Artemis, a very cute 5 month old kitten, hurt her back leg. Her owners had no idea how she did it. To this day, it is still a mystery.

Her owners rushed her to the local emergency clinic. X-rays revealed that she broke the very bottom of her right thigh bone (femur). As you can see on the X-rays below, the break was not so obvious on the X-ray from the front, but very obvious on the view from the side.

The fracture occurred through a weaker area in the bone called the growth plate, which allows the bone to grow in length. Bone cells multiply in that area, making it weaker and more prone to fractures.

The fracture was repaired with 2 metal pins. They are designed to stay in forever, as long as they don’t back out or cause a problem.

Artemis recovered nicely and has now fully healed. She is now back to her normal happy life of running, jumping and exploring.

Phil Zeltzman, DVM, DACVS, CVJ, Fear Free Certified

Dr. Phil Zeltzman is a traveling veterinary surgeon in Pennsylvania & New Jersey. An award-winning author, he loves to share his adventures in practice along with information about vet medicine and surgery that can really help your pets. Dr. Zeltzman specializes in orthopedic, neurologic, cancer, and soft tissue surgeries for dogs, cats, and small exotics. By working with local family vets, he offers the best surgical care, safest anesthesia, and utmost pain management to all his patients. Sign up to get an email when he updates his blog, and follow him on Facebook, too!