Need Advice: 4 week old kitten with broken leg

[suzannef]

I'm hoping that the cat-wise people on this site can give me some information and advice. This is my new kitten Henry. I'm fostering him with the intent to adopt. He was brought into our city shelter on Sunday, June 26, approximate age 4 weeks, with a broken left front leg. It isn't known how the leg was broken.


The shelter examined him and splinted it, gave him pain meds and antibiotics. There was a puncture wound on that leg and the foot was very swollen. They also gave him a Capstar because he was covered in fleas. So he didn't seem well cared for, but was/is very social so seems to have been handled. 

I emailed the shelter about fostering him on 6/27, and they told me the leg might need to be amputated and that he wasn't ready to leave. Due to other obligations, I wasn't able to pick him up until 7/4. That day, they told me that he was healing well and would probably keep his leg. They called me back later that evening to let me know that actually, the vet didn't really expect it to heal in the splint and they might still need to amputate, and I should bring him in for X-Rays on 7/17.

After only 24 hours, my husband and were both totally in love with Henry and committed to giving him a permanent home. My husband (bless him!) suggested that we go ahead and take Henry to our own vet (paying ourselves rather than relying on the free vet services from the shelter.) But we trust our vet, who is an excellent surgeon, and really want to give Henry the best possible medical care. Here's what our vet says:

1) Henry is too young and his bones are too soft for surgery right now - pins or plates wouldn't take. If he were a month or two older, it would be much easier to repair this injury.

2) X-rays showed that the radius and ulna were both "badly" broken (fully fractured). Humerus is intact.

3) The bones were somewhat overlapping, not well aligned. He put Henry under anesthesia on 7/6 and reset the bones. He says they are still not perfect but are better aligned than they were. He re-splinted the leg.

4) I'll take Henry back weekly until either A) the bones heal by themselves; B) he's old enough for surgery/pins/whatever; or C) our doctor tells us that amputation is the best option (which he thinks is unlikely).

I'd like to save his leg if at all possible, but am totally fine with having a 3-legged cat if that's what's best for him. I just don't want him to be in any pain. I want him to be able to jump and play with my other cats and have a normal (indoor-only) life.

Right now, Henry is on cage rest. He doesn't seem to be in any pain - in fact, he really wants to explore and play, but I can't let him, and that's sad. He's eating well (Royal Canin Babycat wet and dry) and using his box like a big boy. He's a sweet, sweet loud-purring, nose-booping, cuddle-loving kitten.

Everything I’ve ready online confirms that he’s had the right treatment at both the shelter and my vet’s office. But I’d like to hear from people here. Has anyone been through something similar? How did it turn out? Any advice? Is there anything else that I could or should do?

Thank you all in advance for your responses. I realize I probably sound like a crazy lady, but well...guilty as charged. :-)

 

[red top rescue]

Look at Grey Boy's story by my signature.  He was a feral and there was no way he would have tolerated the external splint he would have needed to even attempt to align the bones in the badly shattered leg, so it was cleaned and rebandaged every 5 days.  It did heal completely.  The bones were shattered and some pieces were removed in the first surgery.  He did not have to have his leg amputated, and although it has no stiffness to bear weight, it doesn't seem to hurt him and he can use the paw to swat another cat or to dig treats out of a bowl.  I think it helps him balance when he walks also, even though it cannot hold weight at all.  So it seems that even worst case scenario, your little one will probably do fine without an amputation even if he ends up being a little gimpy.  He has three other good legs to work with and he doesn't have to hunt for a living.

 

[LotsOfFur]

You sound like a perfectly normal cat guardian that wants the best for her kitty

for Henry and for you both!

 

[suzannef]

Thank you both for responding. Red Top, I looked at the photos and read about Grey Boy, and it definitely gives me perspective. If he can go through that and be mostly fine now, I'm sure that Henry will be fine too. He's just so little that it makes the problem seem huge. Grey Boy is a beautiful and very lucky cat to have found you. Thank you so much for taking care of him. 

 

[catpack]

We had a 6 week old kitten come to us a few year back with a severely broken rear leg. He too was casted/splinted and put on cage rest.

The bandage was changed once a week or as needed due to getting wet (which typically meant we went in for bandage changes every 2-3 days...)

We re x-rayed at 4 weeks and saw that everything was healing. He was taken out of the splint/cast at 6 weeks, and came out of crate rest 8 weeks after we got him.

This kitty is now 4 years old and doing great (was adopted 2 yrs ago!) To most people, they would never know anything had ever been wrong. *I* can notice slight weakness in the leg, but this certainly doesn't affect him in any way.

 

[suzannef]

Thanks, CatPack! I was really hoping to hear from someone with so similar an experience. Really glad that things turned out so well for your kitten. The cage rest part is turning out to be unexpectedly difficult. He's clearly full of energy and wants to play SO badly.