Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary

We Named Them Tibby and Fibby

Today I picked up our two kittens with deformed legs at our vet clinic in Helena, Montana Veterinary Specialists.  They had been at the clinic getting their limbs X-rayed, general medical exams, and bloodwork.  I took this photo of Dr. Jennifer Rockwell holding the two tykes.  That's one of their X-rays on the lightboard.  Jennifer and the rest of the team at the clinic  provided wonderful care for the kittens, and of course everyone there fell in love with them.

Yes, we named them Tibby and Fibby, a suggestion by one of our blog readers.  In a blog comment posted on Aug. 14, Chris wrote that the names were "Just a way to try and give back what they don't have, at least in name and spirit!"  We liked the idea and the names seemed to fit them!

We learned from the X-rays that both kittens actually do have tibias but not fibulas ... and their tibias are not exactly normal, to say the least!

Here is an X-ray of a normal feline rear leg. You can see that straight vertical limb -- that's the tibia, which is the shin bone in humans.  The fibula, which is much smaller and lighter in structure, runs along behind it and isn't visible in this X-ray.  The tibia and fibula connect to the femur, or thigh bone, at the top of the image.

Here is the X-ray of Tibby's leg. You can see how radically different it is.  Not only is there no fibula, but the tibia -- which is supposed to be long and straight and thick -- is short and twisted and circles completely around.  It also doesn't connect at all with the femur, which is why their legs dangle and flop when we hold the kittens up in the air.

Weird, huh?  So weird that our internal medicine specialist at the clinic, Dr. Britt Culver, has never seen anything like this before, and nor has Jennifer.

So here's a close-up of the X-ray that was on the lightboard, showing both limbs.  With the tibia completely malformed and the fibula entirely missing, we figured Tibby and Fibby seemed like appropriate names for these two ... as Chris said, to give them back at least in name and spirit.

And they, like all of our animals, don't let their disability slow them down one bit.  Indeed, we set them on the floor of the waiting room at the clinic, and they took off to go exploring!

Well, enough X-rays.  Here they are again in the exam room, with me serving as the kitten holder this time.  Tibby and Fibby weren't the only cats I picked up at the clinic today, though -- there was one more.  But her story will have to wait till tomorrow's blog!

(Click on photos for larger image.)

Popeye Gets Adopted

Popeye came to us at the tender age of 3 weeks from Spokane Animal Control.  He had been dumped in the overnight bin outside the shelter.  His front legs were bent inwards from a condition known as a "varus deformity" ... two bones in each leg were growing at a different rate. 

This little scamp immediately captured our hearts.  He had no idea his legs were oddly shaped, and they didn't slow him down at all.  As the weeks went by, his legs started straightening out, and soon it was hard to tell that anything was different.  You can see Popeye's original story here.

Last week, a nice young lady in Missoula named Carmen U.  saw Popeye in our summer newsletter.  She called to ask if he was available for adoption.  We said yes, and Carmen came out this past weekend to visit with Popeye.  It was love at first sight, and Popeye went off to his new family in Missoula.

Today Carmen e-mailed us to say, "Just wanted to let you know that little Popeye is such a joy! I think he's very happy in his new home -- purring all the time, checking out every nook and cranny, and getting to know the boys and the other animals."