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3 legged kittys » Group Forum

hind leg amputation recovery

  
Nicki&Sandi(- &Inkythewond- ercat)

M. Gandhi &- Immanual Kant- said it best! 		 
 
Purred: Tue Dec 15, '09 3:37pm PST 
Hi all,
We (Inky) is in week 2 1/2 of his recovery from a hind leg amputation. (He is a stray and was found shot just before Thanksgiving. The vet investigated saving the leg but the bone had been shattered too badly. My parents -in a mixture of shock, concern, and fear that the surgery would be too much for this 8/9 year old cat requested euthanasia . I spent a weekend pouring over Catster & every other web resource I could find collecting stories and information to inform us all about the risks, odds and costs and together we decided to go for it. Honestly, if we had not found good information and if the vet staff had not been encouraging, Inky would have been put to sleep weeks ago. Surgery went well and the vet tech told us that it had not been a bb shot as they had originally suspected -but something more substantial: a turkey shoot was being held in the area at the time... )
So here we are in week 2 + incision healing, eating well, off pain meds for 4 days, last antibiotic on Dec. 7th, radar collar off as of Dec. 9th -cold compresses 2x down to 1x down to none daily - still being kept away from other cats (his brother Toughie) in a warm bathroom -with lots off carpet padding and daily changes of hospital pads - where there is little to harm him as he relearns walking and such (did I mention Inky is extremely affectionate for a stray cat?A true cuddler who loves all ) all going relatively well, day by day improvement when wham! ...
His stitches are still in and he is licking (but he has been from day 1-thus the collar ) the incision and pulling at stitches . My mom replaces the radar collar (soft type from the vet ) and we hope this will stop or slow the licking. There was pinkness & some lack of hair that we thought was due to his licking-about 1/2 inch worth. We knew this could be a sign of something amiss so my parents were keeping an eye on it.
Monday morning he throws up breakfast - a first but then he eats really well the rest of the day. I stop by in the evening for my daily visit and he is fine. But Tuesday morning mom checked in on him and he has an open wound about the circumference of a pencil - oozing fluid. She calls the vet and brings him in and visually they diagnose infection requiring cleaning out and a drain. We still have him using newspaper in the litter box and have been playing it by the book so this set back is disheartening -heart breaking even.
So-if you veterans of 3 legs have any advice, support and encouragement -we could sure use it right now! I think we were hoping to be out of the woods and fear now that we may not be...
Thanks in advance for any help/support/advice!
Team Inky
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Nicki&Sandi(- &Inkythewond- ercat)

M. Gandhi &- Immanual Kant- said it best! 		 
 
Purred: Wed Dec 16, '09 10:06pm PST 
Inky update:
Happily for all, Inky is home after getting a drain put into his leg for the infection. A bit worrisome is the fact that no source could be found for this infection. Inky will be on antibiotics 2X a day and the plan is to remove the drain on Saturday in 4/5 days time. The radar collar is back on to prevent Inky from removing the drain himself...
His appetite is great, especially if you pet him so we all have our fingers crossed that this is just a small bump in the road.
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Sammi

I'm Indulged		 
 
Purred: Mon Dec 28, '09 8:10pm PST 
I'm sorry I can't offer any helpful info for your kitty's recovery because we adopted our cat about 1 month after her front leg was amputated and her initial recovery was already complete.

I know she was on antibiotics and pain control during her initial recovery but that's all the info I have about the situation.

I just wanted to offer support and encouragement and hopes that Inky's recovery continues to go well.


Nicki&Sandi(- &Inkythewond- ercat)

M. Gandhi &- Immanual Kant- said it best! 		 
 
Purred: Sun Jan 3, '10 6:44pm PST 
Hi all,
Inky is slowly doing better each day! He had mastered going DOWN stairs pretty quickly but was unable to figure out how to go back up. As he spent more time on my parents first floor he'd cry when he wanted to be carried upstairs...
Then , on January 1/2, 2010 Inky figured out what to do!
Now there are just 2 things that stand out in his recovery :
He is still licking the area where his right hind used to be with enough attention that the fur has yet to really grow back in .
He seems to have trouble using his litter box (still using newspaper in place of litter) as he'll often go in it and then leave, having done nothing. We are not sure why this is ...perhaps the amputation itself has thrown him off in some way...?
I would be lying if I said we all do not watch him very carefully-perhaps as time passes we'll return to normal and not feel like we have to be on the watch out for some new sign things are not going well.
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Sammi

I'm Indulged		 
 
Purred: Sun Jan 3, '10 7:57pm PST 
To me it sounds like Inky is doing very well and I'd expect all the things you mentioned. His muscles and nerves at the amputation site are probably still healing and "readjusting" to the new normal so he's bound to be licking that area if it's bothering him at all.

Without a hind leg, going down stairs or jumping down from things shouldn't be affected too much, but going up will be much more difficult since he has only one rear "power leg" to use now. He has to power himself and balance so it will take him some time to learn. Sammi has just the opposite problem - without a front leg it's difficult for her to get down having to support all her weight and balance on one leg.

Sammi still has litterbox issues. It seems a little difficult for her to balance and I'd guess Inky has an even tougher time since he's tryint go squat and support his weight and balance only one rear leg. If cost isn't too much of an issue, you may want to try those absorbant puppy training pads instead of newspaper - I think it would be easier to clean up. Also, maybe you could try just a very thin layer of litter - maybe just 1/4 inch will be easier for Inky to balance in.

It really does sound like he's recovering very well and in time will adapt to his new 3-leggedness.

Princess- Karla

57062		 
 
Purred: Thu Oct 14, '10 8:57am PST 
HI ,
I realize this response is a bit late but may still prove helpful to future handicat parents, my cat Princess Karla had her left rear leg amputated on 10/06/10. She's 14 and is doing really well. We are keeping her away from the other cats when we can't supervise but otherwise letting her move around as she wants to. I'm using the bottom portion of a kennel cab for her litter box it's ideal since it's very low in the front and tall on the sides and back. She started walking/hopping 2 1/2 days after her surgery (I know pretty crazy huh) She is also able to climb up and down a cat tree as it has graduated steps. She's leaving her stitches alone so she only wears her e-collar when we can't watch her. This site really helped me feel more encouraged as the vets were very cautious in offering encouragement. http://mysite.verizon.net/shortionline/tripod/tripod.html This video helped too http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_uz3bXlZRo
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