Bentley had his 7week post op check up yesterday- August 8th, 2012 from his second FHO (left leg 6-18-2012).
I informed the Vet that I had noticed that Bentley started to limp again on his right leg (his first FHO leg from 5 month ago)
I also noticed that when he runs after our neighbors kitten that he sort of Bunny hop's at times. He also didn't tolerate me touching or stretching his legs at all. He started to hiss and swipe his paws at me.
Something is wrong again....!!!
The Vet said that this must have developed within the last 5 weeks because at his previous post op appointment, she was able to manipulate both legs without any complains from Bentley.
She however did say, that when she took an X ray immediately after the surgery, she had noticed a growth along the femur on his first FHO right leg. She showed me the X Ray and "yes" it looks like bone is growing back along his femur.
She said that this could be the problem, the growth could cause an impingment which would be the culpit of his limping and new pain. It could also be an infection of the bone or Bentley himself trying to grow back what's missing.
The Vet ordered more X rays to see if the growth had gotten even bigger since the last X ray was taken 5 weeks earlier. Bentley had to be sedated again...otherwise he would not have been able to tolerated the procedure.
I went home crying....waiting for the Vet to call.
3 hrs later the call came and Bentley's Vet told me that Bentley was awake and fine. She was able to really manipulate both legs while he was sleeping and she could not feel any physical evidence of an impingement. She also informed me that she could not feel Bone on Bone rubbing therefore, it is not necessary for Bentley to undergo more surgery to clean up the new growth at this time. Maybe later down the line but not now.
She did however say that the growth has not gotten any bigger since the last view and that the location of the growth should not be causing discomfort to him. The new x rays also revealed that new bone is also forming on his left femur now! She said that this must be Bentley's own body's defense trying to replace missing bone tissue. The radiologist confirmed everything within normal findings. I did ask if she had seen this in any of her previous cases. She said that they normally do not take any x rays 1 or 2 month post op therefore, she only recalled a similar case in a dog with new bone growth.
The only bad thing is that Bentley's legs are very skinny and show sings of atrophy which is causing him the pain. His original operated right leg should show more muscle mass by now...since it has been 5 month that he had the surgery.
She prescribed a low dosage of Bupernex every 12hrs or as needed, to see that if with the help of pain meds Bentley's endurance for movement will last longer.
Bentley needs to exercise more to build up his muscle in both legs. The X rays also showed a slight
patella luxation in both of his knees (
Patellar luxation occurs when the cat's kneecap (patella) is dislocated from its normal anatomic position in the groove of the thigh bone (femur).
However, currently this condition is very slight and supposed to normalize again when the muscle builds up in his legs again... through exercise.
The big dilemma is now... how to get Bentley to move more without him constantly plopping down to rest. Bentley is a cat and does not exercise like a dog. The Vet said that the best exercise for FHO rehabilitation would be to swim....well cats and water don't mix. We do have a pool but I don't know if I get Bentley to go in there...lol
Right now we just take him for walks on his leash and encourage him to play in his waking hours. The Vet also informed us that cats take much longer to heal from this... than dogs. Dogs tolerate PT (Physical Therapy and Hydro Therapy) much better...which speeds up the recovery.
We will keep trying and hopefully Bentley too will recover eventually. It is so sad and heart wrenching to continuously see him struggle.
I wrote today to Jackson (The cat from Hell show) to see if he has some advise... how to get Bentley to move more.
Any advise from anybody is very much appreciated....
I am currently looking for a PT facility here in Los Angeles that will also work with cats.
We are seeing the Vet again in 6 weeks for a follow up.
Bentley is now 10 month post op from his (R) hip FHO surgery and 5 month from the (L) hip. He is walking and running without a limp. He can jump up on a table from ground level. The only thing that reminds us of his surgery's is that when he jumps he has to gauge the jump for a few seconds before he actually makes the jump. This is to insure himself that he can make it. His Vet said that this is normal and that he most likely will be doing this for the rest of his life. It is really nothing, just something that I had noticed. 
To help Bentley overcome his atrophy my husband build him a ramp that leads from our kitchen window out to our fenced pool area. Walking up and down the ramp helped Bentley tremendously to build his leg muscles up again. The atrophy is completely gone and he has no more pain. We also took him on a lot of leash walks and made him climb stairs which all helped in his recovery.
He can jump from the floor onto a table with no problem. He
will however gauge his jumps before he goes for it. The Vet told us that
this is perfectly normal.
