Ziggy's Story
I, David, came home one day from work and did a quick inventory of our cats, as I often do. We have four: Mandy, Daisy, Mister Burns, and Ziggy. We adopted Ziggy from Folsom Feline Rescue at PetsMart on Iron Point Road in June, when he was just three months old. He was named Edmund, but we renamed him Ziggy Stardust, or Ziggy for short, because his face has a coloring over just one eye, and it reminded us of the David Bowie character Ziggy Stardust.
All the cats were accounted for, except Ziggy. Normally this wouldn't be unusual, in the sense that he might be sleeping in a closet or under one of the beds. But then I heard a slight mewing and realized it was coming from outside. I looked out there and saw Ziggy lying near a bush. He was looking at me, meowing, and my first thought was, "Oh Ziggy, how did you get out?" As I went to go gather him I noticed blood on one of his legs, and when I picked him up it was obvious one of his legs was broken.
I immediately got Ziggy into a carrier and took him to Mother Lode Emergency Hospital in Cameron Park. I then called my wife, Diana, as she had not yet arrived home from work. We agreed to meet at Mother Lode. Immediately upon arrival, Ziggy was given some medication for the pain, and to put him under so he could be examined.
It turned out he had been attacked by a dog or coyote. We don't know whose dog might have done it; there are several in the neighborhood, so we can't know for sure.
There were several problems. First of all, the bone in the leg just above the ankle was broken. Second, the ball joint at the hip was broken off, and the hip was dislocated. Third, Ziggy had several dog bite wounds in his belly and leg area. The doctor explained that the dog bites were actually the most serious, as they may have damaged internal organs and risked infection. While the leg itself was bad, the doctor actually felt that was not the most critical thing.
The good folks at Mother Lode stabilized Ziggy, set the leg as best they could, and cleaned and closed his wounds. Ziggy stayed the night at the vet's so they could monitor his condition and administer any necessary pain medication. The next morning we took Ziggy to his regular vet, who told us that we would have to go to specialists at the VCA Referral Hospital in Rancho Cordova. The vet's diagnoses was grim at best. My wife cried all day and night thinking Ziggy wouldn't make it.
We took Ziggy to the VCA at Bradshaw and they examined him and gave us hope. The VCA vet told us Ziggy could have his leg amputated, or they could try and save the leg by setting the bone and fighting the infections. There was also a continuing risk from infection in the bite wounds, although the bites did not seem to have damaged any internal organs. At the time we didn't realize how well cats could get along without one of their legs, and we made the decision to try and save Ziggy's leg. Of course this required a lot of money, and also would require a lot of hospital time for Ziggy. But we felt we needed to do all we could to help him.
VCA did the surgery and it seemed to go very well. Naturally Ziggy was heavily medicated for several days; sporting a colorful bandage, he seemed to be doing as well as one might expect. He certainly was a big hit with the staff at VCA, with his overwhelming cuteness and his calm demeanor. He seemed to be recovering fine; we even got to bring him home.
While at home he was kept in a guest bedroom in a large dog crate so as to prevent him from being too active and doing damage to his stitches and wounds. However, when we took him to the hospital for a checkup, they determined that he had a further infection and needed to stay there a few more days. He was required to have tubes in his body to help allow pus to drain.
We visited Ziggy as often as we could, and we think it really helped his spirits. We brought him cat treats and bought him some toys. He developed a bit of a chest cold and had to be put into isolation. At this point we couldn't even really visit him; we could only watch from behind glass. The whole process had really been very trying on all involved, especially Ziggy. Although he seemed to be alert and eating, he also was clearly not comfortable as he spent most of the time lying down. He would try to walk, with some success, but it was obvious that this would be a long recovery.
During our visits to see Ziggy we always made sure to talk with the doctor. Although Ziggy seemed to be doing well, the truth was that the leg was having a hard time with infection. The skin on his leg kept deteriorating. Also, the area where the plate had been placed had opened up twice and there was a continued risk it wouldn't improve. This left us with a couple of options: we could keep trying to save the leg, which would probably mean more time in the hospital and the chance that it wouldn't improve. Or we could elect to have the leg amputated. The doctor assured us that cats do extremely well with only three legs, and that Ziggy could have the surgery the following day and be home within a couple of days.
We made the decision to amputate Ziggy's leg.
The surgery went very well, and Ziggy was able to come home within two days. We had to keep him isolated from our other cats. To make sure he didn't run and jump around too much, and pop his stitches, we set up a large dog crate in a spare bedroom. When he was supervised we would let him out to get some exercise and take off his e-collar so he could clean himself (but not his incisions). At one point, because of all the infections he was fighting, he was on four medications (three for infections and one for pain). Mary Lou and Chris from Waggy's Pet Sitting Service watched over our little Ziggy while we were at work.
Fortunately, Mary Lou was with Ziggy one day when pus began leaking from one of his wounds, and we were able to rush him to the hospital to get medical attention. If it wasn't for Mary Lou, Ziggy would have been in pain for at least another four to five hours before we came home from work. Ziggy had yet another infection and the vets upped his meds yet again. This was a very hard time because we knew that it was possible that the infections could be a persistent problem that would not be good for Ziggy or for ourselves.
But happily the infection cleared thanks to the new medication, and Ziggy was able to get his stitches out a week later. The doctor said everything seemed to be going really well and that Ziggy should be kept in isolation, with his e-collar on, for another week, since the incision still had a bit of healing to do. We knew Ziggy was improved quite a bit because he was mewing a lot, out of boredom, and even managed to escape the room briefly a couple of times. We were surprised at how fast he was!
Ziggy continued his recovery until the day finally came when the doctor told us Ziggy was free to roam the house, integrate with the other cats, and generally start being a kitten again!
Ziggy almost seems faster than before. He certainly can take corners quite sharply now; he climbs the stairs; and generally it seems like nothing has changed since that sad day a month prior. The only evidence anything has happened are the many areas of fur that had been shaved off in the process. Oh yeah, and the missing leg.
In the end, we are so extremely happy that Ziggy seems to be practically not worse for wear. If we could change anything, it would probably be to have the leg amputated immediately. It would have saved Ziggy some unnecessary pain and discomfort, saved some stress and worry on our part, and saved us a lot of money (about half of the total, equal to $4000).
A lesson we learned is that you should discuss in advance, and know what you would do, if this type of unthinkable situation occurs to you. We made a very emotional decision at the time to try and save Ziggy's leg, and even though it worked out wonderfully in the end, the unfortunate fact is that it cost a lot more money than it should have ($8000) and probably put Ziggy through more stress and strain than he needed.
Ziggy is happy and enjoying life (and window perches). We're just relieved to have our little tripod still with us.