Recently an adorable little kitten came into my life. He is five months old now and two weeks out from his surgery. He has had this dislocated hip for all of his life, as far as I know (At least since he was eight weeks old). Also he is as of yet unnamed.
To make a long story short, I adopted him yesterday. He had arrived at the animal shelter with a dislocated hip. Prognosis is good. This is my first disabled pet but I am a careful cat mom. I am following the shelter's instructions, but the only real limitation is to prevent him from jumping. His limp shows but does not get in the way of him having fun and moving about. I'd love to know if there any techniques or specific exercises, or any tips really, from anyone who has dealt with this before.
Post surgical care: Dislocated hip kitten
Re: Post surgical care: Dislocated hip kitten
This happens a lot. Typically, as with my Jazz, they will eventually form a false joint with scar tissue. If necessary, the ball of the joint can be removed to facilitate this in what's called a Femoral Head Osteotomy, but Jazzy did it by himself, as he grew. He was a "hippy baby," with a distinctive bunny hop gait, his whole life, but it didn't bother him a bit.Re: Post surgical care: Dislocated hip kitten
That's what this little nugget of love had (FHO). I'm happy to hear your little guy got along well with his Bunnyhop! Mine still has a heavy limp and favors that leg, and he has a room to himself with limited time seeing the other cats. Is there anything I can do to make him more comfortable? Or anything I can do to help strengthen him?
Re: Post surgical care: Dislocated hip kitten
I haven't had anybody with FHO, so I have no valid idea. As far as I know, it just takes time to build up solid scar tissue, but I'd ask the surgeon. I assume he has pain meds? Honestly, I don't think most people knew Jazzy had anything different about him. It was pretty subtle, but it didn't bother him any. Oh, and I forgot about Beauty, who'd been crushed. She was never operated, but she was just a little crooked, less than you'd think. I'd expect your baby will be fine given time.
Re: Post surgical care: Dislocated hip kitten
No pain meds. I adopted him following his surgery so the animal shelter's surgeon that helped him is not my vet & I don't have their information. They forewarned about not jumping, but that was it. That's why I really hoped this forum would have more info; It's difficult not having his doctor info to ask questions especially when I've never dealt with more than a spay/neither surgery before. If anyone else has thoughts let me know!