It's a me a Molly'o

My kitty molly has been limping for a few weeks and after her obvious pain ceasing to go away I broke down today and took her to the vet. 1 physical exam, 2 x-rays and 203 dollars later my cat needs surgery. At first my thought was she's a cat and you want to operate. I got a cat because it was supposed to be a realitively cheap pet. I can't look her in the face and tell her at one year old she either has to suffer in pain the rest of her life or I could just put you to sleep. So, with my parents support January 21st my cat will go under and have an excision arthroplasty.

The vet described the problem and showed me Molly's x-rays. She is unsure if the cat has a metabolic fracture or a congenital problem but there is definately necrotic tissue in the hip joint and the head of the femur (the ball like part of the bone that is usually present is not at least to the extent it should be. Instead the neck which is thin and lacking the round head portion is causing Molly to be in pain when she moves. I started reading some things online about the surgery and it is kinda cool. They just remove the mis-shaped head/neck portion and because of the size of the animal they can function normally without being in pain.

"Excision arthroplasty is the surgical removal of the ball portion (femoral head) of the ball and socket hip joint. It is used to treat more severe cases. A "false joint" of fibrous tissue then forms. This often increases both comfort and mobility. Mild exercise is advisable immediately after surgery."

Slightly interesting

http://www.seniorpetsupplies.com/articles/Hip_Joint_Removal.html