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How well do 3-legged cats do?

aristobrat said:
...I was wondering if anyone here had any experience with pets that have gone thru this. Do they still go on to be somewhat normal after their recovery? The vet said that my cat would have to be strictly indoors afterwards, which would be a big change for her. She's normally used to playing Dora the Explorer all in the various yards of the street we live on.
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Poor cat.

Be amazed:

http://www.oftenwrong.net/wp-content/uploads/2007/02/dog.jpg
 
aristobrat said:
I really appreciate all of the replies to this thread. They've really helped me keep my spirits up about this over the last few days. :eek:

We went to the vet on Monday and they unwrapped her leg and noticed she didn't respond to any pressure on it, so it definitely had to be removed. I left her there overnight and they performed the surgery to remove the leg yesterday. She's apparently recovering great because they let me bring her home tonight! :)

The biggest thing now is to keep her calm for the next week or so. She's already wanting to go running around. Argh. How do you explain "downtime" to an energetic cat? :eek::D

I've got some pictures here, if anyone is interested in what a tripod cat looks like a day after the surgery. They're not gross-gross, but it was shocking to me to see her stitches and stuff for the first time, so if you're queasy about that kind of stuff, wait a few weeks and I'll post "her being normal again" pictures.

http://gallery.mac.com/jason.thorn#100029&bgcolor=black
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I'm really glad your cat seems to be doing fine. After I read your story, I got really worried about my kittens even though they never go outside. Haha. I just know one of them is going to get into something they shouldn't (like eating more power cords).

Update us (please) on your kitty when he heals up a bit more, I'm interested to know how he'll do.
 
oh my! poor little cat! :(

animals are resilient, I think it's more of an adjustment for us than them. Glad she's home and on the mend.
 
Wanted to post a quick update to say that other than not being able to jump on tall things by herself anymore, missing one leg really hasn't slowed her down in the slightest! :)

One unexpected side-effect has been a marked personality change. She's gone from being "loner kittah" (very into doing her own thing, not really into hanging out with us) to "very personable kittah" (where she's now content to flop down on the couch and actually let us pet her). She still won't hold still for a "cute" photo though. LOL :eek:
 

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mpw said:
Er... no I meant 75%, 'cause 75% is clearly funny. I don't get 66.6%.... unless you mean it's a devil-cat!?
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Oh wait, I thought you were talking about a three legged cat that now has 2 legs! Damn how could I not notice my erronious error :p And I'm writing Add Maths which consists of calculus and trig and some other advanced maths tomorrow. Wow, just wow... I'm lost for words
 
Jasonbot said:
Oh wait, I thought you were talking about a three legged cat that now has 2 legs! Damn how could I not notice my erronious error :p And I'm writing Add Maths which consists of calculus and trig and some other advanced maths tomorrow. Wow, just wow... I'm lost for words
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No worries, don't beat yourself up at losing a math battle to me, I've got special socks that help me with the numbers and the counting and such-like.:p
 
my tripod

We have a Tom Cat that was very active out doors. One evening while I was cooking supper my husband came in side and said Lucky is hurt. I turned to find our cats right front leg and paw to be severly swollen and twisted. We called a vet and took him to emergency clinic. They x-rayed and said the leg was bad and would have to be removed or put him down. My husband and I contemplated on putting him down since he would be indoors so much more and we knew he would not like it for he always ran. We were afraid with 3 legs he would be unhappy. This was 6 days ago. We couldn't do it for he is our baby. We had it amputated and last Friday Lucky came home. On morphine and antibiotics we nursed him back to health. Like I said it has been 6 days and he is done with medicine and running and playing with Maria our other cat we got just for him to have a play mate a month ago. Oh to add. we had him fixed also and this has eliminated some of his urge to run. Your cat will do fine. Someone mentioned it could not jump. Ours still jumps on the counter and chairs. Staples in his leg come out 3-2-09. I wish you luck with Aristobrat
 
I have a three-legged dog that has no problems whatsoever. They adapt quickly, and mine has no problems running, playing, jumping, etc. It took her time to build up the muscle mass to support her rear, but she's solid as a rock now and can even just walk on her two front paws when she feels like it :eek:
 

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My girlfriend's landlady has a cat that was run over by a car pretty badly. Not only did the cat lose one leg, he also became a she unwillingly :eek:. Anyway, the cat seems to be quite happy and is actually much more active than he... err, she was before the accident.

And yes, they do seem to become more sociable after going through such an ordeal for some reason.
 
jackiecanev2 said:
They adapt quickly, and mine has no problems running, playing, jumping, etc.
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That's pretty much the summary of my cat. First few weeks were weird, but two months later, you couldn't tell she didn't have all four legs. :)
 
I have owned two 3 legged cats.

this may not sound great on my behalf but i've owned two 3 legged cats and both did/do very well.
We got our first cat, Soot, when i was 3, a year later she was attacked by a fox and had to have her leg removed. It was her back leg. She was never a cat fond of the outdoors so her lazt, spoilt lifestyle suited her to a tee. She lived until she was 16 and died as she took cancer. I miss her dearly but she had a very good life despite being 'disabled'.
I now have a cat called Marvin, i owned his mother and she had him, when he was a small kitten, he and his sister made the bad decision to climb into the engine of a car for heat. I guess you can work out what happened from there. His sister died immediately and we found her looking as if she was sleeping. Marvin had disappeared however. Living in the countryside we searched all the small winding roads but there was no sign of him. 3 days later my mothers fiance was driving home and spotted something black and white in the hedge, sure enough it was Marvin, limping with his leg barely attached, trying to walk home. He got immediate care and had his leg removed, it was his front leg and i find he can get around much easier than Soot could as he still has both back legs to jump with. He is still very outdoorsy but always comes in at night so i dont think you should feel that your cat cant spend time outdoors as they can aslong as they are in a relatively safe area. Marvin is now 2 and doing very well, in fact, i dont think he realises he is meant to have another leg. I hope this helped :)
 
It is immaterial that the original thread was started all of six years ago; actually, it is a lovely, rather sweet and certainly touching, thread. A nice thread, in fact. And an absolute pleasure to read.
 
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