Femoral head osteotomy in cat
My 1yo black male neutered Domestic Short Haired cat injured his hip several months ago. He is having difficulty walking and can no longer leap. He also becomes irritable when he cannot move properly. The xrays showed a femoral neck fracture with some bone resorption. The vet has recommended a FHO-femoral head osteotomy for $600.00. He states that this will allow the cat to return to 90% of former activity level. Intuitively, I am struggling with this. How can removing the femoral head alleviate the pain and allow the cat to return to a relatively normal activity level? Wouldn't removing the head put stresses on other bony and soft tissue structures? |
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Dog with problems walking
When I came home from work yesterday, Sparrow(6yo female neutered mix breed), who stays in my basement with access to the crawl space under the house, was having trouble going up the stairs. She seemed sick - hot nose & depressed. She has a knot midway up her tail about the size of a quarter. Her hindquarters are slightly swollen and tender. Her behind was dirty with dust, some fecal matter, and little black dots that looked like flea eggs (she doesn't have fleas - she's on med from the vet.) It seemed she had been dragging her bottom on the ground. My gut feeling is that she may have been bitten by a spider or god forbid a snake (in my basement?!!) but I'm also worried that she's hurt her back. She can still walk - even jump on the bed - but she is not moving correctly. She is still eating and drinking. She's not any worse this morning, but no better. She's not limping, but she acts stiff - is not moving her hind legs with ease, but I don't see where they look out of whack. For example, when she goes up steps, she just goes one step at a time, very slowly and carefully when she usually bounds & skips steps. It doesn't look like she's knuckling over, and her feet and legs look normal. Another thought after babying her this morning - she has had trouble in the past with her anal glands being blocked. Usually I try to massage & expel them when I bathe her. I haven't noticed her dragging her butt, which usually happens when her glands are filled and need expelling, but is it possible this could be the problem? Or constipation?
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