Week Two Post-Op

So here we are again. I didn't update sooner because there wasn't much to say. Max spent most of his time sleeping. We would let him out of his cone for an hour in the morning and a couple of VERY supervised hours at night. He got mostly wet food and got to sleep with us. With the cone on he wasn't his normal "counter surfin' self" so we were able to sleep too. He did very well and was pretty chill. Here are some pics...

Purl was a bit jealous about all the attention Max was getting, but not so much she couldn't cuddle up with him.

Originally we tried to get his stitches out on Friday, 9 days postop, but it was a no-go. They did take out two that were growing in, but sent us home with a still coned kitty. I'm not sure who was more bummed out about it, us or him! So we had to muddle through the weekend and Max got just a little bit more spoiled.

On Monday, 11 days postop, we took him in after work. It took a mere five minutes and he was free. Both of his cone and his stitches. And a really great part? We didn't get charged for an office visit! We decided when we first got home that we would keep the door to the basement closed, not sure how well he would do. After dinner we opened the door, and the plan was to walk in front of him just in case. Well that lasted all of two steps and then he went tearing past.

He's getting around very well, though we kept him upstairs again last night because R was worried that he would overtax himself. He's licked off all of the scabs and is looking really great (minus the shaved butt, of course).

Here's some post stitches pics.

Want to see him walk? And act like Max?

Max wins!

And again (and again, and again) thank you ALL so much for everything!

I will continue to blog as the healing progresses. Any bets on how quickly his fur will grow back?

Day Three Post-Op

Today brought more sleeping, a little less than yesterday but still more than normal. Max managed to get his new cone off of his head once last night, but we fastened his collar a touch tighter and that seemed to do the trick. He did mess with his stitches but, again, not too terrible.

R has been his favorite cuddle spot today. She picked him up once and plopped him in her lap and there he has stayed off and on all day. Every time she sits down he comes and demands to be picked up (jumping still isn't really an option). She's such a sucker for him that she let her arm fall asleep! (so sweet and cute)

Max is on his last day of pain meds, so we are going back to the Metacam (a steroid/anti-inflammatory) tomorrow. We're a little concerned he isn't ready to be off the meds, but we're happy we'll be at home to monitor him.

He's only faught the cone a couple of times today, hopefuly that means he's getting used to it enough to be left alone during the day with it on. He hasn't, however, tried to jump or really run, so we're glad we won't have to pen him next week.

Day Two Post-Op

Day two is a sleepy day for mr. max. He was a bit of a bad boy last night, and managed to get his cone off of his head and pulled out one stitch. R woke me up to have me look at him. It wasn't gaping so we decided to just keep an eye on him through the day.

So far that's been an easy task. I took the day off to make sure he wasn't left alone. Though, other than the peace of mind, it doesn't seem to have been terribly necessary. But it is worth the peace of mind for all of us.

After R got home, I was able to get out to a local pet store and found Max this:

It's a soft version of the Elizabethan collar so that he can eat while still leaving it on. It has a velcro closure and hooks into his regular collar. I'm hoping that's the biggest part of his issue with leaving it on. We'll see.

Isn't he cute? Well he's pissy, that's for sure...

Every time we've taken his collar off he's gone right for his stitches except for the one time we were able to distract him with some yummy wet food.

I imagine the stitches are very itchy, and I really hope that chills out soon. This picture shows just how much hair he had and doesn't have any more.

Poor little Purl is feeling pretty neglected, but because of the stairs we have to shuttle her back and forth. Every so often we put her downstairs since we don't want her to use Max's tiny kitty box and we can't leave the door open or Max would try to go down the stairs.

Day One Post-Op

And he's home! Pretty groggy, shaved, a little annoyed, but all in one piece (well minus a small one) and home where he belongs!

I called the vet this morning after getting in to work just to see what his ETA might be. I was told that Max was "all right" though he had chewed one of his stitches off. Not a shock. Was also told that he even managed to pull a cone off of his head. Overall, however, he was a model patient, very sweet, cuddly and lovey. He wasn't ready yet, so they said they would call us when he was.

Finally after about noon was told he was ready whenever we could come and get him. So, I finished up what I could at work and told my boss I needed to leave a bit early to take the furry beast home. Got there and was sent into one of the little rooms to wait for the vet (why did I leave the knitting in the car???). He came in and explained the surgery; apparently I misunderstood the first doc, or he didn't have the procedure quite correct, but there is no disc. Instead, the doc finished sawing off the piece of bone, cleaned it up, and smoothed it out. He offered the piece of bone to us, so we took it home (yeah...we're kind of sick that way)...

There is no longer a bone that rests in the socket, but the muscles and ligaments are all still attached to the femur. Since there is no mending bone like a typical break, it's just mostly healing from the surgery itself. So, after paying the 1,200 vet bill (thank you again to all who donated, you ROCK!) and getting the aftercare instructions we bundled the cat into the car and headed home.

We let him out of his carrier and let him explore. It didn't take long for him to start licking at his stitches again so out came Purl's cone. It fit! It doesn't make Max too happy, but it makes us feel better. And, so far, he hasn't been able to pull this one off. So we've taken a few pictures of the poor baby...all of his missing fur...

And this one is just the cone, he's laying on the "owie side" and looking very annoyed at the indignity of the cone...

And a pretty grainy video of how well he's getting around...

The red blanket you see on the floor at the end of the video was put there especially for Max. R picked up a nice, large heating pad for Max to curl up on, put a soft blankit on top of it and...so far he's completely ignoring it. But then he has only laid down once so far and only for a few minutes.

I will update more tomorrow. Luckily my boss is letting me work from home, so at least for Max's first three days of recovery he will not be alone.

A post-op update...

Ok, just heard from the vet. The surgeon, himself, called to update us. (not sure if that's normal, but I'm very happy)

So, Max came through the surgery well. His blood work was good, and he made it through the anesthesia well. The vet said that the whole top of the femur was definitely "busted off" and that the more expensive surgery wouldn't have worked very well. And, even if it had, he would have definitely ended up with arthritis. It's so good to know that we chose the best option for Max.

Max is really groggy right now, and will be staying overnight at the vet's. So, good news all around. I will go to pick him up tomorrow, probably will leave work early to do so. After we get him home and settled back in, I'll take some pictures and will post them with an update.

The Story...

So, the story begins Sunday morning...

I got up first, to make R's coffee and start some laundry. The kitties came out of their hiding places for their early morning loveys. After loving them up a bit I started to walk away and noticed Max limping. When I stared, he stopped walking and looked at me. I tried to encourage him to walk some more so I could see if he really was limping or if I just imagined it. He wouldn't move...I tried throwing his favorite toy and...nothing. So, I just picked him up. Before I even got him all the way up in my arms he began to cry. This is VERY unusual behavior for our little attention whore. I quickly put him down and he tried to walk some more. He seemed to move mostly fine with only a bit of limping, so I tried to convince myself he was fine, maybe his leg fell asleep? Could a cat's leg fall asleep like ours? I went to google to find out (the answer is not really and if so, it only lasts a few minutes).

In the meantime, R got up, so I told her to take a look at Max. She was immediately concerned and told me that cats didn't really have the same problem we do with our body parts falling asleep. So, she used her "google-fu" to find us a vet that was open on Sundays and was quickly on the phone. We jumped in the shower, put Max in a carrier and off we rushed.

At the vet, they told us that there was definitely swelling and they couldn't tell, easily, what was wrong. It could be broken, but it also could be dislocated, or there could be an infection. Their x-ray machine was out of commission but would be ok in the morning, so they sent us home with antibiotics and an appointment for the next day.

It was MLK Day so I had the day off, but R had to work. We decided that it would be better if she went ahead to work so that she would be distracted. I dropped her off at work and then Max and I made our way to his early morning appointment. The vet asked if I wanted to stay while they x-rayed and, as I had my knitting, I decided it would be easier.

About 45 minutes later the vet came out and gave me the bad news. It was definitely a break. A break in the top of the femur, the part that goes into the joint for the ball and socket. A break all the way across the top. He showed me the x-ray and it looked HORRIBLE! See the picture? His break was right about where the blue line near the head is. It was broken all the way across it.


Then he told me there were really only two options, both surgical. The first they couldn't even do at this clinic. It was a VERY expensive surgery and would include pins and such. The second, a Femoral Head and Neck Ostectomy, could be done at the clinic and was much less expensive. This procedure exposes the head section of the femur bone (the ball of the ball and socket joint), and then the head and part of the bone below the head is removed using a small saw. After which, they put in a small disc to act as the "head" so that there is no "bone to bone" crunchy crunchy.

So, only surgical options. Which meant...gulp...more money. We had already spent (for both days) around $500. Now, Max is totally worth it, but we have been experiencing pretty rocky finances of late so it was all we could do to scrape up the money for the two appointments. The vet said he would get me an estimate and I just about cried when I saw that it was going to be over $1,000. I told him that we would have to call back and schedule, but first were going to have to come up with a way to find that money. So, home again and this time with some anti-inflammatory drugs for Max.

I took Max home and called R. Then started budgeting and thinking about loans and such. A co-worker of R's suggested a wonderful site where you can ask for donations for different things. Honestly I felt a bit uncomfortable asking anyone for money. But it was for Max and R did most of the work. And the amazing thing that happened next? People totally came through for Max!!! Within less than 24 hours, we had the money for his surgery! I was shocked, as I know that most of our friends and family are in similar, if not worse, financial woes than we are!

So, we called the vet and made an appointment for his surgery. He is in surgery right now. I will post again when we have news.

Thank you ALL so much!!! For your positive thoughts, your donations and your love!

An Introduction...

So, we started this blog for our Tuxedo Maine Coon, Max. He will be 2 in June, we have had him since he was about 6 months old. The next post will be the original story about how he ended up at the kitty hospital having a Femoral Head and Neck Ostectomy. Here are a couple of pictures of our baby before he got hurt...














This page is a thank you to our donors, an update for all and an FYI for those who may have kitties that end up having to have this surgery as well...

Here's where we found what information we could dig up: Summer and Clinton.