Hi, everyone.  I have a three legged cat named Tiger and I am tigerdad.  I have had Tiger since July of '20. 

Skip the next paragraph if you would rather not read about his injuries.

When we took him in at the rescue, we were told that his left rear leg had been injured for perhaps a year.  Also he had been shot with a BB gun in his right rear leg which was infected and and it looked like perhaps he had been run over by a car because much of the skin on his back had been peeled off.  Poor kitty!  He went directly to the vets when we got him.  After a few weeks of healing, his left rear leg was removed.  They worked hard to save his right rear leg and were successful.

After surgery the vet told us to leave him alone and not to touch him because of the chance of infection.  The person who was treating him at the rescue did not have enough time to spend with him and he became withdrawn.  I talked to him every time I passed his cage.  He always had a fearful expression. Despite what the doctor said, that "only one person should have contact with Tiger," I think that perhaps I should have put on a protection suit and given him some quality time.   

When he was cleared for contact, we put him in an open pen where he would have contact with people.  He was eating and drinking very little and his eyes had become unfocused with little to no color showing.  The consensus was that he was crashing.  For several days, I picked him up and held him for hours with his head buried in the crook of my arm, but when I came back the next day, he was no better.  I took him home about 3 days after he was cleared for contact.

It too several days to get him to eat.  And it took about two weeks to befriend him.  I knew we were buds when he head-butted me several times one day.  He's still a little wild - he will take claws-out swipes at me from time to time - but what an incredible little love bug he turned out to be!  He has gained 3.5 lbs. and his fur has filled out.  He is a beautiful cat!  He did not need to re-hab his leg since he had learned to cope with having a bad leg already.  When we got home and I put him on my bed, he jumped off and went running for a hiding place.  I was surprised he was so mobile!  

This post is to introduce Tiger.  Also I want to give props to all those who have made a place in their lives for a tripod animal.  And I hope yours turned out to be as rewarding to be around as sweet little Tiger.