Howl’s Second Beginning

Hi everyone! I’ve had Howl for exactly seven days now, and it’s been a non-stop roller coaster since the second he got home. We adopted him from a local humane society on Saturday November 11 2017 (although the accuracy of the word “humane” is questionable.) We noticed he was holding his paw up and had assumed it was because his paw was stuck with so much dried litter that he couldn’t put his foot down without it being uncomfortable, so I cleaned his paws in a sink of warm water (much to his dismay) and put him down to explore. He ran across the room and dove under the couch, all while still holding his front left paw up. We decided to let him relax a little bit, and I called our vet to make an appointment first thing Monday November 13 2017, as our vet is only open Sundays for emergency appointments. That night, we put Howl in a cozy kitty bed and put him in bed with us, he didn’t seem to want to eat or drink and I just had a bad feeling about his paw. When I got up the next morning (I won’t say woke up because I didn’t sleep), I decided to call the vet and ask to bring him in that day, I just couldn’t wait and was worried he was in pain. When the vet began to examine his leg, she noticed there were some mobility issues in his left front leg that she was concerned about so she suggested we do an xray. As it was a Sunday, she said it would be best to send the xrays out to a specialist for them to look at, and in the meantime, she gave me pain medication and anti-inflammatory medication to take home. Later on that evening, she called me back with the bad news: Howl’s left elbow had been dislocated quite some time ago and our best course of action would be to splint him and see an orthopaedic specialist as there is concern regarding his growth plates. I made an appointment to come in the next day to have his splint put on and then immediately called the humane society. I spoke directly to the person who ran the humane society and was given three options: a) return Howl and get a refund for his adoption fee; b) take Howl to their vets, their appointments and let them deal with the costs and I get to keep Howl; and c) take Howl to the vets I choose and make the decisions regarding his care on my own, but I cover the costs. I decided to try option b, take Howl to their vets. I made an appointment for their vet in the next town over, about a 30 minute drive, for the following day, Tuesday November 14 2017. It was a small vet clinic, and we appeared to be the only ones there. Someone took us to the examination room, where we waited an hour for the vet to come in. Upon entering the room, she approaches Howl and we engage in the following conversation:

Vet – “Oh buddy, you’re in a lot of trouble with that arm. This kind of injury requires arthrodesis (joint fusion), which is a very expensive surgery and the humane society will not cover the costs. That being said, he CAN live with his arm untreated”

Me – “But what kind of life can he live?”

Vet – “Well, he’ll never use that leg. He will either drag it behind him or hold it up all of the time.”

Me – “And what about pain?”

Vet – “Well, he’s a kitten, so he’ll learn to adapt and live with the pain.”

That response made me sick to my stomach. I couldn’t believe someone who was in the profession of caring for animals would suggest letting an animal live in pain. I asked about more pain medication because he was on his last day of what we received from the other vet, to which she said he would be fine. She then suggested we take his splint off because it’s not going to do anything in terms of healing at this point, to which I declined because prior to the splint being on, he wouldn’t even walk himself to the litter box, but since it’s been on, he actually walks around and even goes up and down the stairs. I left the vet knowing that if I gave him back, he would either be put down or left to live his life in pain and both of these outcomes left me with an awful feeling so I decided to call my vet back and have her send in the orthopaedic specialist referral. I promptly got a call back with an appointment on Monday, November 20 2017 and our vet gave us enough pain meds to last him for about two weeks. At this point is when I decided to do things myself, because the humane society had little regard for Howl. Now that he is casted and on pain medication, he runs around, plays chase with his kitty brothers, and acts like an actual kitten. Now we wait for the orthopaedic specialist appointment.