July 24th, 2006

Monday. The kitten’s leg is not improving in spite of lots of physical therapy. His owners want me to keep trying but…

The surgeon came over today to check out his leg. He is not optimistic, to say the least. If the physical therapy has not yielded measurable changes each day he’s been here his chances are nearly nil of ever bending that leg again without…surgery, of course.

He’s recommending a surgical procedure that will strip the muscle from the healed bone it’s now attached to. Without physical therapy at home, the muscles simply attached to the fibrous bands of new, healing bone. If I don’t detach this muscle the leg will continue to grow inappropriately.

And here’s where I make fun of surgeons: When you’ve got a hammer everything starts to look like a nail. In other words, surgeons just like to cut.

Yet, considering my non-surgical progress, or lack thereof, this kitten’s leg is starting to look an awful lot like a nail.