Tibby’s Amputation on 04/10/2018

My 14-year-old Domestic Shorthair Cat named Thibodeaux, aka Tibby, began limping noticeably towards the end of March. I noticed that the joint on her lower left forelimb appeared somewhat swollen and tender to touch. She jumped up and down onto the kitchen table to eat her canned food, since we kept it up there to prevent our two small dogs from devouring it, so I presumed Tibby had an injury. Unfortunately, our local veterinarian found that the X-rays showed bone cancer.

A consultation to an oncologist was recommended, and we proceeded immediately. A fine needle aspiration of the growth was performed, which further confirmed the bone cancer. Chest x-rays revealed, much to my relief, that the cancer was localized to the left forelimb, and it had spread to the rest of Tibby’s body. However, a heart murmur and cervical spine narrowing was discovered. The oncologist said that Tibby was still a good candidate for amputation, with a post-operative good quality of life estimated to 2-4 years. An echocardiogram of the heart was performed before the operation, showing mild hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, which helped to tailor her specific needs for anesthesia and monitoring during the amputation procedure.

Tibby was kept nothing to eat or drink the night before her surgery. We brought her into the specialty veterinary hospital on Tuesday, April 10 at 7am. Around noon on that day, we received a called from the surgeon, informing us that Tibby had done well and that she would be kept overnight for close monitoring. The next morning, we were instructed to come bring Tibby home, because she had recovered wonderfully after the surgery, eating, drinking, and voiding – even had a bowel movement!

More to come…