Today it's off to the vet!

My mom's cat Archie is at the Veterinary Hospital awaiting surgery on his leg tomorrow afternoon (Tues the 9th). He is one of the kitties from the litter that I fostered last summer. My mom called me this morning and told me that he was limping and seemed to be in pain, so we decided to see if we could get him to the vet. His usual vet couldn't see him until tomorrow, so I called several vets until I found one who could.

Getting him to the vet was a bit of an ordeal. I have never heard such a creepy moan/growl come out of a cat in my entire life. When I tried to even get near him, much less pick him up and get him into the carrier, he was NOT HAPPY. I think if he'd been feeling better, he would've taken my arm off. I'm serious. It was one of the scariest sounds I've ever heard.

After taking an x-ray, the vet determined that Archie has a small fracture on the back part of his left leg, close to his hip. It isn't very serious, but it is bad enough that it won't heal with just a splint and will need surgery. The vet said that at the fracture site there is some bone that needs to be removed because it is rubbing up against another part of the bone, causing him pain when he walks.

We have no idea how this happened. He's a very young kitty - he'll be two in February - so it's definitely not from age. I'm thinking he probably was rough-housing with older "brother" Pepper or maybe he jumped off from someplace high and landed too hard or in a weird position, kind of like when a human twists their ankle. I really don't know from where though, because he is an indoor cat. If it was a fall, we're wondering if his weight may be a factor, as he's starting to get pretty chunky...he is a big guy for such a youngster.

Even though this doesn't sound like it'll be a major surgery, there are always risks, so please keep Archie in your thoughts. He will go in for the surgery tomorrow afternoon and should be able to come home on Wednesday. Poor little guy. He is my mom's little sweetheart and I know she's going to miss not having him home for two nights.

Never a dull moment.

Thanks for reading.