From Misfortune to Blessing: How a Cat Lost a Leg, But Got a Forever Home

Many years ago, Tiger, a grey mixed medium hair cat, was abandoned from a rental block and later lived in a car park at Jalan Bukit Merah in Singapore, mostly hidden out of sight.

In late May 2025, Tiger was unfortunately met with an accident and sustained serious traumatic injury to his right hind leg, and went missing for days. His feeders finally found him a few days later, but in a terrible limping state. He was practically dragging himself on both his hind legs! None of his feeders was willing to take him to the vet, as no one was able to pay for his vet bills and take care of him. Though fully aware of Tiger’s plight, one of his long-time feeders chose to keep quiet and hoped someone else would save Tiger. A second feeder caught Tiger and asked a third feeder to bring him to the vet. Unfortunately, this third feeder refused to shoulder responsibility for Tiger and instead released him back to the car park. Later, Tiger went missing again before finally being caught the next day. By then, someone informed my sister and me about Tiger’s situation. Tiger could have been released again (and died) had my sister and I not stepped up to take him to the vet. At that time, it was probably a week after his accident. I’m so amazed at how Tiger could survive without food and water and in pain for so many days!

This was our first time rescuing a cat, and we were unsurprisingly lost on what to do. If Tiger were to suffer from a spinal injury or become paralyzed, we were not confident in taking care of him. So, we approached a local animal rescuer to consider helping Tiger. After seeing Tiger’s condition, this rescuer knew that Tiger’s vet bill would be very costly, and he requested Tiger’s medical report to consider taking on his case. At that time, we did not have any medical report as Tiger had not been sent to the vet yet. With no one else to turn to for assistance, we proceeded to rescue Tiger on our own.

We took Tiger to Beecroft Emergency Hospital, where he was initially treated for his inappetence. Perhaps due to the pain, Tiger had not eaten, drunk, urinated, or defecated for days, and this constituted an emergency. At the hospital, the vet managed to get his appetite up and his digestive system to work fine. His blood test results were generally fine, with no kidney issues detected then.

Subsequently, Tiger was treated for his right hind limb lameness. He had a CT scan done to examine the extent of his injury. Unfortunately, the results showed that his leg could no longer be saved. There were intense bruises and no blood circulation in the affected area. The vet advised us to proceed with an ECG and amputation surgery, as a tripod cat could still have a good quality of life. During the ECG, Tiger was found to have a heart issue (hypertrophic cardiomyopathy stage B2). We went ahead with the procedure to have his right hind leg removed.

A few days later, he was discharged and brought home. We went to great lengths to nurse him after his surgery. He was confined in a room for a few weeks to recuperate. But there were days when he jumped over the barrier when no one was at home, and other days when we came home to see him without his cone! Soon, he was adapting well on three legs and was very relaxed and comfortable living indoors. Things seemed to be going well for Tiger.

However, in July 2025 (one month after the surgery), we found Tiger peeing everywhere (on the floor, on the bed, etc.) several times every day. It did not occur to me immediately that he was having a kidney issue, as his kidney readings were within the norm just one month prior. Nevertheless, a visit to the vet revealed some kidney issues.

In August, more blood tests and urine tests confirmed that Tiger was suffering from chronic kidney disease. We were advised to put Tiger on a renal diet.

Since September, Tiger’s diet has been changed totally to a renal diet. He is also taking phosphate binder and kidney, liver, and heart supplements daily. His peeing issue has greatly resolved. He is alert and active, eating well, pees mostly in the litter box, and is no longer constipated like before.

To date, Tiger’s medical bills and prescription diet cost an eye-popping S$15,000 (~$11,600 USD) and counting. But I’m so relieved that we chose to save Tiger, despite the high cost, and that we did not leave him in the lurch. It was my first time fundraising such a high amount, and I was honestly unsure if I could do it successfully. Taking on Tiger’s case stretched me a lot as I was forced to reach out to as many people as possible. I’m so thankful to all the donors for their support and for making friends with some of them because of Tiger.

The road ahead is still a long one for Tiger. He needs regular vet visits to monitor his kidney and heart condition, and funds for his special prescription diet. I hope Tiger’s health remains stable for as long as possible.

Tiger’s life is indeed a blessing in disguise. He may have lost a leg and suffered from chronic kidney disease and heart issues, but he gained a home and loving care in return. He will be taken care of for the rest of his life and will no longer live as a street cat.

Tiger became a tripod cat due to an accident and has since been diagnosed with chronic kidney disease and a heart issue. He is now happily staying at his forever home.

Sheryl Sin is an editor, proofreader, indexer, and writer based in Singapore. Outside her work, she is a committed community cat feeder who takes care of the street cats in her neighbourhood. She is also mum to Cow Girl (an FIV+ black-and-white domestic shorthair adopted off the street) and Tiger (the tripod cat with kidney and heart issues). Instagram at sinmp24!