10 & 11 weeks post femoral head ostectomy surgery

11 weeks ago my 2 year old cat, Mo, randomly started limping and howling.  We brought him to the vet and found out he had fractured his femoral head.  He is now 11 weeks post femoral head ostectomy, and we couldn't be happier.

I haven't been updating this blog as Mo has been doing SO well with no problems!

 10 weeks post op, laying on his back and sleeping like he used to before surgery!

Playing (without any difficulty) with his best friend, Bill

 10 weeks post op- fur has grown back a lot! Can barely see where scar even was.  Just looks like he has a really bad haircut!

Playing with his toys!

If anyone would ask me if this surgery was worth it, I would say 100%.  I couldn't have imagined how quickly and painlessly he'd recover.  Do not hesitate to get this surgery!  It sounds terrifying, but the recovery is amazing.  He still limps, but seems to be improving every week.  When he runs really fast or sprints we can't even tell he has a limpy leg.

After 3 weeks I can say our cat was almost completely back to normal besides his limp.

I think the only reason his personality was different, wouldn't eat, and slept a lot initially was because of the pain patch!  I have seen some stories about cats who didn't get pain meds after the surgery, and if I could have done everything over again I would have definitely mentioned that to my vet. 

If anyone has any questions at all, feel free to post!  I was so curious and scared before my cat got surgery and during his initial few weeks of recovery.  I hope every cat who gets this surgery can recover as quickly and as well as Mo. 

3.5 Weeks Post FHO Surgery

 Mo ~2 weeks post-op! Starting to play with toys.

Laying on his back like he used to!

His wound seemed to open a bit at the top and we could see one of his internal stitches coming out which terrified us.  But we watched it closely for signs of infection.  This was at about 2.5 weeks.  After about 5 days it closed and now it looks like its closed and healed.

 Hanging out in a steak box- definitely our cat LOL!

Overall he is COMPLETELY back to normal besides his shaved fur, cut, and limp.  He doesn't hesistate to walk anywhere and jumps and climbs like he used to.
I weighed him today and he weighed 9.8 pounds - he feels so light and tiny! :( But maybe we are just comparing him to his MASSIVE brother Bill.

I would definitely 100% recommend this surgery to anyone who is thinking about it. Our cat appears to be COMPLETELY pain free and can do all the same activities he used to enjoy such as jumping, playing, etc.   It is well worth the 2000 dollars.

Now we just have to hope that the other femoral head doesn't fracture.  Our vet warned us that he might be genetically predisposed to having weak femoral heads and that the other is at high risk of breaking.  FINGERS CROSSED he can at least hold off until my boyfriend or I graduate & get jobs LOL

Day 8 Post FHO surgery

Today Mo went and got a check up at our vet and the vet said he looked great!
No fever, and his leg seemed to have a full range of motion.

He said he could see some muscle atrophy on the leg with the femoral head removal but that it was most likely because he hasn't been using it as often.  Once he starts walking on it more and more it will hopefully get stronger.

He also said that the other bone looked "grainy" and that there definitely was a risk of his other femoral head fracturing as well.  PRAYING HE DOESN'T NEED ANOTHER SURGERY!

He is doing well though, looking skinny but I'm not sure if he's always been like this and we just haven't noticed because he used to be so fluffy!

Getting better and better every day, I will update again in a week or so!

(some old pictures.. LOVE MY CATS)

My Cat Mo's FHO surgery - Day 7

Mo is walking around non stop now!  He's jumping, even running!  He still limps, but is using it more every day!

He's playful again, and snuggles with me every night!

He seems to be 100000% pain free, and besides his new hideous hair cut and limp I would never know his leg was broken 7 days ago!

No pain patch, no more anti-inflammatory meds.  Eats and drinks by himself!

Above are some videos of Mo walking. As you can see, he still limps (he's only 7 days post op!)
But he seems happy and pain free!

Day 5/6 Post Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) operation

Day 5 and 6 have been AMAZING with Mo!  His personality is back to normal.  I wouldn't be able to tell he had surgery or anything if it wasn't for his limp!

He purrs at us when we walk by, jumps onto the bed and off without hesitation, walks around more often (but still tries to avoid using his leg).

His fentanyl patch should be worn off by now and he seems COMPLETELY pain free!
I saw him drink water by himself so am no longer syringe feeding him!

Going to try to take his pain patch off tonight- that should be interesting.  I've read that it can be super hard.  I plan on using olive oil if it doesn't come off easily!  I will post pictures and an update after I attempt to take off his patch!

He's looking fluffy again!
Can't wait for his little scar to heal and his fur to grow back.  He doesn't seem to notice the spot they operated on at all... he completely ignores it.

 

WARNING TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO TAKE THEIR CAT'S PAIN PATCH OFF*** 

It was NOT easy.  I started gently pulling it off and instantly looked at my boyfriend and said "Oil"

I knew it was going to take an hour at least to sit and try to gently pull it off.

My boyfriend decided to try and he was ripping it pretty hard, but then I'd look at my cat and it didn't seem like he could even feel it!  He didn't even flinch!  My boyfriend RIPPED it off.. I mean.. fur was coming off :(  Mo didn't even flinch or blink an eye.  He must have an EXTREMELY high pain tolerance, which makes me even sadder because he must have been in SO much pain that first night he broke it :( 

But on a happier note, Mo's pain patch is now off! WOOHOOO! No more pain patch, no more anti-inflammatory meds, just a happy pain free recovering cat! 

Day 4 Post Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) operation

Day 4

Hand fed Mo some more food (he still won't eat on his own)
Also put his water bowl in front of him and he still refuses to drink it, so I squirted a few more syringes full in his mouth.

After feeding him it was Metacam time!!! Mo's favourite time of the day.. he loves that stuff!

He moved around a lot more today.  He jumped up on my bed at least 3 times, and on to that blue chair at least 2!  When he walks I can tell he tries to avoid walking on his leg, but uses it a tiny bit (especially when jumping)

The video is of us calling Mo for treats.  I tried to video his leg.

Day 3 Post Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) operation

Day 3

2:31PM

 All tucked into his couch bed!

 His scar looks a bit funny but I'm probably over-analyzing.

Just making a mental note to compare anything to this picture if I think it's getting worse down the road.

Mo seems to be doing A LOT better today!!!  He slept at my feet all night (still sleeping on the couch) and even snuggled into my legs TWO times last night!

Tried putting his food bowl & water under his nose and he didn't eat either, even when I twirled my fingers around in the water.

 Mmmm food

So I hand fed him a few pieces and then put some under his face on the couch and he ate.  I then gave him his Metacam and he honestly LOVES it!  Then I gave him 5 syringes full of water (until he obviously didn't want any more.. these syringes are EXTREMELY tiny though)

Mmmm Metacam!!!

 Mo and his brother Bill checking up on him

Grooming himself!

He's so skinny under all that fur!

Yesterday he stayed in his little playground nest ALL day.  Slightly worried me. Finally around 2am he finally had a bowel movement! YAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
He then started walking (well limping) around the room, but eventually jumped up onto the low couch, then up onto a big pretty tall chair!
He seems to be using his leg a bit more than usual!

Day 2 Post Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) operation !

Day 2 Post-Op

Mo hasn't eaten or drank water since we've had him home.  He's been hiding in his playground all day and I don't think he's moved all day :(

I decided to hand feed him pieces of his food one by one, and he accepted it readily and ate happily.
His anti-inflammatory meds which are administered orally via a syringe were given today with NO problems- it was almost as if he enjoyed the taste!

Later on he still hadn't drank water, so I syringe administered him as much water as he would accept, which although was very little was enough to probably keep him at least hydrated for now.  In an hour I will give him more.

We called the vet and they told us we could take the bandage off his arm, which was where the IV was.  He's been grooming himself lots today and looks a BIT more normal, but still weird.

It worries me that he hasn't moved all day.  Tomorrow we will call the vet again and make sure this is OK for now.  Love my cat so much!

Update: 3:13 AM
 Came home from the gym to find Mo had moved about 10 feet over and UP onto the couch!!!! SOOOOOOOO HAPPY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We also saw him jump up onto the back of the couch and use his leg a bit!  I am so excited right now and soooo happy for him!!!!

The vet bill came to $2100 total if anyone is wondering.  It was at an Ottawa Emergency pet hospital though, and that included three nights of staying over, 2 fentanyl patches, X-rays, surgery w/ IV anesthesia etc, and the Metacam anti-inflammatory meds.
\
Mo still doesn't seem to be drinking water or eating by himself, so I gave him a few more tiny syringes full of water just to be sure that he's at least a bit hydrated... might buy a bigger syringe tomorrow.  He even opens his mouth for it and doesn't seem to mind it!

 Lol he loves it I swear!

Still not looking fully like himself, but grooming himself all day.  Not licking the wound too much at all-  don't think he even notices it (maybe due to pain meds?)

When I pet him he purred at one point for a bit! YAYYYY! :)

Still haven't seen him have a bowel movement, or urinate :(  Hopefully he will soon!  The day I see him eating and drinking normally without me helping him I will probably cry tears of joy!

So far the progress seems great for day 2 post op!
Crossing my fingers that when we remove the fentanyl patch in 3 days that he doesn't feel any pain :(

Day 1 Post Femoral Head Ostectomy (FHO) op! August 20th 2013

Day 2 Post Op

We were so excited to finally pick up our 2 year old cat Mo!  He has been so brave at the vet.  They put a new patch on him and we are instructed to take the patch off in 5 days.  We are to give him 4.5kg of an anti-inflammatory every day orally. It's a liquid with a syringe.  The vet tells us to let him exercise as much as he wants from the beginning.  We aren't instructed ANY physical therapy movements.  We are to schedule a post-op appointment 1 week later with our usual vet.

This picture is Mo RIGHT when we pick him up.  You can see his little wound that was glued shut (no stitches)  his face doesn't look like his usual fluffy happy self, but he has been through a lot.

We drive FOUR hours home right after his surgery (we live in the GTA and go to school in Ottawa), and Mo sleeps the whole way.  We get him home and he limps out of his crate.  He won't eat or drink at this point, but seems pain free.

I sleep on the couch to be closer to Mo all night, and he was able to jump up on the couch all by himself.  He slept at my feet all night, and even crawled and snuggled into my legs like he used to before surgery!

This is mo the night before, relaxing after we just got home. He always lay like this prior to injury, and looks pain free.

Day 2 of limping

Mo was still limping at this point.  He didn't seem any better and was still meowing and seemed in a ton of pain whenever he walked :(  We took him to our vet, where they say it looked broken but they couldn't do X-Rays so they told us to  take him to the emergency vet clinic.

Below is a video of Mo trying to walk the next day. As you can see he doesn't use his leg at all, it looks like he is lifting it up and trying not to walk on it at all.  

There, my boyfriend waited a couple hours and finally got him in & X-rayed, where they found out his femoral head was fractured.

 As you can see on the left, it looks like his femoral head isn't even attached to his hip.
So the vet suggested FHO, femoral head ostectomy, where they remove the fractured femoral head, and the cat creates his own PSEUDO joint by exercising etc.  We check him into boarding as he will have to wait 3 nights before he can get the surgery. He is given a Fentanyl patch for pain.  We wait until the following Tuesday, August 20th 2013, when can pick him up.  (His surgery was 5pm Monday August 19th 2013)

Night #1- Mo limping

We were at home and all of a sudden my boyfriend and I heard our 2.5 year old Persian cat meowing LOUDLY and hissing.  We instantly ran in and wondered what was going on.  Our 3 year old cat (Mo's best friend), Bill, was sitting nearby with his ears back and looking shocked.  Mo was meowing and hissing and having trouble walking.   His one leg seemed to retract up when he walked and he would howl loudly and sometimes hiss every time he went to walk.  When he was laying down he looked like the healthy old Mo, but was breathing a bit more heavily.

I called my mom sobbing (it was 3am) and she told me to wait until the morning because he probably just twisted it a weird way playing.  My boyfriend and I both knew something was wrong.. this wasn't a tweaked ankle, he wasn't walking on it at ALL.  When he walked he almost looked like the grudge, crawling weirdly and obviously in a lot of pain.

This was Mo (white persian) laying down with his brother Bill the NIGHT of his injury, probably an hour after.  He always laid around like this and looked almost normal unless he tried walking.  He wasn't as responsive to our petting as usual either, but sipped water and ate some food when I put the bowl next to him.  We went to bed and hoped for the best.  He followed us into our room limping and meowing and lay on the floor next to us.  We saw him JUMP into the closet that night (what a crazy cat lol)