Sweet little Dobby needs surgery; *Update*; 5/28; post #54

[GILL]

YAI just knew we could. I fell in love with his pic's, as I am sure that evryone did.
The CREW's prayers are with you little one, we know that you will be well cared for.

[rg_girlca]

I am sooooo happy to hear that precious widdle Dobby will be getting his much needed surgery.

This news has really made my day.

[Medusa]

Here is the edited email. (I deleted the parts that had nothing to do w/Dobby.)

...they got more than enough money – one lady just fell in love with him (wants to adopt him if his current foster mom doesn’t keep him) sent $2,000! He is currently at the vet in Austin. They have determined so far that he has no feeling in the twisted back leg and they believe both his right legs have been dislocated. They feel it was probably abuse instead of an auto hitting him, etc. He is being extensively x-rayed to determine if his right legs will support him if returned to position, etc. The twisted leg will most likely have to be amputated simply because since he cannot feel it, he could get it caught somewhere and literally tear it apart because he couldn’t feel it. A lot to be determined, and much to be decided. Poor little guy is in for a rough period whatever they decide. Mickey said two other people contacted them about adopting him once he is healed. He is stealing hearts right and left.

[Taz_Zoee]

Awww, this is wonderful!

[GILL]

I knew that we could do it. I also know that he will be fine. I just have too look at our Demetri. He can run faster then most of the 4 leggers. The only problem he has is jumping, but the stairs don't slow him down.
The "CREW" is wishing DOBBY good healh and lots of love in the future.

[katladyd]

I knew someone who had a 3-legged cat named Tripod. I didn't even notice he only had three legs until they pointed it out to me. He ran and climbed curtains with the best of them. I'm sure Dobby will be fine. Most likely much more agile than he is now. Hell has a special torture in store for anyone who abuses cats

[Medusa]

I knew someone who had a 3-legged cat named Tripod. I didn't even notice he only had three legs until they pointed it out to me. He ran and climbed curtains with the best of them. I'm sure Dobby will be fine. Most likely much more agile than he is now. Hell has a special torture in store for anyone who abuses cats

Yes, I agree w/you that Dobby will be fine w/3 legs. I just feel bad that he had to go through abuse. He's so adorable. I have no sympathy for abusers of any kind. Period. Don't want to hear their hard luck stories. We all have them but we don't take them out on animals or humans.

[katladyd]

Medusa, I couldn't agree with you more!

[Catty1]

There was no news on Dobby's blog, so I emailed Mickey to find out what was up. Here is the email I just got:

I have not been keeping up his blog. As soon as Dobby left for Austin, we took in a five-week-old kitten whose back legs were paralyzed. She was destined to go to Wichita, to a lady who specializes in paralyzed animals, but sadly, little Taco passed away tonight. However, she really kept us busy for the last few weeks.

So you’re missing a lot of news on Dobby—or some of it non-news, if there is such a thing. He went to Austin, had a diagnostic appointment. The vet called for x-rays. The vet said that he had a dislocated elbow on the right side, a dislocated hip on the right side, and a misaligned, fractured pelvis on the left side, and that that side also had tendon damage and nerve damage. They felt it might take three surgeries to repair, and one of them was an amputation of the bad leg on the left side. However, the amputation would have left him putting all his weight on the side with the two dislocations. It was problematic.

Rebecca at Cedar Forest Cat Ranch is hosting him, so she took him back for x-rays a the following week—the first appointment was on a Thursday, I think, the x-rays on a Tuesday. Then we waited. And we waited. Then she got a call a week later, on Friday, asking her to bring him back in the following Tuesday for more x-rays! We couldn’t get any details from the clinic. More waiting. Then another call, come back for an appointment.

As it turns out, during the diagnostic, they felt that Dobby had no deep muscle pain—when they stick a needle between the toes to see if there is any feeling way down inside. Well, then when they did the x-rays on Tuesday, they had to adjust his really bad leg, and the vet techs swore he whimpered in pain. The vet also saw on the x-rays that it looked as if the dislocations were healed, and that the joint had fused in such a way that he would have decent movement on his right side. The vet thought it better not to rebreak the dislocated joints at this time, but to wait and see. Either way, he would have arthritis down the line, but there is no predicting how bad it might be. The left leg was the big problem. After the vet techs said he whimpered, they did more x-rays, an ultrasound, and the vet re-examined him. Guess what? The nerves are beginning to heal. They don’t want to do surgery on the leg so as not to damage the nerves any further. So first, he gets physical therapy, which actually might cause the nerves to heal as well as help with the tendon damage. Whether he’ll end up needing to have the fracture rebroken later is anybody’s guess. The vet said that it might take many months for the nerves and tendons to heal sufficiently to risk surgery, and by that time, it may be better to leave the crooked leg the way it is, if he has a decent range of motion. So he’s looking at six to nine months of physical therapy. Rebecca and her husband John are in love with Dobby, who is super sweet (did you see his video on the chip in page?). They are willing to take him for the first phase, which is where the therapist works with the leg, and the second phase, where they work with the leg under supervision. Then they will teach his new mom, Mari, the lady who rescued him, how to do the therapy, and she’ll continue. In nine months, he’ll return for more x-rays, and we will all be crossing our paws that he’s sufficiently healed that he will need NO surgery at all.

The vet said he’s not out of the woods yet—he may end up losing his leg, but the vet doesn’t think so, if he can tolerate the intensive physical therapy.

[Medusa]

A good news/bad news scenario. Either way, Dobby is in for tough time but w/all the love he's getting and will continue to receive, I pray that he'll do just fine. Thanx for the update, Candace.

[GILL]

It looks like Dobby is in very good hands. I am so glade to hear it.

[Taz_Zoee]

This sounds like pretty good news for little Dobby.
Several years ago my sister was working at a vet clinic in Oregon (the first one she worked at) and they had a cat come through that they were going to euthanize because he had a deformed leg. My sister (who was originally a dog person) couldn't let them do that so she took him home. While his story is MUCH different than Dobby's, my point is he gets around just as good as any other cat despite his deformed front paw. So if Dobby can avoid surgery/amputation and not be in pain then this is wonderful!! I'm hoping since he is young enough that it will heal up nicely and then he will adapt and recover quickly.

[phesina]

Thank you so much for the update on Dobby, Candace. This sounds promising. What is most encouraging is that a lot of people are in there with him for the long haul, and no matter how it ultimately turns out, he has a loving home.

[Catty1]

I've attached one more email sent out to many people - it's called "Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!"

It's an update that we all know about already...but since there are a couple of pics of Dobby on it, heck, it's worth repeating!

[katladyd]

Whatever happens, Dobby will be fine. He has many, many, people who love him