“Patient in Focus”
By Dr Lily Walker
Our patient in focus is Sphinx!
Sphinx is a gorgeous 7 year old cat who presented to our clinic on a Sunday morning after her owner noticed she was reluctant to move around at home, especially on her left back leg.
Sphinx is an indoor and outdoor cat, who doesn’t usually get into any trouble. When she came into the clinic we noticed a swelling around her left foot, there was crepitus (clicking) present but she was walking around quite well, just with a bit of a limp. Sphinx was very stoic and did not vocalise or show any pain response when her foot was being touched.
We kept Sphinx in hospital for the day to provide her with some analgesia and take some x-rays.
The x-rays revealed that Sphinx had a displaced fracture of her 3rd metatarsal on her left foot. Options for Sphinx included surgical repair or immobilisation and bandage changes. Most cats with a fracture like Sphinx heal incredibly well without surgical intervention. Her dedicated owners decided to manage her injury with regular bandage changes.
The bone was placed back into alignment and confirmed on x-ray, then we placed a Robert Jones bandage, which Sphinx handled very well.
Sphinx is doing really well at home and only requires weekly bandage changes, which she is very cooperative for!
Hopefully in the next few weeks she will be able to have her bandage off and be back to her normal self!
