After a few incidences of witnessing our beloved 3 yr old bengal boy walking with a bandy back leg, I took him to the vet who confirmed my fears that he has a luxating patella (this is where the ligaments slip out of the grooves in the kneebone). So far, when it happens it only stays out for a few minutes and then it rights itself. It doesn't appear to cause him any pain, so far. However the vet has told me it will get progressively worse and become painful and debilitating. An operation is advised and we will start by getting him xrayed in the new year.

Has anyone else's cat had this and if so, did you go done the surgical route and what was the outcome? Of secondary interest is typical costs for the surgery as I understand it can be an expensive procedure.

Many thanks

Sara

Hi Sara. The only option for patella is surgery! There is pain involved for the cat when the kneecap goes out --but not when it goes back in. As for the cost ... your vet should be able to tell you what they will charge. This should give you a little time to save for the surgery or go the route of gofundme or some other form of fundraising for the cost. Note that many of the fundraisers are not very successful, but could add a few dollars to help you out.

Luxating patella can be due to a genetic predisposition, so inform your breeder as they need to know.
Surgery is successful, but best not delayed too long, as damage to the joint and arthritis may set in and that will affect his future prognosis.

Hi Sara

Sorry to hear this, Hendrix also has a luxating patella, and it really isn't nice to see them hobbling around when it does slip out...

We had Hendrix xrayed and it was decided not to operate. He was pretty young when we first saw him hobbling, it would last a couple of days and he was clearly in some pain and discomfort. We were given anti inflammatory medicine for him and it would clear up. It then didn't happen for six months but when it started again we arranged for him to have X-rays to see if an operation was needed. What was unusual was the fact his growth plates hadn't completely closed which, by the time he was xrayed was pretty late. A specialist was referred to and it was felt that whilst he did have slightly loose kneecaps, it wasn't considered bad enough for an operation and that maybe the late closure of the growth plates was causing aggravation. This was all earlier this year and he hasn't hobbled since then so I'm hoping that was the case.

We were told that many animals can live perfectly well with this condition without requiring surgery. You may find that once xrayed they may decide surgery isn't needed. However, we were going to go ahead with surgery if it was recommended as the earlier the better. There was someone else on here if you look for my posts on this subject (just do a search) and his Bengal had very successful surgery and it certainly put my mind at rest.

Keep us informed how his X-rays go and good luck!

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Clare
Hendrix and Jagger, Brown Marble Boys (born 18 August 2013)
Hampshire, UK

Thank you Sherry, Elaine and Clare for your very helpful responses. Clare, it is good to hear that Hendrix is having a good outcome without surgery. We will definitely go for the x rays for Jaxy and see what is advised. When I asked the vet about cost she said it would depend on the treatment which makes total sense but I later I slightly regretted not pushing for ballpark figures. However, whatever treatment Jaxy needs he will have, even if we have to live on beans on toast ;).

I will keep you posted re the xrays, although it will probably be after Christmas. I will also contact the breeder once we know what's what.

Sara

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Dallas, TX USA
Diesel - snow Bengal born 09/01/2013 adopted Feb 2014
Tuck, Chloe, Buddy, Lewis & Tia - rescue kitties
Clyde, Bleu & Coal - Great Danes

At least the x-rays will show the extent of the injury and you can do from there. It's really odd because my vet will always print out an estimate with "Low" and "high" listed. It gives me a range, but at least I know it should never be more than the "high" amount and I can prepare and decide what to do. The vet already knows what is involved with the surgery if they've ever done it before and should be able to itemize something for you.

So i made an account on this forum to tell you about my recent experience with this whole ordeal hoping it will help someone in the future.

So my bengal cat (2 years old) had a luxating patella, it was stage 2, where you could pop it out and back in using your hand with minimal effort, but would stay in place for the most part, i would occasionally, probably twice a day see him limping or holding his leg up. I took him to the vet where he was x-rayed, it was confirmed to be luxating patella in stage 2, i was then referred to a animal hospital specialist in houston, texas, ( http://www.animalemergencyhospital.com/ ) they are actually rated as one of the best animal surgery specialist in the nation. I was told that the surgery is absolutely needed asap, and that it would be a 3 day ordeal, 1st day surgery, and 2 days of close observation. Followed by 6-months of recovery. 3-4 of those months complete isolated and locked in a kennel or small closet with a cone on his head and daily exercises to recuperate his leg. For the first few weeks oral medication for pain and antibiotics was also given every 6-8 hours. The total operation costs me around $3,500.00 for everything. They shaved him from his spine to his paw pads, they ended up drilling out the crevice in his knee to deepen the groove, they also put some screws into his leg because they had to reset it (probably did some other medical stuff but im not a medical person and translation gets lost). I went in after 1 month for a re-exam, and his bone was already 40-50% healed it had looked like. He was starting to get up and want to go around the closet after 3-4 weeks, occasionally knocking his water/food bowls over with his cone. I tried to give him a break by taking him cone off when i spent time with him, His leg was wrapped with a bandage and sticky medical wrap for the first 2 weeks before it started to come off, the stitches were the kind that go away on their own so they were gone within the first month, everyday i had to go in sometimes twice a day, and bend his leg all the way out and as far in as it could go into his body (with minimal force) for 10-15min a day to exercise his leg for recovery. I was scared to death from this whole ordeal, it was nerve racking to think about my best friend losing his ability to walk, but knowing he'd be in pain the rest of his lift and eventually losing his ability to walk was worse, but im so glad to say, its been about 5 months now, and he's 100% recovered, full walking, running, and jumping abilities, and besides a hard to notice hairless scar on his leg, and slightly less hair on that leg than the rest of his body (still growing). you'd never know he ever had major surgery. Hopefully my experience will give overs courage to do the surgery or make them feel a little better about it. Give them hope. It is expensive, you can say i overpaid, but i don't care, i got the best case scenario, and i'd pay more if i had to if it meant saving my best friends life and future. I wish anyone else with this issue luck in the future.