this morning and she's walking pretty well now. She seems to get better daily and she's definitely back to acting like herself. She has yet to jump up on anything, yet. I don't know if pain is stopping her or what. They rechecked her leg when they took the stitches out and everything is still nice and tight. Her incision healed up very well too. Anyways, so far so good!

*1/25 UPDATE - She has been a model patient! She is now done with the painkillers and has been a little bit more active as a result. She is starting to walk more "normally" and is definitely using the repaired leg. She gets her stitches out on Fri. Overall, I think that she has had a very good outcome from this surgery. She seems more like "herself" too. She has yet to jump up onto anything...not sure how long it will take before she can attempt that.*

*1/18 UPDATE - She's home and is resting comfortably in her cat bed. She does not seem to be in pain and isn't out-of-it. She did try to jump out of her carrier and walk, but I grabbed her and put her in her cat bed. She protested a bit but now seems to understand that she's staying there. They did shave about 1/4 of her fur! It looks pretty hilarious I'm hoping for a swift recovery for her. Her surgeon said that in 2 weeks she'd be getting around pretty well Since this is the Budget Board, I will say that the final bill was $1094 for the surgeon/aftercare, and $244 last week for her own vet/xrays/anesthesia. From what I've been reading on here, this is a very reasonable cost. Also, I didn't even know that the surgical clinic was there (driven by it a hundred times, though). What a nice place...it's well-run, clean, and staffed by several excellent specialist. Who knew? Very cool that we have this right nearby.*


*POST-SURGICAL UPDATE* The surgeon found no other problems other than the ACL being torn, so he did the surgery this afternoon. He called me afterwards to tell me that our cat did well and is recovering. Her ACL was still attached but was so stretched out that it was no longer functioning. It has been tightened up with what amounts to a replacement ACL and he expects a good recovery. This problem was definitely the result of an injury according to the surgeon. I have spoken with my DH and my kids about being gentle with the cat from now on, because this might have been preventable. He also said that they don't often see this type of injury in cats. Anyways, I'm most worried that the other side doesn't do the same thing because it had to do so much work for the past 2 months. Her surgeon was not worried about this happening, though. I'm very glad that we did the surgery because this never would have healed up on it's own.*

*UPDATE* I dropped her off with the surgeon this morning. I was able to meet with him and ask him my questions. He said that in cats this is always a traumatic injury, and that the other leg is not at any more risk of blowing out as a result. Also, if this is her only injury, the recovery will not be a problem. He is going to give her a thorough exam under anesthesia to make sure that she doesn't have anything else going on before he does the surgery. If she does have other issues, we're going to go from there...we're not 100% that the surgery is going to be done, but it seems likely.*


Our cat somehow tore her right ACL ligament and is having surgery on Mon. to repair it. I put this on the budget board since of course the surgery is $$$ (like $1100!), but the biggest part of this is that I'm FREAKED about the recovery. She is 13, but she's always been very healthy. She is otherwise still very healthy, and she's very obviously in pain from the injury. Short of putting her down, which seems so very wrong because she's injured and not sick, there is no other choice than the surgery. We can't even do a watch-and-wait because the injury is that bad according to our vet. She had to refer us out to a specialist to do the surgery, and that scares me too. Although he has a great reputation for doing these surgeries well, I'm trusting our one and only pet to a vet that I've never met before.

I have this terrible fear that surgery+what sounds like a very long recovery is just going to do in a 13 year-old cat. You would never know that she's 13 otherwise, but I'm sure that her body heals slower than a younger animal's body. I feel like we're between a rock and a hard place here because without the surgery she has no quality of life right now but with the surgery she is looking at like a 4-6 month recovery period Has anyone had experience with this?

 

[sherry7]

Poor kitty. I never thought about that type of injury happening to a cat. No advice for you, but give the kitty a head rub for me.

 

[csharpwv]

You have my sympathy -
Years ago my cousin and her husband had several ferrets and one would go missing for a few days - and then come back after his usual hiatus in a sock drawer in their bedroom.
Well - one decided to disappear - they checked the drawer he wasn't there - and then they took a break from looking, sat down on the sofa - AND -
my cousin found him.... she sat on him....
Do you have any idea how much orthopedic surgery is on the tiny bones of a ferret?

Yeah -

I hope your cat has a speedy recovery - and the same for your wallet!

 

[andycat]

We've had to put down four cats in the last 15 months, ranging in age from 10 to 19 years. It doesn't get easier.

For all the love they give us, they can't comprehend injuries like this and what's necessary to recover, even with all your help and care. You really have to ask what quality of life the animal is going to have after this surgery, and realistically, how many more years they have.

If the animal is truly in great health otherwise, and I'm sorry this will sound very cruel, but I might consider amputating the limb. I would think the recovery time would be much shorter, and hopefully easier for the cat to adjust to.

Best wishes and best of luck to you an your kitty.

 

[babyrich]

Our cat also tore his ACL. One day he jumped off the table and let out a hiss. Than he just sat down, when we touched it he was ok; but if we wiggled his leg, he hissed. We took him to the vet and got the same story as you did. The $ didnt bother us as much as the recovery time. The specialist told us we would have to confine him to a crate for 4-6 months!!! My DH said that is crazy and the surgeon said its the only way to be sure he wouldnt "spoil" the surgery. Now I dont know about your kitty; but by this time, our kitty was able to walk, with a limp; but no more hissing. We talked about if and asked more questions and were told that it would probably not heal on its own and could get worse. We even went out and bot and extra large crate (for an extra large dog) to prepare, we put him in the crate and he just meowed and cried.

In the end we decided against surgery, we just couldnt do that to him, we were afraid of what he would be like when recovery was done. Meaning his attitude. He is a resuce and it took a while for him to become a loving kitty and not a terror (he was like a vampire when we got him!) He did limp for several weeks; but he didnt hiss and he still ran around after his brothers.

Its been about 6 months since the injury and you would never know it happened to him.

Your kitty may have a worse injury and I would hate to find out that you didnt have surgery because of this and it didnt work out like it did for us. Maybe ask again what will happen if you dont do surgery. We also were told over and over that he "had to have it".

Is kitty getting around at all or is she not able to put any weight on it? If she cant walk, you probably have no choice; but if she can, maybe you want to give it a week or two to see if there are any changes. Go with your gutt and best of luck.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well I just accidentally deleted my whole post. Grrrr...

Okay--don't panic! Cats are resilient creatures. You shouldn't need to amputate the limb and you don't necessarily have to have the surgery, though it could make things better for your kitty.

How do I know?

Well--I have a cat. I have a crazy cat. I have a cat that has managed to blow out in one freak accident every single ligament in her hind quarter "knees".

The injury occurred in Nov 2004 and the bones of her legs--instead of being tip to tip, they were side by side (at the tip). So imagine two of your fingertips touching, but then just put the tips side by side. That was what her legs looked like on x-ray.

Her legs swelled to 4X the size.

She was almost 9 years old when this happened.

It is Jan 2011, and she is still alived with her healed, but unrepaired legs.

This injury--is extremely rare in cats on one leg and she had it on two.

We were told--that if she were a dog, the pain would be too much and it would be inhumane to not do anything that either surgery or putting them down if you could not do the surgery were the only choices.

But not the feline! I thought they were crazy and out of their minds--they gave her a steroid to help with inflammation. But surgery was just very cost prohibitive for a cat who would re-learn how to walk. (Sounded crazy to me since she was non-ambulatory at that point. We had to keep her in the bathroom b/c mobility was an issue. But only temporarily.)

Well, the vet was right. Not only did she relearn to walk. She learned to navigate a step we had in our home for a sunken living room and she even learned how to jump onto the couch. It was more like rock climbing with a reach and then use of claws. But she got up. She does jump down. She can even get on beds.

I keep thinking she can't do it anymore--but she has gotten onto our new bed which is much taller than our last one.

We moved to a 2 story with basement over the summer, and in 24 hours she learned how to navigate the steps.

All is NOT lost with your feline. Sure she is a few years older than mine was when she was injured, but yours is also much less severely injured.

I do consider my cat disabled as we do have to modify a few things. (we used to keep cat food off of the floor from toddlers. We can't do that for her.)

She has a few modifications herself.

She cannot sit like the sphinx anymore. She tries--but her posterior is still standing. She does get into that position a few times a week and after 6 years, it still looks quite funny. (and I do feel bad, but it does look funny).

When she lies down, her front body gets comfy, and then her posterior flops to whichever side she has chosen to lay. When she wants to stand up--she stands up her front body...then stretches so she has room to stand up her hind legs (they don't bend). Kind of like someone standing up on stilts, I imagine.

And when she jumps off of things, her front legs take 100% of her weight since her hind quarters cannot take any impact at all.

But she has enjoyed her life, I am sure for the past 6 years.

This is not a death sentence. Your cat just may have to live life differently.

If you are going to do the surgery, it would have to be in your imminent future.

My cats bones are fused together. (the bones themselves were not broken--but as part of healing, the tips fused in their side by side position).

This is a unique injury. It’s like winning a sad lottery.

But I’m here to tell you, that your cat will be just fine. Her recovery may bother you more than it does her. Cats have a very high pain tolerance—so as they recover, it will not hurt as much as you think it might.

I tried finding a picture of my cats x-rays…I think I might have posted them on the dis way back when. But I couldn’t find them in my shutterfly account. A picture is worth a thousand words—if you could see what my cat has lived with for the past 6 years and know that she turned out find despite her injuries, it would make you feel better about your kitty.

I hope she mends well!

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

Well, I guess I never posted a picture—but here is the thread conveying my experience with my kitty.

But here is the thread from back when it happened.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=677389&highlight=squiggle

 

[digitalsiren]

I worked at a veterinarian for 4 years and I have yet to see a "difficult" recovery from an ACL repair. There are always risks with anesthesia - so perhaps it may be best to run some pre-op blood work prior (most specialist that I am aware of ran labs and included the cost in the estimate.) Amputation isn't likely to save you much money as either way you will have the cost of the anesthesia, surgical materials, the veterinarian's time, antibiotics and pain medications. So it may be best to give her a fair chance with all of her legs for just a bit more money. I imagine her age may be a benefit in the healing process as opposed to a younger cat who may want to be constantly up and about or jumping all over. You may want to check out Care Credit and see if the specialist accepts it. I would also ask if surgical follow-ups will be done at the specialist or your primary veterinarian and what the cost will be so you can factor that in as well. I am not sure where you are located, but there are many pharmacies offering free or low cost antibiotics (Publix-free and Wal-mart ~$4 to name two.) Request written prescriptions for these kind of "human" drugs to save some cost there.

 

[Leajess99]

Poor Kitty. I can only send you prayers as I have never had this experience.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Our cat also tore his ACL. One day he jumped off the table and let out a hiss. Than he just sat down, when we touched it he was ok; but if we wiggled his leg, he hissed. We took him to the vet and got the same story as you did. The $ didnt bother us as much as the recovery time. The specialist told us we would have to confine him to a crate for 4-6 months!!! My DH said that is crazy and the surgeon said its the only way to be sure he wouldnt "spoil" the surgery. Now I dont know about your kitty; but by this time, our kitty was able to walk, with a limp; but no more hissing. We talked about if and asked more questions and were told that it would probably not heal on its own and could get worse. We even went out and bot and extra large crate (for an extra large dog) to prepare, we put him in the crate and he just meowed and cried.

In the end we decided against surgery, we just couldnt do that to him, we were afraid of what he would be like when recovery was done. Meaning his attitude. He is a resuce and it took a while for him to become a loving kitty and not a terror (he was like a vampire when we got him!) He did limp for several weeks; but he didnt hiss and he still ran around after his brothers.

Its been about 6 months since the injury and you would never know it happened to him.

Your kitty may have a worse injury and I would hate to find out that you didnt have surgery because of this and it didnt work out like it did for us. Maybe ask again what will happen if you dont do surgery. We also were told over and over that he "had to have it".

Is kitty getting around at all or is she not able to put any weight on it? If she cant walk, you probably have no choice; but if she can, maybe you want to give it a week or two to see if there are any changes. Go with your gutt and best of luck.

How old was your cat when this happened? Also, did you do the steroids and rest thing? Our vet said that that wouldn't work for our cat because the injury was too bad and had been going on for a while (we think...we're really not sure when it happened). If I go in for the morning appt. tomorrow and the surgeon says that I have to crate her for 4-6 months, I'm walking out. We'll manage it with painkillers in that case. What kind of quality of life is that, especially for an older animal That's insane.

She is getting around, but can't really use the leg. It's been going on for a few weeks now at least, and it's gotten progressively worse. She is definitely in pain, so that is why we're opting for quick surgery. It isn't the surgery that bothers me so much...it's the recovery. It'd like we're d@mning her if we do and d@mning her if we don't, KWIM? If they give me a recovery time of 4-6 months in a crate, I'm going to go to the university for a second opinion. That is just nutty.

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I worked at a veterinarian for 4 years and I have yet to see a "difficult" recovery from an ACL repair. There are always risks with anesthesia - so perhaps it may be best to run some pre-op blood work prior (most specialist that I am aware of ran labs and included the cost in the estimate.) Amputation isn't likely to save you much money as either way you will have the cost of the anesthesia, surgical materials, the veterinarian's time, antibiotics and pain medications. So it may be best to give her a fair chance with all of her legs for just a bit more money. I imagine her age may be a benefit in the healing process as opposed to a younger cat who may want to be constantly up and about or jumping all over. You may want to check out Care Credit and see if the specialist accepts it. I would also ask if surgical follow-ups will be done at the specialist or your primary veterinarian and what the cost will be so you can factor that in as well. I am not sure where you are located, but there are many pharmacies offering free or low cost antibiotics (Publix-free and Wal-mart ~$4 to name two.) Request written prescriptions for these kind of "human" drugs to save some cost there.

We're in FL also, and I am def. asking for the prescriptions to be written for drugs that I can get for free at Publix!

Even though she is 13, she is rather active...or at least she was, up until the time of the injury. She also seems to seek out the attention of my 2 young kids, and frankly that may be how this happened in the first place. I need to keep her away from the kids during her recovery.

 

[rapmarks]

my heart goes out to you. We have lost our two kitties within the last 10 months they were both 14.
When I sw the post about getting the anitbiotics free at Publix, ouch. we paid so much for antibiotics, vitamins, and thyroid medicine. i wanted to put those cats on medicare.

 

[Judique]

How old was your cat when this happened? Also, did you do the steroids and rest thing? Our vet said that that wouldn't work for our cat because the injury was too bad and had been going on for a while (we think...we're really not sure when it happened). If I go in for the morning appt. tomorrow and the surgeon says that I have to crate her for 4-6 months, I'm walking out. We'll manage it with painkillers in that case. What kind of quality of life is that, especially for an older animal That's insane.

She is getting around, but can't really use the leg. It's been going on for a few weeks now at least, and it's gotten progressively worse. She is definitely in pain, so that is why we're opting for quick surgery. It isn't the surgery that bothers me so much...it's the recovery. It'd like we're d@mning her if we do and d@mning her if we don't, KWIM? If they give me a recovery time of 4-6 months in a crate, I'm going to go to the university for a second opinion. That is just nutty.

I would go get a second opinion. We spent $2000 a few years ago and lost our cat after the surgery during recovery. Not for this type of surgery, but I know that I wouldn't be as sentimental about saving the cat at all costs today.

It's not an easy decision. Good luck to you and your kitty.

 

[azdizzymom]

Our kitty had this same surgery 7 years ago (He was 2.5 years at the time). He fell from an open 2nd story (inside) balcony. He actually had in twice. We knew he couldn't jump and kept him in a room with the door closed so he couldn't jump anywhere (took everything out). Somehow something didn't go right and the vet re-did the surgery at no cost. The second time we used baby pens (the ones that make octagonal pens for outside in the kitchen. we actually made a huge walled off area for him...that way he was down with us...had blankets to sleep on, etc but could still see us. We would go for 'visits' daily and sit with him. This was 4-6 weeks. He is doing fine now...has never had any issues or had a limp.

My same sweet lovey kitty developed diabetes 3 years ago. Let me tell you that was expensive. Twice daily insulin shots and a vial of his insulin was $150. Going on vacation meant grandpa having to learn to give kitty a shot (he would sit for me but could run and hide from grandpa or make him chase him around a table). Long story short on that one found a website...switched from dry diabetic cat food to low-car wet (fancy feast has several flavors) and we have been in remission for 500 days (1.5 YEARS). Vet was amazed (had not heard of this and advised against trying but supports now when he see glucose numbers ---normal kitty is 60-120 as a diabetic we had 500-600 at times. Now my baby is in the 50's on his own).

Animals are expensive. This is my $10 pound kitty who we got right after our 16 year old had to be put to sleep because of kidney illness and there was nothing more that could be done. I would have never put my kitty to sleep because of surgery or diabetes but ..... it required commitment and lots and lots of time. Yes, it was difficult to do but he is one crazy running 9.5 year old kitty.

Do what you think is best for your kitty and your family. It is so hard because they can't tell us what is wrong with them or if they are in pain. Hope things go well for you and your kitty.....
Remember too like another person said there is nothing wrong with a second opinion...we did that during diabetes when our vet just over the phone wanted to increase insulin. Found a wonderful new one who supports the new diet! Good luck again......

 

[momto2inKC]

Im really sorry you are going through this with your kitty
One of our cats got outside and when he came back in his front leg was shattered up near the shoulder. Took him to the vet and apparently he had been shot. The vet was very confident that he could repair the shattered bones so we went ahead with surgery. It was about $1500, but with some help of metal rods his leg is good as new.
He did have to be confined for 3 months. I borrowed an extra large dog crate from my mom and we kept him in that in the kitchen. It worked out great. It was big enough to put a small litter box in, a bed and have room for him to move around. He wasn't too pleased, but being confined was really important for his recovery.
Anyway, just wanted to share our story....Good luck!

 

[billwendy]

Aww - hugs to you - we love our little fur babies!! My 13 yo schnoodle somehow hurt her back or back legs and has been acting stiff for a few days now. We are trying to treat her with baby aspirin and glocosomine/chondroiton and it seems to be helping!! Im holding my breath and praying she'll be okay!!!!!! Same for you and your kitty!!

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

I would go get a second opinion. We spent $2000 a few years ago and lost our cat after the surgery during recovery. Not for this type of surgery, but I know that I wouldn't be as sentimental about saving the cat at all costs today.

It's not an easy decision. Good luck to you and your kitty.

It's not the money in our case...we live in an area where veternary care is actually pretty reasonable. The thing that really scares me is the recovery. I am having so many second thoughts right now, and I actually had nightmares about it last night. We did surgery on our other cat (he was sick, so it was different) and he really never recovered. 7 months later we had to make the difficult decision to let him go. I feel like my current cat is SO healthy otherwise, and I just don't want to mess that up by doing a surgery on her if I can help it.

All of this has me thinking that I want to call our old holistic vet that we saw before we moved and see what she has to say. She would be able to tell me if it's nutty to put a 13 year-old cat through this.

 

[Them!]

I understand your concerns but they really can fix this...you don't have a sick cat you have broken cat......

My cat Necco did the same thing. She is a big fat Maine Coon and her knee had to be repaired after jumping from our kitchen counter. (nimble...no...not so much)

I took all the furniture out of a "spare" room. (tiny house!) The vet wanted her not to jump or be chased by my other cat for about 3 months. She was pretty happy and well adjusted there. We hung out with her on low cushions.
She was a train wreck for the first week but really recovered very well. She didn't even need the big cone on her head as she never even messed with the staples in her leg. This was three years ago and she is doing great.

The only bad thing is our vet said it is not uncommon for the other knee to need surgery down the road as the repair is so strong and the cat may have a genetic weakness in both knees. We now have an emergency cat knee repair fund in our bank acct.!

 

[rapmarks]

if anyone is giving their cat thyroid medicinem I have about 24 tablets left which I would mail to anyone who could use them.

 

[lucyem]

I guess cats are different then dogs. Our 10 yr old lab tore her ACL one day just walking. The vet said we had 2 choices - surgery or let it heal on it's own. With either choice he warned that the other leg ACL would go as well do to having to do all the work and it did within 2 months. We chose no surgery because the end result would be the same and at her age it was going to be a lot to put her through. Vet said that was his first choice. She had a limp in both back legs for the next 3 years of her life. She could no longer do stairs and had to be careful on slippery surfaces. But no pain and her normal happy self.