It has been 3 months since Tiger's FHO surgery. Sadly, we have only seen small improvements. He has recently started putting weight on his leg, but doesn't have the muscle strength to flex his foot so he walks on the top part of his foot. And in the past few weeks he started to chew on his foot, at first we were excited as we thought that was a good sign. And it probably is, it most likely shows that he is regaining nerve function in his foot. The vet told me he probably feels a tingling sensation, like you do when you hand falls asleep. But unfortunately this tingling sensation became quite irritating for Tigee and he continued to chew on his foot. He eventually chewed off part of his foot pad on one of his toes. That is what motivated our vet appointment today. The good news is that the wound didn't appear deep or infected. The bad news is the only solution is to have him wear a collar. He has already figured out how to remove it while I am typing this. I reinstalled it, a little tighter this time, so he's busy trying to remove it again.
The vet did a very thorough exam and was pleased with most everything she saw. She said he does have nerve function in his foot, so that is a very good sign. But she said this is a very difficult surgery for a cat to recover from, and the progress is very slow and difficult. She spent some time showing me how to perform the physical therapy, basically we need to "bicycle" his leg 10 times twice per day. She said at first he probably won't allow more than a couple. She had me do one to ensure I understood what I needed to do, and boy was it difficult. I barely made it through one. Hopefully Scott and I will have some success as we start this new physical therapy routine!
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