DeClawing Plantargrade Stance Complication

24 May 2015

Hi Laurie -

A veterinarian-friend called me because a month or so after doing a laser surgery declawing on his own cat,

the cat started hyperextending the carpus and is now walking plantargrade on both front limbs.  He has been talking to his veterinarian friends who say it is a very rare complication post surgery.

He is hoping to avoid arthrodesis, and looking for possible options.  I thought of:

    Bracing - soft (Therapaw) vs. rigid (Hero)?

    Laser to promote scar tissue?

Any thoughts/ideas?

thanks for your input and expertise -

BW

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Hey B,

Sorry for the tardy reply!

Okay... so this poor cat!

Off the top of my head... 

•Could be an adaptation due to discomfort of having to walk on the middle phalanx vs the distal phalanx/DIP jts.  Could be that she WAS painful (but not now) and that this is how she 'learned' to compensate this way.

◦Test by pushing on the toe pads to identify tenderness of the overlying bone

•Could be that the surgical technique unintentionally damaged the superficial digital flexor tendons... and either released them completely or allowed them to stretch.

◦Test by trying to specifically stretch the SDFT (extend carpus, MCPs and then the PIP joint)... feel for resistance (unfortunately, there is no good toe to compare it to... wait, test the feel of the back toes... or maybe find another 'normal' cat to test the 'feel' on first.)

As for what to do I would first try a soft brace - Therapaw... you can increase rigidity with straps, padding, or thermoplastics.   

If she were a dog, I would try to get her to strengthen all of the flexors - digging, and walking in the UWT with water levels high to encourage proper limb use.

If I were to laser, it would just be for comfort over the toe pads.  (The laser won't create scar tissue - quite the opposite in fact.)

Those are the thoughts off the top of my head.

Hope they help!

Laurie