Charlie - the bravest cat I ever bred!!!

[feorag]

Today I've been to visit Charlie, one of my Siamese kittens, who is now 12 years old. 10 years ago he was in a road accident and 1 of his legs was badly shattered, Unfortunately, his owner's vet was on holiday and the locum for some reason just stitched up the hole in the 'good' leg and referred him to a vet about 5 mile from me who is an orthopaedic specialist, so the fact that the other leg was broken went unnoticed!!!

The orthopaedic vet x-rayed the referred leg, which was so badly shattered that he actually bound up the shattered bone with wire like a bunch of sticks. A couple of days later the stitches on the other leg burst and a lot of unpleasant infected matter came out of the hole, along with the broken end of a bone, complete with road tar clinging to the end!!!

The outcome of this was that he was hospitalised at the vets for 2 months while they fought to save both legs. In the end they had to amputate the 'good' leg, but because the gangrene and infection was so bad, there wasn't enough skin to cover the wound if they'd amputated at the knee so they had to amputate from the hip.

Unfortunately, they'd had to fuse the ankle joint on the 'bad' leg othewise he would have lost that one too, so his owners were told by the vet that he would not be able to jump, as he would have no spring in the fused ankle, but that he would hop like a rabbit and he would never be able to get up stairs. They also said that the leg had been damaged to such an extent that he would develop arthritis in a couple of years and the most they could expect him to live would be for another 5/6 years.

It's obvious he's no quitter (unusual in a Siamese I have to say, as they aren't renowned for being fighters when it comes to sickness). He learned how to climb stairs and how to jump and he never gave in.

3 months ago he was desperately ill with pancreatitis and didn't eat for 5 days, or drink for 3 and he was actually 3 hours off being put to sleep when again he proved he wasn't giving in and finally started to pick up and get over that.

Last Thursday in the middle of the night he woke his owner and she discovered that his back end was paralysed. He couldn't use his back legs, urinate or defecate. The vet thought it was either a stroke or a blood clot. So began the next fight and he has fought. He never stopped eating and he never stopped 'mouthing off', so that was in itself a good sign and he wouldn't lie still, but was dragging himself with his forelegs to get to where he wanted to be. On Saturday he was still fighting, much to my surprise never mind his owner's and when I went to see him today he is walking again, albeit with great difficulty given that he only has one leg and that doesn't operate properly.

I cried when I saw him, because I was just so proud of him - he is without doubt the bravest cat I've bred.









With his devoted owner.



And with me (and if you look closely you can still see the tears in my eyes!)

[Amalthea]

What a handsome lad he is, too!! Well done, Charlie!!!

[Shell195]

What a brave boy he is, my Siamese have always been quitters so he deserves a medal. Get well soon Charlie
Is he a Lilac Tabby point??

[Esarosa]

What a brave boy he is and my gosh isn't he handsome!

[mrsfluff]

Eileen that is a lovely pic of you both! He's a very handsome boy

Jo

[freekygeeky]

what a fighter! and he is beautiful!

[feorag]

Originally Posted by Shell195

What a brave boy he is, my Siamese have always been quitters so he deserves a medal. Get well soon Charlie
Is he a Lilac Tabby point??

He's a blue, but he has kept quite pale on his body!

[fenwoman]

He is handsome, but then I am biased as I adore meezicats.

[freekygeeky]

Originally Posted by feorag

image

Sexy and he knows it!!!

[feorag]

Thank you everybody.

I must also acknowledge that a lot of his survival is due to the care and diligence of his owner, who totally spoiled him before his accident, feeding him all manner of luxury food - M&S Pork stuffed with apricots being one of them

However, since his accident she has been very firm, has kept his weight down by feeding him small meals 4 times a day of 'proper' cat food, to avoid putting any excess pressure on the leg. When I arrived this morning she said it was 'time for his physio' and took him down the garden so that he had to walk back, which she does 4 times a day. So she is fighting with him, even when I know that all she wants to do is to cosset and protect him and totally spoil him.