Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat Health & Behaviour => Health & Behaviour General => Topic started by: cutie mcwhiskers on November 18, 2007, 14:24:41 PM
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Hi everyone,
i was wondering if anyone could help me, yesterday we found out that one of our cats, heidi, has a problem with her knee caps on both back legs. we noticed she had a problem when she jumped off the bed and we could hear her crying so i got up and she was lay on her side on the floor and when she tried to stand she couldn't put any weight on her back legs, i sat with her trying to calm her down for a couple of minutes, as she was quite stressed, then she just got up and walked to her beany bed as if nothing had happened. the vet said her knee caps had slipped out of place temporarily and that it is a defect she was born with. she said to see how she gets on and if it gets worse that there is an operation she could have so i was wondering if anyone has any experience of this?
since we got back from the vets it's happened 3 more times, twice yesterday and once this morning so i'm going to ring the vets when they open tomorrow because i don't know whether this is normal for a cat with this condition or if she'll need surgery so any help and advice would be much appreciated.
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dogs get it too. It's official name is luxating patella, and yes, it hurts the animal when the knee cap (patella) slips out of position. The operation has a fairly high success rate but you would need to keep kitty contained in a cage while recouperating as she would not be allowed to do any jumping. Might be an idea to get her used to the idea before the operation so she is not stressing out and causing herself injury.
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http://www.ovrs.com/patella.htm
http://www.petdoctoronline.com/articles/patella_luxation.html
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thanks for the reply!
do you know roughly how long she would need to be caged for?
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no idea, I am afraid, but your vet can tell you. Sam has posted a couple of useful links that will help you understand the condition. Hope you have insurance!!
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Lexy had both her kneecaps slipped after a fall. We did the surgeries one at a time rather than both at the same time, she recovered very well. They simply tighted the tendon in her knees to hold the kneecaps in place.
She does have to be exercised more than normal, and you will need to watch your cats weight as they will become a little more sedentary. Lexy is indoor all the time so its noticeable she can't jump as high as she used to but she is still pretty fast on her feet.
Oh and WELCOME to Purrs!!
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Yes the op procedure is opening up the skin over the knee, sliding the patella (knee cap) to one side and then the groove at the end of the femur where the patella sits is deepened (they remove a small wedge of bone, then a slither of bone then replace the original wedge back into the deepened groove so it still has the correct joint lining) The patella will then be placed in the correct place and the joint capsule stitched tighter. It is one of the more straight forward orthopaedic ops. Occasionally the groove isnt the problem but thin muscle surrounding and loose ligaments in which case the vet would tighten it all up but would only really be able to access that once he could visually see the joint.
Normally 1 leg is done at a time in my experience.
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oops sorry i drank a cup of tea before hitting the post button
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Thanks for all the info and for the links!
luckily we do have insurance!
she is slightly over weight at the moment so i've got her on a diet much to her disgust, i've tried telling her it's for her own good but she doesnt listen :smile: she doesnt get much exercise as she's very timid and doesnt like going out plus she's quite lazy unlike her sister fifi who's the complete opposite and never sits still.
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This is when it becomes much more troublesome when extra weight is involved, of course she will not be able to excercise as much as she should due to her knees but the weight wont help at all so its a vicious circle.
Sounds very similar to Ruths lexy. Has the vet nurse or vet been giving you good help with the dieting ?
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My house is filled with activity toys for mine just so she gets up and goes. Lexy is a little overweight too and this happened after her surgeries.
Its worth getting as many options from your vet as possible. Whilst it may seem better to have her recover from one surgery to both knees at the same time, it is difficult to keep a cat that quiet. The level of pain your cat experiences may also be a factor to whether or not you wish to do one surgery rather than two. Just be prepared that the first couple days after the surgery(s) you will need to keep a keen eye on them.
Lexy refused the half moon collar or the buster collar, and managed to get to her stitches regardless. She even loved the bitter apple spray we put on the plaster... :tired:
The more sedentary they are the more likely they are to want to play with their stitches.
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i remember when she was spayed it was a nightmare! she wouldnt leave her stitches alone and it took us ages to get a buster collar on her, it was such a trauma for all of us.
do you think her sister fifi is likely to develope this condition as well?
thought i'd share a little pic of the two of them, heidi my little angel on the left and fifi my little monster on the right :)
(http://i191.photobucket.com/albums/z64/cutie_mcwhiskers/thegirls.jpg)
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they are gorgeous babes - luck you.
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If fifi is fine at the moment then i wouldnt worry too much about her developing it, In dogs it can be hereditory, congenital or traumatic but i am not sure if it can be hereditory in cats tbh.
(they are both lovely looking by the way :) )
I think the worst fear if doing both legs at the same time is it may render the patient recumbent which you dont want so even if the other knee is wonky too it will atleast be able to take some of the stress whilst the initial one is healing and strengthening.
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fifi is fine, she doesnt show any symptoms so hopefully she'll be ok.
i think it sounds best to have one done at a time, i'm gonna have a good chat with the vets tomorrow. i've done plenty of research now and got a big list of questions to ask.
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Thats always the best way, i suggest you have your questions written down and go in armed with a pen to jot down the answers, may seem ott but most folk forget half of whats said by the time they get home and repeat it to the other half or whatever.
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got my pen and paper in my bag ready!lol!
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Hiya Cutie McWhiskers :welcome: to purrs.
Sadly I have absolutely no advice whatsoever on this, but I wanted to say that your babes are gorgeous and you have the best moniker EVER :rofl:
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Hi everyone,
thought i'd give an update on heidi for anyone who's interested.
she went for x-rays on wednesday and the vets said there's signs of arthritis in both her knees :'(
they've recommended surgery to stop her knee caps slipping, she's having the left leg done next wednesday.
i'm so worried about her, she's my little princess. i've booked time off work so i can look after her and keep an
eye on her.
thank you to everyone for all the info and advice you've given me, it's been a great help :thanks:
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Poor baby - how old is she? Fingers crossed for Wed.
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yes, arthritis is a normal complication to any injury to joints, so I am not surprised. all our fingers and toes crossed for the surgery - you are doing the right thing for her. Let us know how it goes and if you want to vent about anguish, let us know, we are here for you.
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Ahh poor baby ... will be thinking of you and her on Wednesday. Please don't be a stranger and do let us know how you get on as your experiences will be of great interest to us all :Luv2:
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Awwww thank you that's so nice!
i've been up and down since we found out, one minute i'm all upset and thinking how it's
not fair because she's only 3, joint problems and arthritis are things i've always associated with
older cats, but then the next minute i'll accept it and just try to concentrate on doing
everything i can for her. it just breaks my heart to see her struggling.
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one of the girls i went to kindergarten with had arthritis, it is not just an age thing.
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The following sites might be of interest to you (there are hundred out there but I just selected these) It is advised that glucosamine can help with arthritis. I would check with your vet but it might be an idea to give glucosamine to Heidi as even after the surgery she may well be susceptible to developing arthritis in other joints.
http://www.arthritis-cats-dogs.com/cats/cat-glucosamine.html
http://www.arthritis-glucosamine.net/pet-arthritis-chronicle/feb02.html
http://www.moggies.co.uk/stories/arthritis.html
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thank you for the links :thanks:
i'll have a good read now and i'll see what the vet says about glucosamine
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it is very useful. Shadow, last winter (which was actually 18 months ago - long story) he suddenly started walking on 3 legs. Visits to the vet discovered a cut on his pad which seemed unlikely to be the cause but we tried antibiotics and anti-inflammatories and goodness knows whatall, and it turned out to be arthritis (he was only four at the time). He had a short course of non-steroidal meds, but after than went onto glucosamine which I just add to his food. It is generally fishy smelling so they love it. Mind, Shadow is a dog - and half labrador to boot. But the cats try to steal it if he accidentally leaves some in his bowl ... Just a powder supplement you add to their food
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I recommend Cosequin for cats, you sprinkle in food and hope they dont notice or can mix in a small amount of primula cheese and smear on leg thus rendering the cat dirty and with the urge to wash :sneaky:
Good luck for the op
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Hope everything goes smoothly. Luxating patellas are not uncommon, 2 of my dogs have them on one leg each. One of them has a blood clotting disorder so cannot be operated on, the other is very small and doesn't seem to have a real problem with it. I've seen the surgery done and successfully, though we don't tend to operate on cats unless it is causing a real problem.
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thought i'd do an update on heidi for anyone who's interested :)
she had her operation 9 days ago and it turns out things are more complicated than the vet
thought. the groove in the bone where the knee cap sits is fine so that's not what's causing
them to dislocate, apparently it's all to do with the ligaments round the knee. he told us that
her legs can hyper-extend at the knee which means that they bend the wrong way this is why
the knee caps dislocate :'( they've tried to stabilise the knee cap but there is a chance it
might not have worked because she's missing one of the ligaments inside the joint so if it's not
they'll have to go back in and create an artificial ligament. i'm really praying it has worked because
i don't want her to have to go through all this again on this leg when she's already going to have
to go through it on the other leg. we're at the vets tomorrow night for her stitches out so the
vet will be able to let us know how she's doing so fingers crossed!
she's alright in herself but she's not to happy bout being kept in a pen poor baby. we're having to
keep her sister, fifi, and fidget out of the room because they keep trying to jump on the top of the
pen and it's not solid so they'd fall through. do you think this will affect their relationship? we let them
in at least once a day to have a sniff through the bars, do you think this is enough?
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Hi Cutie (that sounds so wrong, it's what I call the boy ...) anyway, glad to hear she has had one of her ops and yes, stretchy tendons is the other reason for it ias you have discovered. My Bob Cat, aged 11 snapped one of the tendons on his hind leg somehow, it actually broke the little bony prominence they attach to so his leg was just flopping around uselessly. We kept him in plaster for about 6 weeks and somehow it all sorted itself out. If the vet has done what he says, and you have managed to keep her reasonably inactive, then you have a good chance of a good result. Will keep all my fingers and toes crossed for you. :hug:
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Fingers crossed for her.
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Hope things turn out well for Heidi :hug: