Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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AngelAbbysMom said
Glad to hear he made it through surgery ok. Hope his recovery is easy-peasy!Jackie, angel Abby's mom
Me too! Thanks 
"You aren't doing it TO him, you are doing it FOR him. Give him a chance at life."
Check out Fang's blog at http://cldavis......pawds.com/
Glad to hear the surgery went well. We will be praying for a good recovery.
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
About a week ago my cat, Jelly, went missing. Two days ago we found her about two houses down. At first we thought she had only dislocated her hip, which would hopefully be an easy fix, but she actually had three breaks on her back left femur and we still haven't found out about her hip.
My mom and dad said that since she is my cat I get to make the final decision, but I don't know what to do. One of the options I am given if the hip isn't broken is to get her back left leg amputated. I've read up on amputation in cats and quite honestly it made me feel no better. The website explained that if my cat is ten or older, which she is about, then she will suffer from minor to severe depression. Having gone through depression myself I don't want her to face the same thing. Not only that, but it also says that they will lose a lot of mobility such as running, jumping, etc. Jelly is also an incredibly feral cat, but if she's amputated she won't be able to go outside anymore.
The other decision I'm allowed to make is to euthanize her. I've had my cat since I was five and it word break me to put her down, but I also don't want her to suffer day in and day out.
All in all I don't know what to do and I could just use some help.
Hello and welcome. Please consider registering as a member (it's free!) so you can take full advantage of all this site has to offer.
I don't know where you have been reading about amputation but in my experience here neither cats or dogs deal with depression after amputation. Sure, there is a recovery period after surgery but cats and dogs go on to live happy lives, running and jumping still, maybe with some modifications.
Please take some time to read through the stories in our Three Legged Cat Forum and you will see that your kitty's life quality will still be good.
Also, after you register, please consider starting your own thread in the Cat Forum, this is a very old thread. I didn't move your post so you could find it again.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Sorry to hear about Jelly's accident. I know this is a hard decision.
How old is Jelly? We have many older cats get amputations and they have done fine.
How is Jelly's overall health? The vet would give you an opinion on how well Jelly would recover from the surgery and as life as an amputee. My cat, Mona, is now over 10 years old, had her front leg amputated due to cancer. She is doing great! Mind you, she never was an athlete but she still can jump, run up stairs, try to beat up a strange cat who had her brother cornered (not advised), bonk her big brother on his hear. She's a little diva at vet clinics and seems to enjoy the attention. A lot of this personality came out after her amputation.
Please don't even think about depression. Cats are resilient. There's been a recent outdoor cat who seems to have adapted to indoor living quite well.
Please have a look at the cat forums to learn about how well cats do. Also, be aware that sometimes there are complications and concerns but I think they tend to be due to overall cat health and ongoing treatments for cancer.
Please let us know if you have any other questions. You are doing a great job by gathering information to help with your decision. No matter what you decide it will be the best decision for you and Jelly.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
Hi & Welcome,
I am sorry to hear about Jelly!
Purrkins just turned 7 and is athletic kitty who lost his front leg to cancer! His leg was amputated over a year ago.
He has well surpassed anything I could of hoped for him! He gets around runs, jumps, plays etc with some modifications we added some steps for him to protect his remaining legs. He can do everything he did on 4 legs on 3 !
He is a indoor kitty. I disagree with what you read on depression, I would take that off the pro’s and cons list! If the surgeon gave you a amputation option Jelly must be in good health otherwise it wouldn't be a option. You would only have one option.
Whatever you decide to do with Jelly your are making the decision out of love and that is what matters , you have her best interest at heart!!
We have had outdoor kitties have accidents and go back to living their life outdoors, some have made them indoor kitties due to the risks of being outside! We have a kitty forum with blog broke down to front & rear leg amputee kitties maybe those will help you by reading them.
Just know that kitties can have a quality of life on 3 legs yes there is a a recovery period it is major surgery but after recovery 10- 14 days they are allowed to be a cat again in all ways. If Jelly is older she may take longer in recovery but may not too! We have had 15 & 16 year old have amps and hop on!
I hope the hip isn't broken & I do hope you have choices.
Hugs!
Holly & Purrkins
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