My cat is having his leg amputated tomorrow... any advice?

[MissingOllie]

Hello everyone! One of my biggest fears was realized when my 7 year old male tabby cat was shot by a neighbor yesterday and it completely blew one of his legs to pieces. It was so unexpected as he had only been out for a couple of hours and we live on rural property. I am so grateful that he made it home to us and we could get him help. His other foot is badly injured as well but should not have to be amputated.

This is so unexpected and I am now trying to find any information that I can on how I can help him on his tripod journey. Can anyone who has had a cat amputation give me advice or tips or what to expect?

Thank you so much in advance.

 

[di and bob]

OMG, what a tragedy! You don't need enemies when you have neighbors like that! I would definitely send him a picture of your cat and show him what he did! I thought cats were welcome on farms, I wonder what kind of rodent population he has. I would tell him his dogs will end up at the pound if they come on your property. I'm so sorry........
He is so lucky to have made it home and survived, my thoughts and prayers are with him and you, this is going to be a tough journey to overcome, but has happened more than I like to think. after any major surgery like this, he will have to be restrained in a large dog kennel for a time, given pain meds (I suggest giving a liquid in Hartz Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors, cats can't resist it. (found at Walmart, Target, Amazon, and Dollar General in the treat section.) and most likely an antibiotic (unless he is given an injection, I ask for those) Cats are really TOUGH, I have seen them survive horrific injuries and make a good life for themselves. If at all possible I would try to keep him inside now with maybe a cage outside for outside excitement. Those new chicken coops work well! I will pray for your little boy tomorrow, may God bless him with a quick recovery, and you, for helping him.......

 

[Talien]

Do you know for sure who shot him and that it was on purpose? You may want to consider filing a police report.

The most important thing you can do is watch him and make adjustments to areas of your house if he shows signs of having trouble getting around. It will take him a while to adjust to missing a leg and he will definitely need your help, but he will eventually adapt. Since this is a recent thing you should also watch him carefully for signs of lingering pain and contact your vet right away.

Other than that, rosegold might have some advice.

 

[FeebysOwner]

Hi. What a terrible time for you and your kitty! I am so sorry. I have no experience with this, but here is another thread (see link below) on this site that might give you some additional information. I think the healing process is the part you will most need to worry about, after that I have no doubt your buddy will learn quite easily on his own on how to maneuver about. Cats, as is true for most other pets, do so much better adapting than humans! While he is on the mend, you might start looking into buying or building a catio/cat enclosure for outdoors to help keep him safe once he is ready to be 'out and about'.
Rehabilitation of a three legged cat | TheCatSite

 

[MissingOllie]

OMG, what a tragedy! You don't need enemies when you have neighbors like that! I would definitely send him a picture of your cat and show him what he did! I thought cats were welcome on farms, I wonder what kind of rodent population he has. I would tell him his dogs will end up at the pound if they come on your property. I'm so sorry........
He is so lucky to have made it home and survived, my thoughts and prayers are with him and you, this is going to be a tough journey to overcome, but has happened more than I like to think. after any major surgery like this, he will have to be restrained in a large dog kennel for a time, given pain meds (I suggest giving a liquid in Hartz Delectable Lickables in the stew flavors, cats can't resist it. (found at Walmart, Target, Amazon, and Dollar General in the treat section.) and most likely an antibiotic (unless he is given an injection, I ask for those) Cats are really TOUGH, I have seen them survive horrific injuries and make a good life for themselves. If at all possible I would try to keep him inside now with maybe a cage outside for outside excitement. Those new chicken coops work well! I will pray for your little boy tomorrow, may God bless him with a quick recovery, and you, for helping him.......

Thank you so much for that. That kind of advice was exactly what I was looking for. He had his surgery and should be coming home tomorrow or Thursday so I'm going to make sure I have some of that lickables for his meds and grab a large kennel for him. Thank you

 

[MissingOllie]

Do you know for sure who shot him and that it was on purpose? You may want to consider filing a police report.

The most important thing you can do is watch him and make adjustments to areas of your house if he shows signs of having trouble getting around. It will take him a while to adjust to missing a leg and he will definitely need your help, but he will eventually adapt. Since this is a recent thing you should also watch him carefully for signs of lingering pain and contact your vet right away.

Other than that, rosegold might have some advice.

We have not found the person responsible but after talking to other neighbors, we found out that several of our neighbors' cats and dogs have gone missing recently. We're just going to have to be extra cautious now. Thank you for the advice! I'm really hoping he isn't in too much pain when he gets home.

 

[MissingOllie]

Hi. What a terrible time for you and your kitty! I am so sorry. I have no experience with this, but here is another thread (see link below) on this site that might give you some additional information. I think the healing process is the part you will most need to worry about, after that I have no doubt your buddy will learn quite easily on his own on how to maneuver about. Cats, as is true for most other pets, do so much better adapting than humans! While he is on the mend, you might start looking into buying or building a catio/cat enclosure for outdoors to help keep him safe once he is ready to be 'out and about'.
Rehabilitation of a three legged cat | TheCatSite

That thread had a lot of good information! Thank you for the link! My husband works in construction and adores this cat so I have no doubt that he'll build our tripod a nice catio!

 

[Ellis75]

That's horrible, I am so sorry. I hope you find this person and bring them to justice.

I have two tripods, one who had his leg amputated for a really bad break (and also had to have surgery to fix a break in his other hind leg), and my girl was born with a deformed leg that was causing issues and was amputated. I adopted both of them post amputation, but I had met the boy before his amputation, because I was a tech at the hospital where he had his surgery. Like di and bob said, initially your boy will have to be restricted in his activity, given pain meds, and will probably need a cone to stop him from licking the incision. Cats are pretty resilient; it will likely be confusing and disorienting for him at first, but they tend to adjust very quickly.

Is he losing a hind leg or a front leg? Mine both had hind amputations, which makes jumping up onto things more difficult, while a front leg amputation would make jumping down more difficult. It may take a while to gain confidence going up and down things like furniture, cat towers, and stairs. If you have any climbing areas for him (once his incision is healed and he doesn't need to be restricted anymore), I would put soft things like rugs, yoga mats, etc. under them in case he falls while finding his new balance. You might also need to provide intermediate platforms for him to get up and down, like a step stool to get onto the couch, a chair next to the cat tower if he has one to get between platforms, etc.

Another huge thing for long term care is going to be keeping his weight down. The lower his weight, the less stress there will be on his remaining legs. Overall, though, they tend to adjust remarkably well. My cats are both happy, healthy, and don't seem to miss their legs very much.

 

[fionasmom]

There is a website and organization for animals with three legs called tripawds.com. I am so sorry that you have had to suffer through this along with your poor innocent cat.

 

[MissingOllie]

That's horrible, I am so sorry. I hope you find this person and bring them to justice.

I have two tripods, one who had his leg amputated for a really bad break (and also had to have surgery to fix a break in his other hind leg), and my girl was born with a deformed leg that was causing issues and was amputated. I adopted both of them post amputation, but I had met the boy before his amputation, because I was a tech at the hospital where he had his surgery. Like di and bob said, initially your boy will have to be restricted in his activity, given pain meds, and will probably need a cone to stop him from licking the incision. Cats are pretty resilient; it will likely be confusing and disorienting for him at first, but they tend to adjust very quickly.

Is he losing a hind leg or a front leg? Mine both had hind amputations, which makes jumping up onto things more difficult, while a front leg amputation would make jumping down more difficult. It may take a while to gain confidence going up and down things like furniture, cat towers, and stairs. If you have any climbing areas for him (once his incision is healed and he doesn't need to be restricted anymore), I would put soft things like rugs, yoga mats, etc. under them in case he falls while finding his new balance. You might also need to provide intermediate platforms for him to get up and down, like a step stool to get onto the couch, a chair next to the cat tower if he has one to get between platforms, etc.

Another huge thing for long term care is going to be keeping his weight down. The lower his weight, the less stress there will be on his remaining legs. Overall, though, they tend to adjust remarkably well. My cats are both happy, healthy, and don't seem to miss their legs very much.

Thanks so much! He lost his hind leg so that is very good to know! I'm a little concerned about him because he has always been so active and independent since I adopted him. I have no idea how he'll adjust to this! I'm worried about him trying to jump up so I'll have to be extra careful with watching him. I'm really glad to hear so many cats adjust to it.

 

[MissingOllie]

There is a website and organization for animals with three legs called tripawds.com. I am so sorry that you have had to suffer through this along with your poor innocent cat.

Thank you for the link! I'm definitely going to check that site out.