Madison Pratley, a male cat, has been awarded the Fromus Vet Group’s

MARCH PET OF THE MONTH AWARD

Madison came to see us in early March as an emergency. He had been missing for three days and although his owners had searched for him, he was nowhere to be found. The cat had crawled home by himself and his owners quickly noticed one of his back legs wasn’t working.

They telephoned the clinic to alert us to the situation, so that as they arrived, we were ready to receive them.

The vet examined the cat initially to establish what was likely to have caused the injuries. Madison was in a great deal of pain but was very brave throughout the examination. Apart from his back leg, there were no other injuries apparent. It was assumed that Madison had been involved in a road traffic accident. Animals that have been hit by cars may seem perfectly well afterwards but will often go into “shock” as the body tries to cope with what has happened.

“Shock” is when the body changes it circulation to try to preserve blood flow to the heart, brain and kidneys. This can spiral out of control if not treated, often irreversible changes can occur. If your pet is involved in a road traffic accident it is important to phone the vet for advice immediately and to make an appointment as soon as possible to have the pet checked over and treated.

Madison was admitted for further evaluation. Firstly, he was put on an intravenous drip and given some pain relief. Once his condition was stable, he was given some anaesthetic and his leg was x-rayed. On the radiographs it was obvious that the cat’s leg had been smashed into three pieces.

There were two treatment options-

1. Using lots of metal implants to screw the cat’s leg back together
2. Amputate the cat’s leg above the level of the break

The decision was made to amputate the cat’s leg. Although it seems like a drastic choice, cats are highly adaptable creatures and can manage perfectly well on three legs. In many situations the missing leg will not be noticed once the cat has adjusted to the change.

Madison was transferred from radiography to the surgery suite to have the amputation. Once the limb was prepared, the vet began the arduous task of cutting through layers of muscle to remove the leg. Several important blood vessels need to be identified and tied off and finally the remaining stump must be closed over. Because the cat’s leg was in several pieces, the vet needed to carefully remove splinters of bone from the muscle tissue so as to allow Madison to have a pain free stump.

Madison recovered well from surgery and woke up purring (perhaps because the pain was finally gone). He continued to purr all through the day and evening. He was so happy and comfortable without his bad leg which was obviously a tremendous source of discomfort to him. The following day, he was able to walk unaided and was deemed well enough to go home under strict supervision and rest.

The cat has been to see us regularly since his surgery and is doing very well so far. He has had one painful episode about a week after his amputation, which was attributed to overuse of the remaining back leg. He is now fully recovered and is coping well.

Once the fur grows back on his stump, we hope no one will notice that this brave boy is missing a limb.

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