This is Buddy's story......
Buddy is a 20 month old 17 lb. ragdoll with two siblings in the house. He has a lot of life left in him so just letting the break heal itself with the possibility of him being in pain was not an option. The operation to fix the hip with screws or pins was too costly (around $5000!) as was the total hip replacement surgery ($10,000!!). The best option was an FHO (around $2000). This happened on a Saturday evening and the doctor could not see him until Monday so leaving him alone in a bathroom was the only option that weekend to ensure his safety. Giving him the liquid pain medicine was easy with syringes.
Monday's surgery went well and I expected to pick him up Tuesday evening after work, but Buddy was running a fever so he spent Tuesday night at the hospital as well. I had to purchase a crate for him as his recovery would entail spending two weeks on strict "bed rest". Homecoming was uneventful as he was pretty drugged up. His left leg and hindquarter was totally shaved with several stitches where the incision was. He was hungry as he didn't like the food at the vets, so I was happy he was eating.
The days went by very slowly and it was the longest two weeks of my life, watching him just lay around the crate. He didn't move around much but was still interested in eating and was going to the bathroom so that was positive. I was looking forward to the day when the two weeks were over and he could start adjusting to a "normal" life again.
Must run and attend to Buddy, who now will cry for attention, never did that before either. He is my quiet, good but skittish cat. More soon!
It is now May 22nd and Buddy is on the road to recovery!!! He had his second hip surgery three days after he had the first set of stitches removed. It appears that Main Coon cats have a condition where the hip joint plates do not fuse together correctly and usually both hip joints break simultaneously. Not Buddy's experience....three days after he was initially free to resume life as normal, the right hip broke. This time he was walking funny (which he wasn't the three days prior) and he cried when I touched his "good" side. He also cried when I picked him up. I knew he had broken the right hip and called the vet and sure enough after X-rays my suspicion was confirmed. Here we go with round two!!
Another two weeks in the cage and he just looked at me like "what did I do?" The two weeks again were very long and now he is "free" once more. I have to admit I was much calmer during round two as I knew what to expect. I so desperately wanted to get him out of the cage but listened to the vet's orders for strict rest....I think it did a world of good for him.
First couple of days he went back to the cage for safety reasons I assume. Today he has climbed the stairs for the first time and is playing with his siblings. He wants to jump/climb, but seems to realize his limitations. He is doing more walking around and exploring which pleases me to no end.....as I thought he wasn't moving around or using his legs enough. I have now realized that patience is key to this type of recovery. He will gain more strength as each day goes by and he knows what he can/can't do all on his own.
We do the leg stretching exercises (when he lets me) and will continue to do so for a while.
There is also some research out there that discusses the possibility of spaying male cats at too young an age that could be a factor in the bones not forming correctly....due to the lost of hormones. I will have to do more research on this topic for any future cats that come into my life!
Was it worth it, spending all that money on a pet? Sleeping on an air mattress next to him in his cage at night? Sitting on the floor and petting him while he was "caged".....carrying the cage upstairs to my bedroom when I couldn't take the air mattress anymore.....Absolutely!! Buddy is a sweet special cat that has a lot more life to live!
I hope I have answered some of your questions and concerns......good luck if you should ever get into this situation yourself.
