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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Our beloved kitty, Ivy Jean, had a mishap two months ago where it turned out she had torn ligaments in her rear left leg. After eight weeks of useless “give her rest and wait and see” advised by our now former vet, we switched and this one said either amputate or subject her to multiple repair surgeries that might not even work. So Ivy had the amputation surgery five days ago.
How did you adapt your household and other pets to your tripod cat(s)? Ivy has a litter mate brother, and we also have a big chocolate lab. Can your tripod kitties negotiate stairs? What adaptations did you have to do? She never goes outside but she was active otherwise. She’s 9 years old.
Welcome, Mary. Your future posts will not require approval.
I'm sorry to hear about Ivy Jean's accident. I think you'll find that she adapts extremely well to life on three legs. While she recovers from surgery, it's probably best to keep her away from your other pets if possible.
Hi Mary, welcome! Sorry about Ivy Jean's need for the amputation. How is her recovery going? Is she eating and toileting OK? What kind of pain control is she on?
How did you adapt your household and other pets to your tripod cat(s)? Ivy has a litter mate brother, and we also have a big chocolate lab. Can your tripod kitties negotiate stairs? What adaptations did you have to do? She never goes outside but she was active otherwise. She’s 9 years old
When it comes to other pets in the house, I would agree with @mischief, it's best to keep her away while she heals. Once the vet gives her the green light for resuming activity, you'll want to introduce them again slowly and see how it goes. See our post "When Can New Tripawd Cats Mix with Other Family Felines?"
You're probably going to be surprised in a good way about how well it goes.
Yes, three-legged cats can do stairs pretty well, even better than dogs. But when an animal loses a rear leg they lose propulsion power, so you may find that she has a little trouble jumping up. Down won't be a problem, but that's not really good for her so you want to minimize the chances of it happening. As far as adaptations, you want to make it as easy as you can for her to get to her favorite spots, and back down again. Perches, pet steps, and cat trees are super helpful. Try to prevent her from reaching the highest places where she will likely jump down. You don't want another mishap to happen now that her spare leg is gone.
Our e-book, How to Help Your Three Legged Cat, has lots of good tips. Also see our Trikitty member posts, Purrkins' blog, and The Purrfect Steps for Tripawd Cats (and Dogs!).
Keep us posted on how she's doing!
Ivy has been post surgery for five days and is isolated in our spare bedroom away from the other animals. Her brother the orange cat (litter mate— we adopted them when they were only five weeks old) camps out by the door and cries for her.
The vet gave Ivy a 24 hour pain injection and then something else that was supposed to last five days - no meds sent home. She’s recovering very well. She tried to sleep in the litter box the first day since she didn’t consider it litter (pellets instead of the usual clumping litter). She is doing fine with that now. Eating and drinking was a challenge with the cone - we tried a onesie and that was a nightmare. She’s got the food dishes figured out.
im just nervous about next week after the come comes off. I think I’ll put the gate up on the spare room door so the boy cat can get in but the dog will have to stay out.
Sounds like you are doing the right thing for Ivy as hard as it is to have her brother being so sad. Your plan to reintroduce them without your dog sounds good. It's fascinating to see how animals just sense when another one needs space to heal. Your fur kids will probably be very kind to Ivy.
The pain management for her sounds OK for now. Most cats do come home with an NSAID (very short term) and Gabapentin to calm inflamed nerves. If you notice any pain signals or other changes in her behavior let your vet know, she may need more pain control.
Toby is coming home from getting his right hind leg amputated. I'm going to pick him up right now. I'm nervous. I don't know what to expect.
Gabrielle said
Toby is coming home from getting his right hind leg amputated. I'm going to pick him up right now. I'm nervous. I don't know what to expect.
Hi Gabrielle and Toby, welcome. I'm sorry Toby needed the amputation. We are here to help! Check out our What to Expect articles , and our Trikitty articles too.
Just one request: please start a new topic all about Toby so that we can help you better, learn more about Toby, and so that Ivy's can stay focused on her. Thanks so much. See you there!
Hello! I stumbled across this page while looking for some information and I must say it seems like a great site!
we just got our kitty’s back leg amputated today after suffering from a broken femur. Any tips to help get us through the recovery journey? I did read a few articles about phantom limb pain that I think she may be experiencing now that the anesthesia is wearing off. Any tips on how to help? We’ve been calming her down and made her recovery room as cozy as possible.
Hi TipZee, welcome! Your future post won't need to wait for approval if you registered as a member so post away. But could you do us a huge favor? Please start an all new topic in this forum, so we can all follow along with your adventures and better support you both.
I do have lots of tips and our community does as well. Check out our What to Expect articles to get started. Also, in your new post, let us know what pain management medications she is on, as good pain control makes for a good recovery.
I'll watch for your new post in the morning!
Just an update on our Ivy Jean - it's been over three months and she is adapting beautifully!
The first day after the cone came off (it was on for almost three weeks!) she freaked out for a few hours when she actually saw that the leg wasn't there. Afterward, she was fine.
She's technically a senior cat at 9 years of age but she's hopping along like a champ. Running is much more graceful. She can get from a chair to the bed, and goes up and down stairs very well. Once in a while, Ivy's remaining back foot will clench a claw into the upholstery of a chair and she'll growl if she gets stuck. She will also occasionally howl or growl if she goes off balance. She's given me faith that the amputation was a much better decision than we first wondered.
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