Femoral head and neck excision in cats: medium- to long-term functional outcome in 18 cats.
OBJECTIVE
To assess the medium- to long-term functional outcome of cats after femoral head and neck excision (FHNE) using an owner-completed questionnaire.


METHODS
Cats that had FHNE and were free of other orthopaedic or medical conditions that could affect their mobility, other than the studied coxofemoral joint(s), were included. A specific owner-completed questionnaire was used at a minimum of 4 months postoperatively. The questionnaire assessed the ability of the cats to perform normal feline activities, change of demeanour or behaviour, the necessity for long-term analgesia and the time taken to resume normal activities.


RESULTS
Eighteen cats had undergone uni- or bilateral FHNE and met the inclusion criteria. All but one cat could perform normal feline activities without or with slight difficulty at follow-up. The aforementioned cat had notable, persistent difficulty in climbing. The majority of the cats took between 1 and 2 months to resume normal activity. No change in demeanour or behaviour was noted in any of the cats and none of the cats required long-term analgesia.


CONCLUSIONS
Based on the owner-completed questionnaire, cats have good-to-excellent medium- to long-term functional outcome after adequately performed FHNE.
Orthopaedic Surgery Service, Small Animal Hospital, University of Glasgow, Bearsden, UK fuiwenyap@gmail.com.
Fui W
FW
Yap
Adelaide Veterinary Specialist and Referral Centre, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
Andrew L
AL
Dunn
Department of Animal Medicine and Surgery, Veterinary School, Complutense University of Madrid, Madrid, Spain.
Paloma Maria
PM
Garcia-Fernandez
Grove Referrals, Norfolk, UK.
Gordon
G
Brown
Pets 'n' Vets, Pollokshaws, UK.
Ross M
RM
Allan
Orthopaedic Surgery Service, Small Animal Hospital, University of Glasgow, Bearsden, UK.
Ignacio
I
Calvo
D000818:Animals; D019644:Arthroplasty, Replacement, Hip / Q000379:methods / Q000662:veterinary*; D002371:Cat Diseases / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002415:Cats; D005260:Female; D005269:Femur / Q000473:pathology; D005270:Femur Head / Q000601:surgery; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006622:Hip Prosthesis / Q000662:veterinary*; D008297:Male; D011183:Postoperative Complications / Q000662:veterinary; D011184:Postoperative Period; D016896:Treatment Outcome