I say surgically improved because Dozer underwent his second FHO surgery (is that redundant?) this last week to remove the degraded (and broken) ball joint on his right hip. The Dr. said this is a hereditary condition that strikes (mostly) young male cats when the ball joint atrophies, becomes pitted and brittle, and then breaks. Once the FHO has been performed on both hips, the disease doesn't seem to affect other joints and the afflicted party is expected to live out the rest of their days normally.
Needless to say, with the femoral head and neck excised (leaving Dozer without a hip joint), walking can be pretty difficult for a while as he builds up the necessary muscle to replace the need of a joint. So, last night in a trip to the rest-box, Mr. Dozer had a little accident trying to make it in time. After Mommy cleaned the floor this morning, Daddy washed his favorite blanket and in the pictures below, you can see a VERY happy kitteh burying his nose into his favorite, warm-out-of-the-dryer blanket and giving it a gentle massage. As you look at the picture, try to imagine a very faint, stuttering purr coming from the poor little cat - maybe only his second purr since coming home in almost a week now (he did purr once last week very briefly when Mommy washed his blankie the first time). As I went upstairs to upload the pictures, it occurred to me that I could video his happy moment and post that. Too late, the moment had passed and all I received was a glare and the annoyed, cautious stare of a cat wondering what other horrible things I was planning on doing to him. Since that is his normal look, I decided not to take any further pictures or video...
HAPPY CAT!
He's getting further into it here with the nose pushed into the blanket and his little claws starting to work the material.
A closer look at the damage. He's also got a couple of shaved spots higher on his body where the IV and body systems monitors were attached.
The Patient's Recovery Room
