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-   -   Weak rear legs~! (http://www.catbanter.com/showthread.php?t=96152)

chatnoir July 5th 09 01:06 AM

Weak rear legs~!
 
Have a cat only 3 years old! It could never jump real good! Last
week, I came out to its outside pen and found it sitting on the
ground! The Vet said the joints on its rear legs pop out! The Vet
gave me some pain medicine and said the cat probably had overdone it!
The cat has good days and bad days! Seems not to be related to pain
medicine! The Vet said I could go to a specialist! Anyone out there
have any experience with this?

Phil P. July 5th 09 08:27 AM

Weak rear legs~!
 

"chatnoir" wrote in message
...
Have a cat only 3 years old! It could never jump real good! Last
week, I came out to its outside pen and found it sitting on the
ground! The Vet said the joints on its rear legs pop out!


Could be Patellar Luxation -- the kneecap pops out of the groove it rides in
and gets stuck on one side. There are 4 grades of severity. Did your vet
grade the luxation?

The Vet
gave me some pain medicine and said the cat probably had overdone it!
The cat has good days and bad days! Seems not to be related to pain
medicine! The Vet said I could go to a specialist! Anyone out there
have any experience with this?


Gotta get it fixed. Later in life the degenerative changes caused by the
patellar luxation will precipitate into lameness.

Phil



jmc July 7th 09 03:36 AM

Weak rear legs~!
 
Suddenly, without warning, Phil P. exclaimed (7/5/2009 3:27 AM):
"chatnoir" wrote in message
...
Have a cat only 3 years old! It could never jump real good! Last
week, I came out to its outside pen and found it sitting on the
ground! The Vet said the joints on its rear legs pop out!


Could be Patellar Luxation -- the kneecap pops out of the groove it rides in
and gets stuck on one side. There are 4 grades of severity. Did your vet
grade the luxation?

The Vet
gave me some pain medicine and said the cat probably had overdone it!
The cat has good days and bad days! Seems not to be related to pain
medicine! The Vet said I could go to a specialist! Anyone out there
have any experience with this?


Gotta get it fixed. Later in life the degenerative changes caused by the
patellar luxation will precipitate into lameness.

Phil



That's the first thing I thought too, Phil. It's pretty rare in cats,
but mine has it and she's never been a good jumper either.

I found out recently she's essentially deformed in her hind end, the
vertebrae right over her pelvis is deformed, and the bones of her hind
legs are not straight (I knew about the leg bones, but not the spine).

As far as guaranteed lameness as they get older, I think it depends on
the grade. Meep has luxating patellas in both hind legs. Was not
graded for me, but I'd say maybe grade 1.5. I believe she's had the
problem since birth but wasn't diagnosed till she jumped in fright and
landed badly, and was lame. I didn't know to look for symptoms before
then. That was around 2003 I think. She recovered, and because I was
told she'd have to be cage-confined for two months, the mildness of her
symptoms, and her likely reaction to such a long confinement, I chose
not to have the operation done. Oh, and at the time I thought she had a
cardiomyopathy. Found out recently she was misdiagnosed. Woohoo!

She's locked completely only a couple of times (and only in one leg),
and comes to me for help when it happens (I have a technique that works
quite well to unlock the kneecap apparently painlessly). When it
happens she's lame, when I fix it, she's sound.

She's 13 now and while she is showing degenerative changes (arthritis)
she is not lame and still gets around well. Based on the results of
recent x-rays rather than any outward symptoms, she is now is now being
treated with a painkiller, since glucosamine chonodroitin could delay
onset of arthritis but not prevent it, sadly. She has arthritis in a
couple of her rear joints, not just the "knees".

If Meep had been only 3 when she was diagnosed, I think I'd have been
much more likely to have consented to the operation.

jmc


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