On Tue, 03 May 2005 09:40:29 -0400, Janet B
wrote:

Has anyone had to deal with this with a cat? For a variety of
reasons, I'm not opting for surgery for Carey (bone thin tortie with a
myriad of other issues). "Rest" is advised, and we seem to be able to
prevent most jumping fairly easily (she's almost 12, not a kitten,
which helps!).

My Spotsie suffered an injury to one of her stifles. Physical
examination showed damage to ligaments and x-rays showed one of the
tiny bones that anchor the ligament was displaced. The vet and I
talked about orthopedic surgery - large dogs sometimes get the same
sort of injury and need surgery to prevent lameness - and decided to
wait and see how cage rest worked before doing any operation. She
recovered function fairly quickly. The outcome was that the cat still
can jump to the kitchen windowsill. The explanation is that there is
less strain on the limb in an 8 pound cat than there is in an 80 pound
dog.