Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Rear leg Amputee cat Struggling with Litter Box
Hi Everyone,
I’ve had my cat Charlie for almost 2 years now. When he was found, he was missing his foot. He had a nub which stopped at the foot joint. After a long traumatic fostering process where the wound was constantly reopened and unable to heal, even with a pin placed in his leg, the doctor decided amputation was best. He healed quite quickly after that, and He barely notices it’s gone! He’s very capable. The one thing he still struggles with is the litter box. He spends quite a bit of time in it each time, and he seems unable to cover his business which frustrates him, causing him to scratch for a long time at the walls of the box. This aside my biggest concern is that he always seems to come out with a LOT of litter stuck to his back side and even stomach. I’m assuming he sits while doing his business and gets himself all wet, causing the litter to stick. Is there a litter that still helps with odor but may not stick to him? Any suggestions are much appreciated!
Caroline
Hi Caroline and Charlie, welcome! Thanks for joining, your future posts won't require approval so post away.
I'm so glad he healed well after the amputation, that's awesome. The litter box issue is a common one with three-legged cats, so we wrote this blog post that may give you some ideas, mainly using a low-sided litter box:
https://tripawd.....pawd-cats/
and here's a great post from Feta's people:
https://tripawd.....pawd-cats/
If a low sided litterbox doesn't help, I'm thinking that getting him assessed by an animal rehabilitation therapist may be a good idea to find out why he is lacking the strength to manage the box. You didn't mention his age so I'm assuming he's a mid-life kitty? If you go, the Tripawds Foundation may pay for your first rehab visit ! It's quite beneficial, check out these posts about Tripawd cat rehab therapy.
https://tripawd.....ab-sashya/
https://tripawd.....ehab-feta/
I hope this helps! Stay tuned for feedback from others.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
My front-leg amputee Mona has a low sided and a high-sided (side cut out for easy entry) litter boxes. She digs herself a nice hole to go into but doesn't quite hit the hole. She then does bouncing leaps to cover up. Unsuccessful in the cover-up she spends a lot of time in the litter box scratching at the side of the box. Mona prefers the high-side box and I have a tray with a pee-pad at the entry to catch some of the litter and the pee when she pees too close to the edge.
Mona has longer hair and I find litter around the house but I think it's from her feet and she always stands in the box. There is a litter called "Yesterday's News" that may work for Charlie. Mona used it after the surgery when with the vet but wouldn't use it at home.
Mona went for some chiropractic treatments which seemed to help her. They assessed her spine and taught me how to focus her massages on her neck and pelvis.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
We started using the Tidy Cats Breeze box even before Leah had any problems, and it was continued to work well post opp. Its a non-clumping litter, and liquid drains through the bottom of the box onto a pee-pad. So no issues with it sticking to them, and no dust or tracking. She does spend a lot of time scratching and I think trying to bury the urine even though it disappears. So that may be frustrating. But otherwise we have really liked it. She uses her regular box (the large size) and a modified low-entry cardboard box since surgery (also rear leg amp).
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