A Time of Tumult

It has been one heck of a week here at Chez Ranger.  We took Maddie in to the Veterinary Surgeon last Tuesday.  After looking at the x-rays (and the cat) she told us that Maddie was probably in consistent discomfort from the knee, if not also the hips.  She told us that the surgery would improve Maddie's quality of life and that she was confident that it would work.  Since post-op care involves confining Maddie and doing some rehab (knee-hab) we decided to go ahead and have the surgery done that day so that we could have the initial (and most involving) stages of post-op done before I have to go back to school in three weeks and can be home to help LadyRanger manage.  Not easy leaving Maddie at the vet and driving off, but we believe it was for the best.

We got her back on Wednesday.  The operation was a success.  The doc deepened the groove in the femur that the patella and the patellar ligament track in (actually, really *created* the groove, since Maddie didn't have one.) and relocated the ligament's anchor point on the tibia to the spot it's supposed to be.  Maddie now has pins in her tibia.  The best news is that the arthritis in the knee is not nearly as bad as our two vets had supposed.  Only "mild to moderate arthritis".  The knee had to be rebuilt to keep it that way, but Maddie is in better shape that we had a right to expect.  Anyway...they glued her up, gave her some pain-killer that ends in "-orphine" and sent her home with us. 

Hmmm...I don't remember any tequila....but, by the look of things, there was a lot of it...I hope I had fun.  I must have.... I wake up shaved, sutured and sore in a Tiajuana jail...yep, there was tequila involved.....

Poor Girl.  Actuall, there are no stiches.  They put her back together with the veterinary variation of Super Glue.  How cool is that?  Here's the incision:

 
See?  Not icky at all.  We were going to try to not use the collar on her, but as soon as we got home she started licking the wound.  Maddie's always been a fanatical groomer, so we think the collar will have to stay on for another week or so, 'til the skin heals up.

The hardest part of this, for all of us, is confinement.  The vet is recommending 8 weeks of cage-time.  We've got her in a 2.5 by 4 foot cage with an extra space under our desk for the litter box.  The vet does *NOT* want Maddie free to roam about on her reconstructed knee, and if she's confined, she'll most likely just lie around.

 

Yeah, like there's *anything* else to to in here.  Jerks.
 

We're calling her cage the "Mewlag"  (rhymes with Gulag).  Sometimes she drags her plastic collar back and forth across the bars, demanding to see her PETA lawyer...  We were told that we could take her out and have unlimited lap time as long as she didn't go walkies or jump.  We're trying to give her a decent amount of time outside.

Here she is on one of her parole visits to the bed.  Went over as much as possible with her favorite brush, since she really can't groom right now.  Big purrs.  She sits on the couch to watch movies with us, too, but she is frustrated that she isn't allowed to walk where and when she wants.  only 7 more weeks...

Maddie does not seem to be in great discomfort, and she's walking, albeit a bit unsteadily, on the leg.  She's using the litterbox fine, though she doesn't like the new, vet-recommended litter (it doesn't stick to incisions).  Thursday night I had the door of the Mewlag open and was lying in it giving her pats and treats after her dose of -orphine.  She jumped right over me to get out.  We got her back in immediately.  No harm seems to have been done.  Whew!

She does not seem to mind having the bald spots.  They even had to shave a spot on each fore-leg for I-V's.

 

Maddie's such a big cat that it's kind of a shock to realize her legs are so delicate.

Well, send Maddie your well-wishes.  We've a follow-up appointment in a week or so to see how things are going.  We'll keep you all up on the news.  Thanks!
 

 

 

 

Comments

[Fiona]

Maddie... I'm truly glad your ordeal at the vets is over :) Now all you have to do, soldiergirl, is bear with the confinement *smoochies*

[Scooby, Shaggy & Scout]

Good and Brave Maddie!
I wish I could your poodle leg!
Glad you can at least get her out of the mewlag to help with boredom and to tell her what a fine cat she is!
It's always shocking for me to see what is under the fur when I see a shaved cat!
If she's feeling spry enough to leap over you like she did, we have a feeling she's going to heal up just fine. And Maddie: Keep your jailers in line, you have them just where you want them!

[Scooby, Shaggy & Scout]

Make that second line: I wish I could *kiss* your poodle leg!
Hang in there honey!