On Thu, 10 Mar 2011 02:15:40 GMT, ingold1234[at]yahoo[dot]com
(Gandalf) wrote:

On Wed, 9 Mar 2011 15:19:33 -0800 (PST), Elle
wrote:

Beloved pud is back from the ortho vet's, snoozing in the sun. He is
well. Main points:

-- An x-ray was done immediately. The ankle bone has fused nicely.
Bone healing looks great (after six years, not five, pardon).

-- No signs of infection.

-- The vet said the screw could stay or be removed; it was my choice.
He did not list any particular pros or cons. I naively did not realize
pud had to be put under for this, so it was kind of a big deal. (Big
doh on me again, remembering the screw goes into the bone and must now
hurt just having been removed.) I did decide to have it removed, on
the premise it bothered the cat in general and could lead to worse
things. But I really have no idea. Pud got one stitch to pull the skin
over where the screw was. No meds were prescribed. This is a reputable
vet hospital and I trust their post-op instructions, which were
nothing this time.

-- The x-ray showed that the plate, now held in place by 12 screws,
actually broke at its vertex. The vet said this is very common. The
cat's ankle is at a fixed angle now, the same as the angle of the
original plate. The vet said removing the plate is done often. After
surgical removal, the cat would be in a splint for 4-8 weeks and have
to be confined so he does not pull that superman flying from the table
top stuff. The screw holes would fill with bone over time. If the
plate is not removed, the question is whether the plate will start
moving around and causing the cat pain. The surgery for removal is not
too expensive ($400 to $850, depending on how things look when the
surgeon actually gets in there). I asked the vet if it were his cat
what he would do. He hesitated. I am sure he gets this question a lot.
He was pretty clear it did not have to be done, at least not without
other signs. Earlier he asked the cat's age, and I think he was
factoring this in, too. If I had all the money in the world, yet there
continued to be no signs of malaise, pain or infection, I think it
might be cruel to put the cat (about eight-years-old) through another
surgery and that gosh awful convalescence. At any rate, no decision
has to be made immediately. I will monitor the ankle and ponder it.

Pud with his sister got a special treat of shrimp when we got home.

Thank you all for your input. Sometimes just not being alone in these
decisions helps. I got all teary-eyed just watching the many dog and
cat patients passing through the doors, along with a few human
visitors with special treats who had come to see their loved ones as
they convalesced there, which the staff encourages. It remains the
same fine hospital I know from six years ago.




It is nice to have a place where you can really trust the vet.

I have run into two really bad ones, over the years.

Just like doctors, there are good and bad vets, and a LOT that are just
adequate.

I have a VERY good vet now, which is a great comfort to me.

She will answer question on the phone, or by E-mail; she encourages
people to call or E-mail, so you don't have to bring your cat in, every
time you have a question.

Aside from being very, very good, she's also a VERY nice person, as well


Glad that all is well, I think I would have just left the plate alone
also. That's pretty much what they do for people, right? I just
checked with my friend who has a plate in his ankle. He says they just
leave it in but they might remove it if he was younger.