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- Oct 12, 2014
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Last Sunday I adopted (after three months of watching him on a rescue site website and deliberating whether it was wise to do so) a three legged boy cat called Felix (no one wanted him, we did, and eventually we decided we had to have him).
The leg he's missing is his front left leg and it's missing right up to the shoulder - the back story is apparently that the owners didn't neuter him and he ended up with 'wanderlust' and walked into a snare in a far away farm (I don't know when this was but the leg has healed and there's no scar I can even see, he just seems to be missing a leg entirely, it looks like it was never actually there. (Apparently he only just got neutered three months ago when he first entered the rescue - not that it's relevant or anything but I was told it's likely if he'd been neutered at a young age he'd most likely have his front leg in tact).
He's a good little runner (literally gets down stairs faster than me or my other cat does), but when he jumps down from anywhere I get the feeling he's hurting his head as he's coming down too hard and sometimes banging himself.
Is this something that's "normal" with three legged cats? I was told they adapt well but he still has his occasional wonkiness and less than graceful tumbles. He also seems to have a slightly weird mouth that hangs a little to the right side (although the rescue have on-site vets and say he's perfectly healthy) which I had never seen before (I literally thought about renaming him Elvis because of the hanging lip). Should I be worried about his unsteadiness? I've tried to adapt the house to add steps and platforms for him to jump down onto to make the impact less rough on him but he refuses to use them (stubborn little muppet he is).
He also seems to have nightmares when he sleeps and usually wakes him my mum (who sleeps in another room with him as I'm trying to adjust my cats slowly to each other) and cries at her until she picks him and cuddles him to sleep. He doesn't seem to like sleeping away from us (or being away from us at all). Seeing him have bad dreams and crying in his sleep pulls at my heartstrings a little, I don't know if he's reliving the trauma of his leg injury or being taken to the rescue by his owners but it's heart breaking. I'm guessing there's probably no way to help with his nightmares though, just wondering if this is quite normal for injured/traumatised pets.
I've never really owned a special needs animal before (not that he's special needs, he seems normal, cuddly, friendly and affection starved...his only real issue is nightmares and wonkiness/landings). Is there anything I can do to help Felix stop bumping himself or help him be steadier? Can't really afford nor find a prosthesis for his front side, lol.
The leg he's missing is his front left leg and it's missing right up to the shoulder - the back story is apparently that the owners didn't neuter him and he ended up with 'wanderlust' and walked into a snare in a far away farm (I don't know when this was but the leg has healed and there's no scar I can even see, he just seems to be missing a leg entirely, it looks like it was never actually there. (Apparently he only just got neutered three months ago when he first entered the rescue - not that it's relevant or anything but I was told it's likely if he'd been neutered at a young age he'd most likely have his front leg in tact).
He's a good little runner (literally gets down stairs faster than me or my other cat does), but when he jumps down from anywhere I get the feeling he's hurting his head as he's coming down too hard and sometimes banging himself.
Is this something that's "normal" with three legged cats? I was told they adapt well but he still has his occasional wonkiness and less than graceful tumbles. He also seems to have a slightly weird mouth that hangs a little to the right side (although the rescue have on-site vets and say he's perfectly healthy) which I had never seen before (I literally thought about renaming him Elvis because of the hanging lip). Should I be worried about his unsteadiness? I've tried to adapt the house to add steps and platforms for him to jump down onto to make the impact less rough on him but he refuses to use them (stubborn little muppet he is).
He also seems to have nightmares when he sleeps and usually wakes him my mum (who sleeps in another room with him as I'm trying to adjust my cats slowly to each other) and cries at her until she picks him and cuddles him to sleep. He doesn't seem to like sleeping away from us (or being away from us at all). Seeing him have bad dreams and crying in his sleep pulls at my heartstrings a little, I don't know if he's reliving the trauma of his leg injury or being taken to the rescue by his owners but it's heart breaking. I'm guessing there's probably no way to help with his nightmares though, just wondering if this is quite normal for injured/traumatised pets.
I've never really owned a special needs animal before (not that he's special needs, he seems normal, cuddly, friendly and affection starved...his only real issue is nightmares and wonkiness/landings). Is there anything I can do to help Felix stop bumping himself or help him be steadier? Can't really afford nor find a prosthesis for his front side, lol.
