Not sure what to do?

moonstone · 19-08-2010, 05:47 PM

Hi all

My disabled cat Henrietta (hetty) has severe hip displasia with luxating patellas

so far we have been to 6 vets

4 have said that she should be PTS

the last 2 have been a bit more helpful

the one i am with now who i really like has offered to give me a referal to take hetty to the research centre at potter,s Bar or now he has suggested that we go to see the so called bionic vet (sorry can,t remember his name)trouble is that Hetty gets very stressed when she is at the vets

the last time we was there the vet remarked how fast her little heart was beating and that she was stressed

I am so scared that she will die that i havn,t taken up his offer of a referal yet

I would love for Hetty to be more mobile but is it worth putting her through lots of surgery not knowing if it will be successful or not

would i be doing this for her sake or mine

would you put your cat through such an ordeal or should i leave her as she is

she is happy with her life and not in any pain so could you help me make up my mind as to going down the surgery route (thats if it,s possible)

farthing · 19-08-2010, 07:07 PM

I can't say whether to go for the op or not, but our Pumpkin had luxating patellas for years, and it was only when he ruptured his cruciate ligament when we found out- the vets thought he walked funny due to a possible car accident before we got him, so we just assumed that was the case. The ligament ruptured due to the fact his legs had less support because of the lux patella. Pumpkin was a semi feral cat and spent a lot of time outside and was wary of people, he sailed through the op, was on cage rest for 6 weeks when the vet did the first op, on the side with the cruciate damage too, then a year later he got the other knee done and went through another 6 weeks cage rest.
He is now an indoor cat and is no longer lame, he does have a loose, rolling gait though. The vet did the best he could but Pumpkin's knees were very 'deformed' but they are stable.
Hope this has helped in some way.

angieh · 19-08-2010, 08:50 PM

I think that's the very best "guidance" you could ask for moonstone - someone who has a cat that's been through it twice and successfully.

The question I would ask myself is "would it make Hetty's quality of life better?" and if the answer to that is Yes, then "do I want to put her through it?" IMO by asking the quality of life question first, you will be putting Hetty's needs first and not your own.

Tough decision even so. Good luck - do let us know how you decide.

dandysmom · 19-08-2010, 08:59 PM

Very hard decision. If she is happy and in no pain now, my personal inclination would be not to put her thru the stress of an op and recuperation. You know the quality of life she has now better than anyone else. How old is Hetty?

Do let us know what you do, best wishes.

moonstone · 19-08-2010, 09:30 PM

Thank you for your replies

hetty is now 2 years old

if it as only her patellas that were the problem i would go ahead with surgery but she also has hip displasia so it,s both her hip and knee joints that are out of their sockets

I got her from a cruel neighbour who has lots of un-neutered cats (almost feral)that are constantly breeding so hetty is inbred (her father mated with his daughter) when i got her she was a very sick little girl but was able to walk although she was stiff on her back legs

but her sister who is much bigger than her (she is tiny) jumped on her as she was coming down stairs and for 9 months she dragged her back legs (during this time we saw numerous vets who gave us the PTS prognosis

)but i noticed that she was standing up and using her back legs again and she is now able to walk short distances

although she is a bit wobbly

My new vet suggested the referal but last time i saw him he said he thought it better to leave her as she was

now he has said that he will refer her to the "bionic" vet

I really am not sure about this although he has pointed out that it,s just a consult and nothing will be done without my permission,having seen that programme the first thing the vet says is that if he can,t help the animal then it will have to be put down

I am not prepared to put hetty through being told that again she know,s what is being said and get,s depressed

she is a cleaver little girl and brave too

I am thinking that it,s best to wait awhile and see if there is any more improvement in her mobiltity

she will be going back to my vet in october for her booster vacs and she needs to be speyed too

my previous vet had asked me not to have her done as he was going to operate on her but later changed his mind

I would love her to have the freedom that my other cats have but she seems happy s she is

i really love this feisty little girl

she is so special and i am terrified of her dying

angieh · 19-08-2010, 10:18 PM

I do feel very sorry for Hetty - she is a special girl, that's for sure.

Just a query - have you ever thought about alternative treatments for her? Acupuncture or homoeopathy?

dandysmom · 19-08-2010, 10:47 PM

Good point about alternative therapy! I'd be inclined to wait and see if her mobility improves as she gets older, as long as she's happy and pain free. She does sound like a very special little girl!

moonstone · 20-08-2010, 10:48 PM

Yes she is a very special little girl

I have already had her treated with acupuncture which helped her a lot

this was when she was unable to walk and i think it was this that got her back on her feet again

i would have carried on with this but Emma (acupucturist vet) thought that there was something more going on that only a vet could help

so we did the rounds of all our local vet,s

If Hetty did not get so upset during vet visits i would take up the offer of a consult with the Bionic vet but i know that she will hate it

she was put on cage rest after her injury which she hated

the previous vet was going to cut off her femoral heads and pin her knee joints

doing one leg first and a month later the other one but after i took her into his surgery (with no breakfast

)he rang me and said she should be PTS

I asked him why he had refused to operate but he wouldn't tell me and has refused to speak to me about his decision since then

so we are now on vet no.6 who i have complete faith in

he is wonderful

I may speak to Emma again and get her to come see hetty.as she hasn't seen her since she started walking again

maybe she will now be able to treat her again

she loves Hetty too

so i am lucky to have found Emma

she works for Blueskyvets

calismum · 21-08-2010, 09:57 AM

Given that she is only two and that she is otherwise healthy I would seriously discuss the op options. That way she will have the possibility of many years of mobility ahead of her.

The stress level is a big factor and I'd discuss what this means with your vet who seems to be sympathetic to Hetty.

Alternative therapies may help or assist but they won't put her hips or patellas in place.

Only you know Hetty and can decide what would be best for her. I think Angies advice about the quality of life question is central to any decision you will make. I also think you need to know what her quality of life could be - and for that reason perhaps even accepting a referral to a specialist would give you a bit extra information to assist with that.

Never easy too make that type of decision. My dog has a severed bicep tendon which, after referrals to specialist and long discussion we decided not to put her through major surgery because the specialist said she would not be any more sound, would not be able to use it any better and the op may not work. Given she is not a working dog and had adapted to throwing her leg in front rather than relying on the tendon to do the work we opted not to. Prior to that referral I couldn't see that.

Hope this helps (((hugs)))

moonstone · 21-08-2010, 10:54 AM

You have really summed up how i am feeling

i want as normal a life as possible for hetty (i want not her)if she didn't get so upset when she went to the vet,s i would have taken her for the referral month,s ago

it was my new vet who said that he thought it would be best to leave her as she was

as he had seen how stressed she was and of course i am terrified that she will have a heart attack and die

which is my biggest fear

this vet think,s that taking her to the bionic vet would be her only chance as he said that "if he can,t help her then no one can" so i have to decide whether to take her or not

she is calmer with this vet so i was going to wait until October when she will be speyed and see how she gets on then

if she,s not too upset i will take her for a consult

it is her that is putting me off as she really hates going to the vet,s

her two sister,s are the same as her so i guess it,s a family thing

they have to have their booster,s next month and i am dreading that as they will be terrified

What you said about your dog was interesting as i have talked this over with my sister

she has a staffie bitch who has three crucial ligament ops and is now virtually disabled (she is 13) her vet had suggested that she has another op but my sister decided that she would not put her through any more major surgery at her age

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