Letter to dvm360: Hip replacement in cats is not new news

Two-year-old Bengal cat Fridgey received a total hip replacement at Purdue in March 2018. Image courtesy of Lauren Bruce.I read the article “Veterinarians perform Purdue's first-ever hip replacement on a cat,” published in the dvm360 September 2018 issue, with interest. Thank you for raising awareness that total hip replacement is entirely feasible in cats and highlighting that the procedure provides much better outcomes than performing a femoral head ostectomy. Femoral head ostectomy (FHO) was reported in 1966 and is outdated technology in most instances.

However, hip replacement in cats compared to FHO was reported more than 10 years ago.1 The dvm360 article would have been much more informative if the academic literature would have been at least cited as a reference. Many cats have received a hip replacement during the last decade even though the cat reported on was the "first-ever" at Purdue. As such, the article appears to be more of an interest story and perhaps marketing from Purdue rather than a real factual "first-ever" as it is portrayed.

William D. Liska, DVM, DACVS Katy, Texas

Reference

1. Liska, WD, Doyle N, Marcellin-Little DJ, et al: Total hip replacement in three cats: surgical technique, short term outcome and comparison to femoral head ostectomy. Vet Comp Orthop Traumatol 2009;22:505-510.