Cat's Femoral Fracture Requires Surgery

Background

Cody, a 2 year old cat, was hiding under some pillows when his pet parent, Christine D., found him in obvious pain and unable to stand. A trip to the emergency vet revealed that Cody had fractured his femur and would require a femoral head ostectomy (FHO) surgery.

Christine shares the full story:

"At the end of the long July 4th holiday weekend, we found Cody hiding under some pillows on the bed. When we tried to get him to come out, he yelped, was breathing hard, and in obvious pain. He wouldn't stand up or put any weight on his rear leg. So off to the vet we went and, eventually, the vet figured out that he had a fracture in the neck of his femur. Because Cody's growth plates are not closed all the way, he is susceptible to fractures without having a major trauma. As far as we can figure, he must have landed wrong on his leg when he jumped on the bed.

Cody had a procedure called an FHO (femoral head ostectomy) in which the entire head and neck of the femur is removed and then the scar tissue forms a fake joint in his hip. It was basically the only treatment option and it was comforting to know that Embrace would be reimbursing us for surgery. We got our reimbursement back before Cody got his stitches out!

Cody is doing great now. He could walk on his leg the day after the surgery and was quickly back to his usual cat activities. Two months later his limp is almost gone and he is back to his old self. It's pretty amazing that such a large part of his bone was removed and he is completely fine. If only all the fur they had to shave off for the surgery would grow back faster! His big patch of short fur is the only way you would be able to tell he had surgery.

Thanks Embrace for helping us to be able to afford this necessary surgery!"