A Bit of Good News

I made the appointment for Robbie’s surgery last Friday. I figured it was best to get it over with rather than letting him be in pain for any longer. When I dropped him off, both the vets took the time to meet with me, which kind of made me nervous. Turns out they just wanted to show me the x-rays of his hips, to make sure that I understood we’d be fixing one problem, but his hips could potentially be a very big issue for him at any time, and that by fixing his knee, I wasn’t guaranteed that he’d be ok for the rest of his life. They mentioned that his hips could cause him such chronic pain that putting him down would be the only thing to be done. I love these vets so much and appreciated that they wanted to make absolutely sure that I understood everything that was going on with Robbie. They did both tell me that if he was their dog, they would do the knee surgery, because his hips may never be a problem for him, but that he knee was definitely a problem. So I felt good about going forward with the surgery, but just devastated that he has such a potential problem looming on the horizon.

But after they got Robbie under anesthesia, the vet called to say that when they examined the knee again, they weren’t 100% sure that the problem we thought he has was actually there. When they diagnosed him, they had him sedated but not fully under. Under the general anesthesia, they got him totally relaxed and the knee felt different to him. He called in the other vet for a second opinion, who agreed that he may have just a slight tear in the ligament but it was so slight that it wouldn’t warrant putting him through the surgery and recovery for it now. So we agreed that we would not do the ligament surgery right now, and think about it later if he hurts it again. They did clean his teeth while he was under, as we had planned, and said I could pick him up that afternoon.

I am thrilled that he didn’t need surgery, and not just because he saved us $800. I knew his recovery would be hard on him. I am a bit worried that if he does re-injure he knee, the damage could be much much worse and more painful for him. But more than that, I am so sad to hear about his hips. He has never complained about them before, but now that I know about them, I watch him much more carefully every day. We now have a standing prescription for pain meds for him so I can dose him up if I need to. My poor boy.

As for Neo, well he’s still here. The adoption people are asking that we get medical records to show that Neo doesn’t have a bladder infection, trying to explain away his peeing. I understand that they don’t want to have a cat back in their system to have to find another home for. But seriously? Cats with bladder infections don’t target one family member’s clothing to pee on. They pee everywhere because they can’t help it and they let you know they are in pain. He’s just mad. But since we really want him to go to a good foster home and then placed in a better home for him, we will play along. So poor Neo has to go back to the vet again this week so we can prove to the foster people that he’s not just sick. Ugh. I am dying here. I just want it over with because it’s killing me, seeing his sweet little kitty face every day, and knowing that he has no idea that he’s not going to be with us much longer.

I love animals but this drama is killing me. I think that after this round of pets has gone on to wherever it is that pets go, we will be an animal free household for a good long time.

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