Meet Maui:
Maui was lucky enough to meet Dr. Renee Fleming in June of 2010. Maui arrived for examination after being hit by a car – he was a stray cat that had been found by a local shelter. Dr. Fleming examined Maui and recognized that his injuries were life threatening. This particular shelter did not have available funding to provide for his care, and as such had requested to have Maui humanely euthanized. To avoid this, Dr. Fleming decided to adopt Maui and take over his medical care. Maui was unable to walk, and it was clear he had suffered damage to his pelvis (hips.) Dr. Fleming gave Maui a very strong injection for pain so that he would be comfortable for the remainder of his exam and diagnostic tests.
Diana and Leslie – two of our Registered Veterinary Technicians – took x-rays and ran bloodwork to help Dr. Fleming determine the extent of Maui’s injuries. Poor Maui had a broken pelvis and a dislocated hip. This is a common injury when cats are hit by vehicles. Unfortunately, that was not his only injury – he suffered from a diaphragmatic hernia. When the car hit Maui, it did so with enough impact that it caused the diaphragm (a muscular wall that separates the chest and abdomen) to tear, which then allowed organs from his abdomen to enter his chest.
Maui needed a number of surgeries in order to survive with a good quality of life.
Today – Maui can be found lounging in the sun or playing with “Oliver Francis” – Dr. Fleming’s French Bulldog. Maui is now an indoor kitty which will help protect him from further injury. Maui does not need any long term medication, and he can run, jump and play just the same as any other cat. Dr. Fleming feels very fortunate that Maui came into her life that sunny, summer day – and we’re sure Maui feels the same way!
His diaphragm needed to be repaired prior to having his hips fixed. Animals that have a diaphragmatic hernia cannot breathe on their own during an anesthetic and have to be manually ventilated – which makes for a very stressful procedure for both the surgeon (Dr. Renee Fleming) and anesthetists (Diana Gray and 4th year veterinary student Jessica Mortlock). It took 2 hours to repair the damage to his diaphragm, but the surgery was successful and Maui recovered nicely.
We waited 2 weeks for his abdomen to heal until having Dr. Joe Rousseau repair the damage to Maui’s hip/pelvis. He also recovered very well from that procedure and has never looked back!
Today – Maui can be found lounging in the sun or playing with “Oliver Francis” – Dr. Fleming’s French Bulldog. Maui is now an indoor kitty which will help protect him from further injury. Maui does not need any long term medication, and he can run, jump and play just the same as any other cat. Dr. Fleming feels very fortunate that Maui came into her life that sunny, summer day – and we’re sure Maui feels the same way!
