Shake A Leg

Today, Squee went to a surgical specialist so we could learn what might be done for her legs. It's a bit difficult to see how strangely shaped her front limbs are in photographs, because she's fuzzy and easy going, so mostly it looks like her legs are just tucked up under her, rather than growing oddly. So, take a gander at these x-rays of her front legs:

Now, I'm no radiologist, but I will relay the trouble as it was explained to me. The top image is of Squee's front right leg. It's undersized and, as you can see, the bones form the leg into a tight, little U. This limb is actually missing one of the two bones than make up the forearm, and another bone, near the shoulder, was so feeble that it snapped in half shortly after she was born. The growth plates in the bones of this leg have closed, which means it will not grow any larger or longer, and there's really nothing that can be done for it. Or, in the words of the specialist we saw today, "This leg is toast." The second image is of Squee's left front leg. It's larger and straighter, though the bones are growing in the wrong direction. There's some hope for this leg, and it's the one we're going to focus on saving. For now, Squee needs time to let her leg grow. However, we have to keep this leg splinted for two reasons: 1) To encourage any further growth of that leg to be straight, rather than curved. 2) To stop Squee from walking on it the way she's been doing up to this point. Because the leg curves like an L, she can't put weight on the foot. Instead, she can only put weight on the side of her arm below the elbow.

Continued pressure on the arm is causing a sore to form, and the vet predicts that if she keeps walking on it in this way, in about a month that sore will develop into an abscess deep enough to damage tissue and bone, which would mean that leg could no longer be helped. So the splint also forces Squee to walk on her foot rather than her arm. In 3-4 months, Squee's leg will have grown enough that we can brave surgery. At that point, her stronger leg will be broken and restructed to form a straight leg. It won't be completely functional, but if all goes well, it will allow Squee to get around with relative ease and comfort. However, the regular visits to a specialist for check-ups, x-rays and splint changes will run about $1,500 when all is said and done, and the surgery we're building towards will cost $4,000. So, I've begun a fundraiser for Squee in the hopes that by the time she is ready for her surgery, we will have managed to collect enough money to go ahead with it. Please, if you would like to help Squee live a long, happy, pain-free life, donate here.