Lincoln is getting surgery

Today is one of those days that I would have rather avoided, and hoped didn't happen.Though it could be worse. We took Lincoln to the vet to get his hip checked out since he has been favoring it for a while. We started to notice him favoring his hip right after he got his Rabies booster shots, and attributed the limping to the shots. When it didn't go away within a few days, and he was meowing when he'd try to get up from a laying down position, we figured he may have pulled a ligament or strained a muscle from climbing and jumping my moms 6 foot tall fence, it made sense that this could have happened, so we were kind of waiting to see if it would get better, and then with the move, and waiting on Marks student loans to come in more time passed, and here we are, just now getting our cat into the vet. 

I have known for a while now in my heart that something was wrong, more wrong than just a sore muscle. I feel like i'm naturally kind of intuitive in this way, I've been kind of anxious about this for a while, so when the vet took us back in to show us the x-rays, I knew something was up. I thought maybe it was hip dysplasia, which wouldn't have been as surprising as degenerative bone disease in a two year old mutt cat. It would have been just as devastating though. 

The vet explained to us it's something that, although rare, happens occasionally in large breed cats. It makes me so sad, he's a cat, cats are supposed to be healthy! Mark is having a hard time with it too, we've both shed a few tears for him, and what he is going to have to deal with in the next few months as he recovers and heals. 

The treatment option is to have a Femoral Head Ostectomy, which means that Lincoln has to get part of his hip bone amputated. You know that feeling you get when your about to cry, down in your throat, and your choking it down to keep the tears away? yeah, that was what happened as soon as the words slipped out of her mouth.

She explained that the procedure will cause his leg bone to just hang in his muscle, and as it recovers the scar tissue will form a false joint where the femur head once was in the hip socket. This will allow him to regain range of motion in his leg, and enjoy his life pain free. This gave me hope that everything will be okay.

I love this cat, he not only has the best disposition I've ever met in a cat, he has been our baby for the majority of our marriage. I mean this dude came into our lives and changed them. Yeah, a cat. He may just be a cat to most people, but damn, he's our cat and loving him has brought us closer together, and loving him has made us better people in a lot of ways. It helps us stand for something more than just ourselves. 

I feel for my big cat. he's about to undergo something that is going to hurt a lot, and take weeks and months to recover from. It hurts my heart to know he's not okay, and that he's probably been in chronic pain for a while now, possibly even before we noticed the limp. 

though the road ahead maybe long, if it relieves him of his pain it will be worth every penny spent and time invested to helping him heal. 

it's funny we just got a kitten, and he's a wild cat, but only in the playful way, in every other sense of the word he is domesticated and very sweet. I think it will help encourage Lincoln in his recovery, so far they seem to be friends, they greet each other by touching noses and Rosco wants to sleep next to Lincoln and be near him. After we got home from the vet Rosco licked Lincolns leg, and laid next to him. I think it'll be good for Lincoln. we will just have to play a lot with the little energizer bunny while Lincoln is recovering. 

so there's my update, I wish it was something simple, like he has an inflamed joint and we can give him some medicine to help him feel better, but it's kind of a big problem. Hopefully though, with the right type of rehabilitation he will recover, and resume his normal function of that leg, he may always have a slight limp in that leg, and most likely will be an indoor cat from now on, unless he has supervised outside time or maybe we will attempt leash training him? we will see. 

as we speak Rosco is racing around the living room with a toy in his mouth, and Lincoln is attempting to play with him, it's pretty cute.. I'm so glad he is liking his new playmate, but i'm sure it's aggravating his hip and his head, watching Rosco run like a maniac. it's pretty fun to watch them play though, makes my heart happy. I knew he needed a friend! i'm glad we got a Maine coon too, he really is something else man. 

so there is my update on how today went at the vet, i'll try to keep things updated on here, I'm guessing he will be scheduled for his surgery this coming week, and it's going to be a long road to recovery, but i'm hoping it will be worth it for him, and from what I have read online the surgery is usually pretty successful and the cats end up having normal activity and movement pain free again. i'm also grateful that I have so much time and that Ryker isn't mobile yet while all of this is happening.