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patellar luxation - front leg?

  • 14-01-2011 9:01pm
    #1
    planetX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,441 ✭✭✭


    I have the most beautiful little cat, with the worst luck. She's got dislocating kneecaps in her back legs - had surgery on one last year which doesn't seem to have worked. Now she's come home limping on a front leg. I can't find any cuts or bites, and she's not unwell at all. She does seem to be stretching out her front legs more than usual. Does anyone know if the front legs can dislocate? I can't find any info when I google this. I want to be prepared if I'm going to be getting yet more bad news at the vet:(


Comments

  • #2
    Sigma Force
    Registered Users, Registered Users 2 Posts: 5,132 ✭✭✭Sigma Force


    Did she go back a while after the op to see if it had healed correctly?
    Did she get enough cage rest after the op?

    If you let the cat out unattended she will come back with injuries or may not come back at all so ideally keep her in and safe or cat proof the garden so you can control how much she jumps etc. She could of damaged the leg by jumping off a wall esp. if she's prone to kneecap probs.
    It's hard to keep cats from jumping off things but if she's got a weakness there she would be better off indoors with softer landings.

    PL can happen in any leg, we've a Papillon and the breed itself can be prone to it, luckily with our guy he's fine and shows zero signs of it but surgery can be pretty sucessful with Papillons that are prone especially owners need to be careful on how much the dogs are allowed to jump up on furniture etc. so can imagine for cats it's just as important.

    Providing steps in the house can help you can make them or buy steps online but for now I'd just see what the vet says it could be that she's had a knock by a car or anything.


  • #3
    planetX
    Closed Accounts Posts: 1,441 ✭✭✭planetX


    thanks for replying. The op was over a year ago, and she was housebound for 3 months and healed fully. All was well for a while, but it dislocated again a few months ago, and she favours the untreated leg over the one that was fixed.
    I've been googling, and discovered that the front leg joint is called an elbow (didn't know that), and that it can dislocate. Am sitting here in bits here cos I've convinced myself it's this, and the outlook is not at all good. I couldn't bear to keep her indoors, she lives for hunting and sneaking around at night. She pretty much feeds herself on mice. The 3 months I kept her in after the op she barely lived, she was so miserable. And I'm renting in a tiny house. I'm heartbroken.


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