The orthopedic cooling mat isn't because Candycorn is missing both of her femoral heads. There is a mass of scar tissue called a false joint that works well enough. The problem is that her femur doesn't line up quite right with her knees, and now that she's older her knees are starting to bother her. We bought a much larger orthopedic cooling mat for our giant breed dog and Candycorn loves it. She was obviously much more comfortable there than anywhere else, so we got her one of her own.
2/5

Candycorn was 9 years old before we discovered that both of her femoral heads were missing. One day I set her gently down on a chair, and she hissed at me. Those who know Candycorn (and know that she is the personification of sweetness) will gasp with horror when I tell them this and exclaim, "Oh no! Was she all right!" Something had to be terribly terribly wrong for Candycorn to hiss. We were all freaked out. Even the dog. So we called our vet in a panic and got a same-day appointment.
3/5

Our vet came back out with the X-rays looking pretty shaken and sent us straight to the orthopedists at the University's Veterinary Medical Center. Avascular necrosis of the femoral head is also called coxa plana, Legg-Calve-Perthes, or just Perthes Disease. The femoral head loses its blood supply and the bone dies. It can be very painful and usually requires a femoral head and neck ostectomy. If Candycorn had had such surgery as a kitten, the X-rays would have shown a clean cut.
4/5

Candycorn was very floppy as a kitten, but our vet just thought she had lax joints and cautioned us to be careful with her. We are. She has a special meow that says, “Lift me up” and “Lift me down” and because she is so sweet, delicate, loving, and utterly ungraceful if she tries to jump, we all go scrambling to help her when she chirps. But she is a very muscular cat, and as long as she can dig in the claws of her oversized mittens, she can haul herself up a cat tree by her forearms.
5/5

@SoNotNic ❤️❤️