Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My cat Nini, aged 16 years, had her rear leg amputated in October due to an osteosarcoma tumor that caused a fracture in her leg. Since then, she’s had ups and downs, but overall her recovery has been pretty good, and I feel like she’s adjusted pretty well to tripawd life.
A couple days ago I noticed she wasn’t moving around as much, and was laying on the side with her remaining leg in a way that wasn’t quite like she usually does. And then last night she had trouble standing on her remaining leg and walking. After a couple tries, she was able to hop ok, and has been able to get to the litter box and her water bowl (her food is brought to her on the bed, of course!).
Her lameness was worrisome enough that I brought her in for an urgent care visit at the same hospital where she had her surgery. They did an abdominal radiogram and standard blood test. Everything came back normal. Blood work was fine. No lesions, shadows, fluid, enlarged organs, or obvious signs of arthritis in the x-rays.
The doc thinks that maybe she has a soft tissue injury. That she may have tweaked her leg or have a pulled tendon. Pulled tendons are more likely in cats that have been on long term steroids, which is the case with Nini. He sent her home with a strong pain killer (buprenorphine) and hopes that will help while she heals. If she is still having trouble in a few days, he said to call and we can talk about an injection for arthritis. I also wonder if extra strain on her back leg due to it carrying all her weight is having an affect, that would lead to a long-term, chronic issue.
I’m putting this out on the forum just to see if anyone has had a similar experience, or any insight to offer. This was honestly one of my biggest fears after Nini’s surgery - that something would happen with one of her remaining legs, making her basically a complete invalid. We’re not at that point, but it is scary to see her struggling after all she’s been through.
I'm so sorry she isn't feeling well. Yes, it's scary to have mobility issues happen after doing so well. But if it is any comfort at all, this is not unusual. When a Tripawd is new, they are using their body in all sorts of different ways that put new demands on the musculoskeletal system. Usually R&R and pain management do the trick.
What is Nini's world like as far as how much access she has for roaming? Does she roam outside? Is she jumping off high perches? How much has changed since she lost her leg, as far as what she is allowed to do now versus before?
@Jerry Thanks for the response! It is a comfort to hear that what Nini’s experiencing is not unusual. It was just so heartbreaking to see her struggling to walk. And I admit it’s hard for me to not have a big reaction when it comes to my sweet girl!
As for roaming, Nini does go out into our fenced yard, but doesn’t leave the yard. Even before her surgery, she barely left the yard at all. After her surgery, I was very vigilant with her, but I’ll admit I am not watching her every second like I used to when she is outside. But she does only go out when I’m nearby. When I’m working from home, my desk is right by the patio door, and I’ll let her out and check on her every few minutes. But that of course doesn’t mean she still can’t get into trouble!
I haven’t seen her jump or attempt to jump up on any high perches. Right after surgery she was jumping up on our bed from the floor, but now she uses her stairs 100% of the time. There really isn’t much else that is very high that she has shown any interest in. The highest thing would be my desk chair. She does jump up on that occasionally. And she doesn’t leave our bedroom. She hardly ever goes upstairs, and that’s where the cat tree is. So it’s just our bedroom and the yard that she uses. It is entirely possible that either while outside or inside she tried to jump up or off of something and twisted or pulled a muscle. Maybe I need to go back to being with her all the time when she’s outside if she’s at risk for doing this again.
Last night she did get up and use the litter box. She did have to pause and sit down on her way back to the bed. And she woke me up in the night to ask for food, which is our normal routine. So she is acting normal, and not completely lame. I really do hope some pain medicine and R&R helps.
Jist catching up and can only ditto the wisdom of Jerry.
It takes very little to tweak a miscle, sprain it and make it sore. Agree with lots of rest for now. She might not like it, but if you can keep her somewhat confined the next many days and keep her on the pain meds, that should help. Maybe talk with the Vet about an antiinflmmatory.
Glad you are already seeing signs of some improvement. Keep is posted, okay?
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
OK so that's good she's showing normal behaviors! That's HUGE!
Her home environment sounds safe enough, it's the outside time that is probably where the issue happened. No, you don't have to keep an eye on her every second, that would a full-time job! But what about building a Catio? They are so awesome, they give cats a chance to be outside, but in a safe, contained environment. Not like you need more to do right now, but worth considering at some point.
I hope she continues to heal. Let us know!
I wanted to post an update in case the info is useful to anyone else. After Nini first started to have trouble with her remaining back leg, things got worse. After a few days, she was no longer able to use it at all. And she also had some trouble with incontinence. I took her to the emergency room a couple times, and on the last visit, the doctor wanted to do an ultrasound. They found a large tumor and many, many smaller tumors on Nini’s liver, which they determined were inoperable. She passed away with some help from us later that night.
It couldn’t be confirmed that Nini’s lameness in her leg was due to the tumors. At the point when we discovered the tumors, it didn’t really matter. There could have been something neurological going on as well. My gut tells me it was all related to the cancer. I would guess that the tumors were putting pressure on her spinal cord and that was affecting the use of her leg and her bladder.
Ohhhh noooo.......not what I was expecting to read at all. I'm so very, very, very sorry. Jist so sad to know you had to release your sweet Nini from her failing earth body. You gave her that gift of release because of uour love for her.....and she knew how much she was loved.
You left no stone unturned in giving her a good extended quality time since October. And you left no stone unturned in getting to the bottom of what was causing her decline so suddenly. It did seem to be a tweaked muscle based on what we've seen around here. So Nini's journey has definitely educated us and given us more things to consider should these types of "symptoms " ever appear again..I know it was hard to share this, but thank you for doing thst. Nini's legacy has many layers to it, and this knowledge shared with others is part of it.
FWIW your "gut" instinct about what was going on undetected certainly sounds reasonable to me. This disease is brutal and cunning and I'm so very sorry it had to happened to Nini.
When you can, we would love to know more avout uour beloved Nini. Ahe clearly had a lot of spunk and made the best of the time she had here on earth.
(((((((((((Hugs)))))))))
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
@benny55. Thank you so much for your kind words! Yes, it was very hard to let her go. She was our Nini right up until just about the very end. She would have lived a vibrant life much longer than her physical body allowed. Her spirit was so strong.
I am sharing her story in the hopes that it might help someone else. Particularly as it relates to osteosarcoma in the back legs. I’ve read that it’s rare for that type of cancer to occur in the back legs. I was also told that if Nini’s cancer came back, it would be in her lungs. But maybe it comes back in the lungs in front amputees. It did cross my mind when Nini was first diagnosed that it would make more sense that if Nini’s cancer metastasized it would show up in her abdominal organs, closer to where her bone tumor was. If I had spoken up, or if any of the numerous doctors who treated Nini had put that together, maybe we would have caught this earlier and she wouldn’t have suffered so much.
And it’s almost certain that she had these tumors when her leg broke. If we had done an ultrasound then, it would have made all the difference knowing that she had these tumors. I don’t know if it would have changed my decision to amputate, but at least I would have known and could be watching out for signs. Instead, it took over a week to figure out what was going on with her and in the mean time she did suffer.
I do intend to add a couple posts to my blog on this site about Nini. I was meaning to post a 3 month update, but didn’t get around to it. Everything was going so well, there wasn’t much to report! And I will put up some more details about her final days.
Nini was my best friend and soul mate. She loved people and everyone loved her. I could not take her to a vet without everyone commenting on how sweet and beautiful she was. She had an intelligence and a presence that is very rare in cats. When we adopted her, there was a note on her enclosure warning about letting her out, because she was so athletic she would get into high places where you couldn’t reach her. And that was when she was already 10 years old! She was truly a goddess in cat form. She was an ancient soul. She was my little lamb, my precious girl. I will miss her forever.
I know you and Jerry’s human help a lot of people who come to this site looking for advice and support. If you do come across anyone with a cat in a similar situation as Nini, please do share her story. And deep gratitude to you and everyone for providing information and support. This site really made a big difference in helping me navigate through Nini’s journey. You are putting a lot of goodness and love out into a world that needs it.
Ohhhh I'm so sorry! I just saw Nini's terrible news, my heart goes out to you, this was a tragic turn of events and there are just no words to soften a blow like that. It's been a tough week with losses here, as we also just lost Chisum to a sudden secondary cancer diagnosis. Ugh cancer is so mean and so sudden. I'm sorry this happened.
You did the best you could with the information you had. We so enjoyed getting to know you both in her blog, which had such an awesome tale to tell about her. This community is richer because you were both part of it, and sharing her story. If and when you ever feel up to an update of course we would be grateful but we get it if that kind of thing is too hard.
When it looks like osteosarcoma is present, the only way to tell if micro metastasis is present is a CT scan, no x-rays will show those tiny boogers. Many people who get the CT still proceed with amputation even when there are mets, because getting rid of pain is the first priority when an animal is otherwise healthy. It's a tough call and there are no right or wrong choices. As the days go on your brain will examine things every which way, you'll second guess your decisions, and wonder "What if" a hundred times and then some. That is so normal.
I just hope you can take comfort in knowing that your life was so blessed with your little goddess, your sweet girl who made you a better person and made all of us fall in love with her too.
We are keeping you close in our hearts now and always. You will forever be a part of our community so don't be a stranger. I'm adding Nini's story to our Osteosarcoma in Cats forums topic and Osteosarcoma Metastasis in Cats blog post, so that others will learn from her experience too.
(((((hugs)))))
@Jerry - thanks so much for your kind words. I was honestly shocked at how quickly Nini went downhill. This cancer is vicious, you’re right about that. I am starting to re-examine all the choices, all the things I could have done differently for Nini. So it’s a comfort to hear that it’s a normal thing to do. I took her to the crematorium today, and that was the last part of helping her leave this earth. It’s really over now. And now I just have to figure out how to get through every day without her. All the sadness and grief we’re feeling now is punctuated with moments of enormous gratitude and joy at having had Nini in our lives. She did make everything about us better.
And thank you for adding Nini’s story to your forum topics. I really do hope her story helps other cats and humans. I’ll try not to be a stranger and pop in to see how the tripawd world is going. Please keep doing what you’re doing. Your tireless compassion means so much to so many humans and their precious animal friends!
You are so welcome, and anytime you want to talk we are here to listen.
It's so easy to wonder "What if?!" and say "Why didn't I?" I did that a hundred times and then some. We will just never know sometimes and eventually learn to be OK with that. All we can do is take what we learned and use that knowledge in the future to help our other animals. The awful experience of cancer makes us smarter and stronger in the end, but it takes time to see that. And forgiveness ... we have to forgive ourselves for feeling like we didn't do enough. We all do the best we can with the resources and information we have. You did that for Nini. You are an amazing mom.
By the way, how exactly did she get her name? I may have missed this before so forgive me. It's funny because I have a human cousin nicknamed Nini 🙂
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