Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Tuxedo & I have lurked here for a while, since May 11 to be specific.  Heck I even have 2 accounts (could not remember the password on the first and every attempt to reset it resulted in a notice saying my password reset link was invalid ... site administration might want to be aware of that issue).  While I stole strength & hope from those here by reading their stories, I hesitated to share mine because I was so upset that I could not.  Everytime I tried to type my eyes flooded with tears.  They are doing that now, but since things are semi stable now I hope my share may be of help to someone else in their time of need, just as those on this site were of comfort to me.

Unfortunately both Tuxedo & I will likely never forget that day because when I was getting out of my car a large dog rushed towards me.  Tuxedo, my 9 year old cat, dove between me and that dog, buying me time to react.  Unfortunately that selfless act was very costly on his part.  By the time I was able to beat the dog off with my cane, Tuxedo was not in good shape.  Tuxedo was bleeding badly from numerous wounds and one of his hind legs was almost severed.  I have never heard such rage & painfilled sounds in my life like those coming from Tuxedo as I rushed him to the emergency vet clinic.  In a twisted way, I also took comfort from the sounds, because they meant my little fighter was still alive & had not given up.

Several hours, tests, xrays, and surgeies later, Tuxedo was stabilized.  As expected, the one hind leg was amputated.  His other injuries were cleaned & stitched.  Amazingly enough they missed all vital spots.  He must have been doped up well, because he was standing less than five hours after he came out of anesthesia.  Tuxedo hates cages and made that fact well known at the vet.  So I was heavily encouraged to take him home as soon as possible.  I am still amazed at the volume of sound a severely injured small cat can generate when he is not happy.

All should be better at home, I hoped.  But unfortunately it was not.  I am sure my general instructions were like those given to others, keep him on his meds, keep him quiet and resting. Tuxedo came home in one of the soft cones to prevent him from getting to most of his wounds.  He quickly figured out that if he pushed the edge of the cone on something, he could flip it backward and wear it like a cape around his shoulders.  I was continually moving it back into place.  You would swear that cat was Hoodini as often as he slipped out of that thing.  I finally gave up on the cone after finding him with both of his front legs caught in it as well as his head.

All the while, he refused to eat & drink.  He would even spit his meds out as soon as I would leave the room.  I lost count of how many times I ended up washing his chin as all his meds were in liquid form.  I literally bought every brand of cat food I could find.  Nope, he was not interested.  Tuna, chicken broth?  Nahh.  Just in case it helps others, I finally found one brand of cat treats that he would eat, Delectables.  He has been getting a steady diet of that since.

I am sure he must have been in considerable pain at one point since he crawled under my bed, shredded a pillow which was filled with tiny foam balls and proceeded to hide in that for three days straight.  All I could do was peek at him to see if he was breathing.  I contemplated calling for help to get him out and take him to the vet, but decided that due to his hatred of vets & cages that if he chose to go to the bridge I was going to let him do it on his own terms.  Though I wavered on this many times.  Then one morning, he crawled out, looking like some freakish snow creature, all covered with those tiny foam pellets.  I wish I had taken the time to snap a picture.  

After that I thought things were going smoothly, until approximately ten days after the initial surgeries.  Then suddenly his incision opened up.  Back to the emergency vet & more surgery.   He had developed a severe infection in the wound.  Ok, this time when he came home, he had a tight plastic cone, and bandages sewed in place.  And he had to go back every three days to be knocked out and get them changed.  This was not a happy period in time for him.  He hated that cone and would bash his head against everything in hopes of removing it.  I also have another cat, a very timid one who used to be best buddies with Tuxedo & now suddenly did not recognize Tuxedo and would smack him every time he wandered within range.  And Tuxedo would not stay still.  He roamed everywhere.  It was like he was on a mission to prove he could do everything he set his mind to trying.

Luckily, there seems to be a happy ending.  After three weeks, all bandages & the cone were removed.  No more continual vet trips.  The open wound has closed.  Yes, it has resulted in a nasty looking scar, but  my house is no longer a war zone.  No more cone and the two cats are now best buddies.  With them even sleeping together again.  I read lots saying that older cats like Tuxedo have a hard time adjusting to an amputation, that three legged cats have trouble jumping, etc.  Well perhaps that is true, but just now 7 weeks out and this little guy (with all his issues) seems determined to prove them wrong as he plops onto my desk and fights me for keyboard control.