Old broken leg in kitten... what do i do??

[tellykitteh]

A sweet kitten was dropped off at my co-workers house 3 weeks ago, she is very allergic and brought him to work and asked if anyone could take him. I volunteered as he is the sweetest kitty i've ever seen. I took him to the vet, got his shots, test and everything. Today he went for his neuter, and I requested an X-ray of his leg because he walks a little odd.. but doesnt seem to be in pain to me. The x-ray showed he has a broken leg, and it was broken months ago and has now healed incorrectly but its still very broken. The vet says he needs surgery, it will cost no less than $1800 for the surgery. He has no other health problems and I'm very attached to him. He's so special. I just got a new job and I don't have 1800 extra to spend. the vet said after the surgery he wont be able to climb, or jump or be "normal". I don't mind that but I dont know I want to put him through this... and 1800 is a lot of money -I could come up with it - but it will be very difficult. What should I do? any advise on a similar cat you may have or have seen after broken leg surgery? the vet said i cant tell he's in pain cuz he's so tiny - he's only 4.5lbs right now... and said to be about 6 months old. Thank you...

:confused:

[Catty1]

Go to www.imom.org

They raise funds for non-routine surgeries for pets.

Your vet will need to sign something from iMom saying he will work with their terms, etc. It sounds like you have a little time to work with, so apply and see what happens.

Meanwhile - I know the holidays are just over and everyone is broke - but do you have anything you can sell? Even a bake sale at work? Or - with your boss's permission - a donation can with a pic of that sweetie on the front?

If you work retail, customers will love it!

That way you can put some $ towards the surgery as well.

HUGS and keep us updated, ok?

[tellykitteh]

thanks so much, I will certainly apply for help. I work at a network operations center. I feel bad for asking my new co-workers for help... but it might be worth a shot. He is so sweet... grey striped with white paws, lil kitten face... he has spots on his tummy... he also doesnt meow.. he makes no noise at all..... perhaps that's why i cant tell he's in pain - he jumps and runs around like a nut though...

[Freedom]

I would suggest taking the xrays to another vet, for a second opinion. The part which I don't like, is that he won't be able to "climb, jump, or be normal." So he does that now; what is this surgery going to do for him???

Check with your state's Vet Association for grants / funding. Is there a university near you with a vet program? They often offer lower cost surgeries.

Here are more options for funds:
This page has a list of some organizations that may be able to assist you. Good luck.

http://animalliberationfront.com/Practical/Pets/PetCare/FinancialHelp.htm

Some links:

In Memory of Magic (IMOM) is dedicated to insuring that no companion animal has to be euthanized simply because their caretaker is financially challenged.
http://www.imom.org
IMOM, Inc
PO Box 282
Cheltenham, MD 20623
Phone (866)-230-2164 Fax (301)-599-1852

United Animal Nations established the LifeLine fund in 1997 to aid companion animals in times of life-threatening emergencies when their caregivers, with low or no incomes, are unable to afford the entire cost of treatment.
http://uan.org/lifeline/index.html
United Animal Nations
P.O. Box 188890
Sacramento, California 95818
Telephone: (916) 429 2457 fax: (916) 429 2456

Help-A-Pet is a nonprofit organization which provides financial assistance for the medical care of pets whose owners are unable to afford the expense
http://www.help-a-pet.org/home.html
Help-A-Pet
P. O. Box 244
Hinsdale, Illinois 60521
telephone: (630) 986-9504 fax: (630) 986-9141

Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Programs provides financial assistance for emergency medical care for cats.
http://www.fveap.org/sys-tmpl/door/
FVEAP
1641 Elizabeth Lane
Yuba City, CA 95993
Fax: 888-301-4264

[tellykitteh]

Thank you so much for the replies... here are his pics:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v36/aprilynn81/kitty1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v36/aprilynn81/kitty2.jpg

[Freedom]

Aw, a gray tabby! Look how distict the "M" is on his forehead! He has strong tabby lines!

[catnapper]

Sounds just like a former foster. She had a broken leg that didn't heal properly and she did have the surgery. She runs and plays just like a normal cat, but will always have issues with her leg. She will run into severe arthritis issues when she gets older. To tell the truth, I was so determined to save her leg that I refused to consider something I would do if I could go back in time: amputation. I DO have a 3-legged cat and she's 100% perfect and amazes me every day with her ability to do anything she wants to do. And she will never have any problems anymore. I wish I could have provided Angel with the freedom of lifelong problems, but I was determined to have her heal and be a complete cat. She healed, but not perfectly and DOES have problems to this day (2 years later)

[Catty1]

Yeah, Freedom brought up something that didn't occur to me...if the kitty is bouncing around fine NOW, what is the surgery going to fix?

If it's still necessary, check out iMom, and talk to your new supervisor if you are comfortable with him/her. Maybe your company has a way of arranging for staff to voluntarily donate.

Your kitty is SO cute! Have you named him yet? Maybe from the way he moves around now, "Pinball" might be a possibility! :D

[tellykitteh]

his name is Telly...... as in "telephone" - i work for a telephone company ;) the vet said he would not perform any type of amputation on him, and that the only surgery would be to repair the leg, moving muscle and resetting the bone and cleaning up the pieces of bone scattered about in the leg. i am going to apply for Imom the rest of the organizations - I make too much money for...... financially i make good money - however i just lost my job and got a new one- and moved to a new state so I am not in a good position right now.

[Catty1]

OH wow, nasty break...so the 'small pieces' could cause him trouble later on, I guess?

Maybe a better question is - what WILL kitty be able to do after surgery? (and sometimes they surprise everyone!)

I guess there will be pins in there, so the joint won't be as flexible?

I wonder how this little guy got hurt?

Give him a hug and scritchie for me!

[tellykitteh]

the vet thinks he was stepped on by a cow..... he said he has "barncat" characteristics and he had "cat scratch fever" when i first got him and the worst ear mites and giant fleas... he was not in a good way when i got him.... he cant really jump very high right now - i think it's not a matter of "mobility' but more of a pain thing later on when he gets bigger - he's only 4lbs right now so he doesnt have much to support - it's his left back leg... not a front leg.

[Catty1]

A horrible accident...I would be LIVID if I thought a person had done this to the wee little guy!

How wonderful that he has you to care for him!

I notice your screen name is 'tellykitteh'. Do you by any chance frequent icanhascheezburger.com? ;)

[tellykitteh]

i am not sure? lol - the site is blocked at work here ;) lol

[Medusa]

If nothing else, get a second opinion and even a third. My Puddy was born w/a bad leg; now I can't recall the technical term for it. But the vet wanted to first put her to sleep, then he reconsidered and wanted to amputate. I took her from another family and had my vet check her out. That was 13 1/2 years ago, no amputation. I know that their situations are not similar but my point is that a second opinion changed Puddy's future. I feel really bad for your little guy and I hope this gets resolved soon. Thank you for taking such good care of him.

[Catty1]

Here's a few icanhascheezburger shots in a 'phone' category...because your furbaby is Telly! http://icanhascheezburger.com/category/phone/

You can always try the main site at home. Or check this thread in Cat General: http://petoftheday.com/talk/showthread.php?t=137297 :D

[krazyaboutkatz]

Welcome to PT!!!:) Your kitten sure is a cutie pie:) but I'm sorry to hear about his broken leg.:( A friend of mine has a cat that broke her front leg and she had surgery. They put some kind of a pin in it and it took a long time for it to heal. She had to keep going in for x-rays to see if it had healed properly. When I saw her, the leg was very stiff but she could still get around very well. I'm not sure about her jumping ability.

Some vets also offer Care Credit (http://www.carecredit.com/) so then you can make payments. I also think that they're interest free. Good luck.:)

[Catlady711]

I agree with Freedom that a second opinion would be a good idea.

What really bothers me is this....


The x-ray showed he has a broken leg, and it was broken months ago and has now healed incorrectly but its still very broken.

That completely doesn't make sense to me because either it has healed incorrectly or it's broken. I just don't see how it could be both. Even with fragments in there if it's healed it's healed, if it's broke it's broke.

The only possible scenario I can come up with to explain what your vet said is that the surgery isn't to actually fix the leg it's simply to pick out the fragments in which case the leg itself would not change to account for lack of jumping ability even after the surgery. If they'd planned on rebreaking the leg to set it correctly I'd think that the leg would function properly with only a slight limp.



I guess there will be pins in there, so the joint won't be as flexible?

I don't think they can pin the leg if it has multiple loose fragments inside. At work the only pinning I've seen done had no fragments that I recall. The legs were simply broke not smashed with splintered fragments. Just a thought.

[Grace]

I don't think they can pin the leg if it has multiple loose fragments inside. At work the only pinning I've seen done had no fragments that I recall. The legs were simply broke not smashed with splintered fragments. Just a thought.

Our Grady had a comminuted mid-diaphyseal spiral fracture of his left femur back in March 2005. Up at MSU Vet School they did a reduction and placement of an interlocking nail.

For the non-medical people, a comminuted fracture is defined as one in which the bone is broken, splintered or crushed into a number of pieces.

The other option offered to us, by our own Vet, was amputation.

Grady has a bunch of bone fragments in his leg, and many of them simply fused to each other during the healing process. He was only 2 when the fracture happened, and the young heal so much better.

[Catlady711]

Our Grady had a comminuted mid-diaphyseal spiral fracture of his left femur back in March 2005. Up at MSU Vet School they did a reduction and placement of an interlocking nail.

For the non-medical people, a comminuted fracture is defined as one in which the bone is broken, splintered or crushed into a number of pieces.

The other option offered to us, by our own Vet, was amputation.

Grady has a bunch of bone fragments in his leg, and many of them simply fused to each other during the healing process. He was only 2 when the fracture happened, and the young heal so much better.

Ok the vet school part explains it. They have access to the latest technology and techniques of anything available, and more heads to scratch in search of solutions than the average vet has at their disposal. Where I work we don't have any orthepedic (sp?) specialists so I'm guessing that's why they don't pin really splintered up legs then. We tend to refer out to specialists for really banged up stuff if the owner wants to pursue it further than we can provide.

[Grace]

Yes, our Vet said it was beyond their area of expertise. We could choose between the specialists in Southfield, or go up to Michigan State. We chose State. It was 49 miles, door-to-door, and was a wonderful experience - considering the severity of the injury. Grady was there for just 48 hours, and during that time they called us about 6 times with updates. Better communication than at a people hospital!!

The cost was just under $1300 - about half of what the specialists in Southfield would have charged. That's because MSU is taxpayer supported. They also had a pay plan for those who could not pay the total cost at one time.

[critters]

http://handicappedpet.net/help/viewtopic.php?t=8162

Hmm. I don't know that I'd do anything at the moment; I'd be extremely reluctant to put him through all that. TK had a pin in a shattered femur, and I wouldn't do that again. Tripodding him is always a possibility, as is removing the ball of his femur so he can make a false joint. If he's doing that well, despite all, I think I'd leave him alone.