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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I was fostering a 5 1/2 week old kitten who is now back at the humane society awaiting surgery. She has swimmer syndrome which makes their back legs weak and floppy. She could scoot all over dragging herself by her front legs but normally as treatment the 2 back legs are loosely taped together so they can stand on them and they build strength and recover well (happens to puppies too). However, before we even started any therapy, poor Anne apparently pinched off the circulation in her back right leg and now it must be amputated. I have read that massage and PT can work as well to help correct the swimmer syndrome in the remaining leg, does anyone have any experience with this? She needs to have at least 3 legs working eventually to have a good quality of life, I think! Any comments on help for such a young kitten would be welcome too. I still have her mom and two brothers in foster.
Hi and welcome! Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away.
You're so pawesome for fostering that kitty! It's no easy task that's for sure, what a great thing to do for her.
I've heard of swimmer syndrome before and I could swear we had a member here (a puppy) with it, but now I can't locate their story in search results. I do recall however, that the puppy had a really tough time.
Meanwhile, this is the kind of situation where I wouldn't hesitate to ask a certified veterinary rehab therapist to look at the kitty to find out if she's a candidate for life on three legs. An expert opinion, maybe even two, could mean the difference between quality of life and none at all.
Searching for a qualified therapist is easy, and we even have the Tripawds Foundation which will pay for this first consult. This blog post has information about how to apply:
http://tripawds.....n-therapy/
Keep us posted ok? It's a very interesting scenario and you're a really awesome human being for trying to help this kitty live a good life. Thank you.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks! There is a rehab specialist vet from that list here in my town so I will explore that. The surgery is scheduled already for tomorrow so just waiting to see how it goes and I hope to bring her home the next day.
Tried adding a reply earlier but I don't see it. Anne had her surgery which seems to have gone very well and the Humane Society vet is taking her home until Saturday to keep an eye on her early in her recovery.
In spite of such a rough start, Anne is mighty licky to have you as her furever home!!
Oh! Silly me! Anne is mighty lucky to have you as a foster!! Thinking it might be a failed foster though!! 🙂
Glad surgery went well! YAY!! And that's great thst the Vet is taking her home for a few days.
Keep us posted! Would love to see photos! 🙂 Her avatar picture is so cute!
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!
What a sweetheart! You, that is. And Annie is pretty darn sweet too.
Thank you for taking such good care of her. I hope she heals well. I'm sure she'll find her way to get around. My cat did in her own creative way.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
She's such a cute kitty. I've never heard of swimmer syndrome before so can't comment on that, but hopefully since she's young, she'll adjust to life on three and the physical therapy easier.
Tina and Smore
(with the spirit of Pebbles watching from the Rainbow Bridge)
Smore is my tripawd kitty who adopted me one summer evening. She had an injury to her front left leg and had to have her leg removed July 17th. She was only 3 or 4 months old at the time. Now she moves faster than some four legged cats!
So I have had Anne home from her surgery now for a couple of weeks. The vet kept her home with her for the first few days and by the time I got her the incision looked amazing -- no redness or bleeding - and while she was on pain meds and antibiotics for a while she never showed any sign of pain from it and wanted to play and scoot all over. The vet wants her kept in a crate and prevented from scooting with the leg that is so weak hanging behind her. So I only let her out under supervision. Her brothers were here until today (they were fine and have gone back to be up for adoption now) and she loved to wrestle with them and I thought the urge to kick them was good therapy. She also gets passive motion and range of motion stretching and she has a sling we do 'pretend walking' in but it is 90% struggling to get out of the sling and very little walking goes on!
She is making some progress but no huge breakthroughs. When she first saw my cat today (I opened the door since the others are gone) she stood up and faced her sideways with her tail puffed up. She stood that way quite a long time but now she seems to feel Sissy is not a threat and won't do it any more. Wondering if I can parade a bunch of strange cats through as therapy? Just kidding. She also 'stands' for a few seconds as she plays sometimes, but not often. I also see that when she kicks at a toy she really goes kick-kick-kick fast and before she 'kicked' by just waving her foot forward. But the vet is disappointed at her slow progress and thinks she may do better as a 'bipawd' with the remaining weak leg taken off too. I'm not happy with that possibility and I am working hard to avoid it but as a foster kitten I am not her owner and her care is not my decision. Although I may adopt her. So taking it day by day.
This is a link to a picture of her -- let me know of the link doesn't work, and if anyone can tell me how to put pictures in the post, I can add more:
She is soooo darn cute!! ADORABLE!
Other kitty pawre ts will chime in, but my 2¢, it seems waaaaay too early to even begin thinking about removing the third leg! Too many other options to consider, especially at such a young age!
I would think a REHAB SPECIALIST and PT could do wonders, but she may have to age a little for that to happen. In the meantime, I say hzve a strange kitty come by everyday!! 🙂 🙂
You are a true gift to this special kitty!
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Check under Technical Support for threads on how to add images or how to add photos
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!
karig said
...if anyone can tell me how to put pictures in the post, I can add more...
Here are detailed instructions for adding photos to forum posts . If you don't already share photos online somewhere, you can start a free Tripawds blog any time and upload them there. Need further help? Post in the Tech Support forum !
FYI: Photos uploaded to Google Drive cannot be embedded in posts since the Google uses a script to display the image and image URL does not end in a valid file format. The links works fine but force users to view the photo in a new window/tab.
Hope this helps!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
You are an angel for this kitty. Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
As my vet said, cats are resilient and adapt so well. I've seen my Mona, front leg amputee, with short legs and round non-athletic body, turn into a gymnast and adapt to new ways of dismounting from furnature.
Mona has gotten stronger and developed her core since her amputation. I suspect Adorable Annie will find her way in life and may get that remaining rear leg working, or she may decide to walk only on her front legs.
Let us know how we can help out.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
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