Patella Luxation in cats

[SC Minnie]

Anyone's cat had surgery for a luxating patella???? (the knee cap won't stay in place)

Tink (in my sig) is having both hind legs done on Thursday and I am wondering about any experiences with the recuperation.

 

[MickeyMouseGal]

It's really unusual to do both at the same time. Bilateral MPL is very rare in cats, but in dogs we tend to do one (usually the worst one), let that one heal, and then do the other. The problem with cats afterwards is pain medication. They are very sensitive to NSAIDS and there are only a few options for post-op meds.

 

[Lisa loves Pooh]

option in lieu of pain meds...

My cat had a very freak accident (seemingly benign if you consider she just ran into the coffee table and precisely the right angle!)--and blew out every single ligament in both of her little kitty knees.

Vet told us surgery was unnecessary for that as it could heal like that and everything woudl fuse together--which it did. But b/c her legs were so swollen (4x their ordinary size at least) and the pain meds were an issue, they went ahead and gave her steroids. No idea what the med was called, but it was something that would help in some way reduce what was causing the pain. For her it was sufficient.

We were told if she was a dog, it would have been much much worse (and surgery would have been required if we were to keep her alive).

She has managed well for about 3 years now. She did relearn to jump (using her front legs)--though lately, due to her injury and her age and the amount of stress on the front legs, it seems that she is giving up getting onto things now. (she's been sleeping on the floor next to my spot of the bed for a week now).

So I know your kitty will likely do fine post-op, but was just sharing the story for a medication option to discuss with yorur vet. (I know my knee swelled to twice its size post-op for a simple meniscus repair, so I'm sure kitties little legs will likely swell.)

 

[SC Minnie]

It's really unusual to do both at the same time. Bilateral MPL is very rare in cats, but in dogs we tend to do one (usually the worst one), let that one heal, and then do the other. The problem with cats afterwards is pain medication. They are very sensitive to NSAIDS and there are only a few options for post-op meds.

The vet said she was at a level 3 on the scale of 1-4. Both legs. She also said it was rare in cats. But we have found that anything rare medically this cat seems to have. But we love her. The vet surgical center we went to today seems very good and highly