So why am I writing about this, on Wednesday night when I took Gatsby up to the bedroom I placed him on the bed and noticed something was wrong. I placed him on the floor then I noticed he was limping very badly on his right leg. I have no idea when it happened or how, earlier in the night Gatsby and Earl had a major play session dashing up and downstairs. Also Gatsby has a new hang out location in my messy shoe closet so not sure if he did it playing or jumping down onto a un stable shoe and twisting it. However, he did it he has ended up with a ruptured Cranal Cruciate Ligament.
So what is it?
It’s located within the knee joint and acts as a stabiliser for the femur on the tibia. The ligament can be torn as a result of a traumatic event or more commonly in ruptures due to slow progressive breakdown of the ligament. Researching more into this it could appear that Gatsby my have had this underlying issue and play with Earl a younger cat could have caused it to tear more.
Now we know what’s wrong, whats next?
Surgery is the only answer, tomorrow I will be calling around to find the best option for Gatsby. Do we have pet insurance – no. So we will be paying for this out of pocket. In hindsight maybe we should have taken out coverage for these boys. But like most indoor cat only pet owners I thought they probably wouldn’t need it.
I’m going to use this time in a positive way. It’s traumatic for me to see Gatsby in this pain, but how can I turn this into a positive and an informative lesson for all. Just because we have indoor cats doesn’t mean they can’t hurt themselves or get really ill and need major surgery. Can you cover that cost to get your cat better again? I’m going to have an estimate on $3,000 for the cost of Gatsby but i’ll be honest what is the threshold on an ill pet? What wouldn’t we all do to help them?
It also made me think of all them people helping out stray cats/ferals and doing the Trap Neuter Return projects all on their own dimes with not one complaint on cost. I rescued just two and we spend and have spent so much money one they, they have become a big inspiration to me and a big part of my world!
Today I had someone tell me not to bother taking Gatsby to the vet as it’s probably a strain then it turns out he has to have surgery. If I can offer one piece of advice to you if their looks like there is something not quite right, it probably isn’t. You’re the best person to understand if your cat needs to go to the vet and if you do research into cats you would know that cats hide their pain. I also took a responsibility as a cat mom, you don’t just dump and run when something happens. You don’t turn a blind eye and reassure yourself it’s fine. To think vets are con artists is not the right way of thinking, you should put your pet first and treat its pain.
My research states that their could be a progression into Arthritis, my previous pet Harvey a yellow lab got this disease and it was horrible. I got to see his quality of life drain away and eventually he had to be put down. I don’t want this post to be all doom and gloom and going down the rabbit hole of researching and worrying myself to death. I need to take each part of this process step by step.
I’m trying to get Gatsby booked in as fast as I can, I have the day off tomorrow. Fingers crossed we can start this process off as soon as possible. The first animal hospital I contacted is the sister company of our vet which is probably the best one to go with. I’ll keep everyone informed and I would like to say to everyone, thank you for your support. Most of you I have never met but I would consider you as friends, I have such a wonderful community of followers. Peace and love to you all.
