Bobcat Rescue!

I received a call on January 29th from Sabrina S, a friend and fellow wildlife rehabber about an injured bobcat. I was scheduled to work the next day at Animal Care Alliance in Richmond Indiana, so I messaged the director (Joyce Luckett) to see if it was okay for me to see and treat the bobcat there. I was not in the least bit surprised when she said, “Sure! Bring her in!” Joyce is also a wildlife rehabber with a huge, huge heart:)

Stephanie L, the director of Wildcare in Bloomington Indiana, and two coworkers brought her in the following morning.

I’m not sure if this was really brave, or really dumb on my part, but I locked myself (and a technician) in the enclosure and had him distract Bobbi while I gave her an injection of sedative. Once she was relaxed, I could easily feel a complete break in her back leg.

It is important to examine the color of the gums when an animal is injured. If they are pale, it can be an indicator of blood loss and/or shock. Our girl was thankfully nice and pink.

We took x-rays of her pelvis and legs as well as her chest and abdomen to look for other injuries.

The x-ray confirmed a complete femoral fracture as well as multiple hip fractures and SI luxation. I contacted several veterinarians to ask about orthopedic repair. Unfortunately, the lowest estimate we got was $2000. This is a significant amount of money for a non-profit organization and not something we can do. So I decided to do my best and fix the fracture.

I have repaired a grand total of ONE fracture in my 18 year career (I usually send them to a specialist). so you can imagine that I was a bit stressed and fairly anxious for this procedure. As it turns out, I was able to get the bones realigned and stabilized the fragments with a pin. I can’t explain the immense relief I felt when I saw this x-ray of the pin seated just right!

Bobbi did extremely well under anesthesia!

Tomorrow we will sedate her again to remove the staples and take another x-ray of her leg and hips. If all goes well with her leg, the next step is to do surgery on her hip. Unfortunately, the fracture is right in the socket where the head of the femur (long bone) connects. If we were to let it heal this way, she would develop arthritis in the joint that would cause chronic pain. In the next surgery I will be removing the head of the femur so that there is no longer pressure in the socket. This is called an FHO (femoral head osteotomy) and a common procedure done in dogs with severe hip dysplasia.

In the meantime, Bobbi is confined to a quiet area in the clinic and receives daily pain medication disguised in her favorite food.

We will continue to post updates so be sure to check back!