Trooper's Story

                         We were first introduced to Trooper after he was adopted by a family from an animal shelter at 8 weeks of age.

They scheduled an appointment at our north office and brought him to meet us and for his first physical exam. 

In March of 2008, Trooper was hit by a car and rushed in to the hospital where it was discovered he had suffered a fractured leg and severe injury to his mouth. Sadly, his family was unable to care for him and relinquished him to the care of Valley Vet Hospital.

Thankfully, our doctors were able to provide the surgical intervention Trooper needed to repair the fracture and the injuries to his mouth and he started the long, arduous road to recovery. Though lengthy, with several weeks spent healing and regaining his strength in the hospital, Trooper made a full recovery. Initially, it had been our plan to find him a forever family once he was fully functional again but, you know what they say about the best laid plans., and, I think, Trooper had another plan in mind. By the time Trooper was finished being a "patient", he had wrapped himself around the hearts of our staff members and the decision was made that he would stay with us, becoming our "clinic cat" at the south office. 

For the next several years, Trooper happily (think content grumpy cat) owned the halls and became the boss at Valley Vet. He loved to lay on the reception desk between Nancy and Carla's computers where he had blanket ready at all times.  He waited every day for the "specials" he knew were coming from Nancy and Wendy for lunch and snacks and they never failed him. 

In the spring of 2014, Trooper was diagnosed with arthritis in his hip joint that was causing him significant pain. It was decided that a femoral head ostectomy ( FHO) was appropriate to reduce the pain and improve the quality of his life.  His surgery was a complete success, he had a very uneventful recovery and healing period and his pain was no more. 

February of 2015 rolled around and we noticed that Trooper was just not acting like himself. He was eliminating outside of his litter box and, where he had always been a fan of his food, he had a noticeably decreased appetite. We decided to run a blood panel and found some abnormalities. Trooper was sequentially diagnosed with hyperthyroid disease.  This is a disease of the thyroid gland where there is an overproduction of thyroid hormone. Trooper was placed on medication to regulate his thyroid and, with close monitoring, is currently well maintained.

In June of 2015 we decided that it would be in Troopers best interest to let him retire from his "job" as clinic cat and move him to live permanently in the home of one of our staff members. His new normal consists of wrestling with his best buddy, Kidden (see picture below), lounging in the sun that streams through the windows (with Mama Kitty in the top picture), hanging out with the rest of his fur gang and looking forward to breakfast, lunch and dinner.    

In August of this year he was brought to Valley Vet for his senior exam and blood work as well as his routine haircut. His exam showed he is doing well and has gained some weight. While he still requires daily medication for his thyroid disease, it remains well regulated and he is a happy, healthy kiddo with an optimal quality of life.