Thanks - he is a lovely cat. I know you're not supposed to have favorites but, he is my favorite cat. (I've got 5 - I tend to adopt strays... Fang was a pound kitten). He has the most wonderful, although timid personality.

I just don't know if his personality will work with this type of life change. He is already so skiddish, I just think he might go off the deep end if he wakes up with no arm. Plus we're moving soon... It's just stress on top of stress. I don't know if I'm being cruel or not.

Does anyone have a pet that was already skiddish and fearful of change before the operation? How did they cope with the change? Will it be much harder?

What a beauty!! I know you are looking for help with a front leg amputation but I can encourage you with how well my 16 year old Kitty did with a rear leg amputation. The first few weeks were very difficult and I really doubted that she would recover. When she did start to feel better again she amazed us with how fast she could get around and she really never stopped doing anything that she did before with four legs. We were blessed with another 3 years after the amp. that I don't think we would have had if we had not done the surgery. We did have to make a few modifications for her, a couple of rugs here and there and steps up to the window ledge.
Hugs to you, it is a hard decision to make.

Marjorie

Again, I am absolutely overwhelmed by the amount of support on this site. It is so incredibly helpful to talk to people who have been through this, and a vet as well! What an amazing surprise!

I keep reading that the amputation is harder on the owner than the pet - and I certainly hope that this is true. From what you've all said, that really seems to be the case. I am so happy to think that animals do not think of themselves as disabled - that means a lot to me.

Marjorie - what types of modifications did you make? We've got hard wood floors, which I imagine are very slick and difficult so new rugs might be in order. I'm also thinking of getting a new, lower mattress (we have a huge pillowtop, which my boyfriend always hated anyway), and taking the foot-board off of the bed, as well as placing a bench at the end of the bed. Are there any other things I should think about changing?

Also, do other house-pets tend to get more aggressive to your three-legger? My other male is already a big, fat, pushy alpha male who occasionally feels the need to show his dominance, and my little female cat hates Fang and hisses at him whenever he's near (though it never escalates to anything more than a warning, since neither of them are fighters).

Finally, have any of you experienced issues with phantom-limb pain? Is this common? Is there anything we can do to help it? I would not want Fang to lead a painful life, and this is a very big factor in my decision about the surgery. I have also read a few stories which mention the cat being on pain medications forever after – does this happen to most cats? If so, what are they in pain from? Again, I do not want to put Fang through this if he will go on to lead a painful life. Do your pets need pain medication every day?

What do you do about arthritis?

Sorry - so many questions!  I'd just like to know the experiences of people who've had three-leggers, ya know? You guys know so much more than someone who's not been in this situation.

We kept BK in a separate bedroom after the amputation, we took the regular door down and put up a screen door so we could always interact in with her. She shared the room with another one of our older cats that was being picked on by our boy cat Gilligan. The room has hard wood floors so I put a large rug down for padding, my husband built a set of stairs that she could use to get to the window and he built a large ledge so she could sunbath. Each step on the stairs was longer than usual so she could jump on one and lay down if she wanted, we also carpeted them so she would not slip.  The steps are about sixteen by twenty. We put some extra padding under the ledge and along the side of the stairs just in case she fell (she never did , but I always worried) She had a bit of a hard time at first getting into a litter box so I bought an under the bed rubber maid container (for shoes or sweaters) and used that for a litter box. The low sides were perfect for getting in the box and it was really long so she could manuever quite well. I placed beds all over the room for her to lay in.

BK was only on the pain meds for the first week, she never did seem to have any phantom pain .  It was amazing watching how strong her remaining rear leg became. I did put her on Dasaquin for cats to help with the arthritis issue. Towards the end of her life she did get a bit slower but hey she was 19.

I can tell you that the worst day was the day we brought her home. When we opened the carrier and she thumped out I wanted to bawl. I could not believe I had done that to my girl, it did not help that every time I spoke she growled and hissed. The best day was about a week later when she jumped onto the first step and purred when I rubbed her head. That's when I knew it was going to be okay.

Her amputation is actually what helped us decide to have our 10 year old shepard Skyler's rear leg amputated due to bone cancer, sadly Skyler only lived 10 days after the surgery but we live with no regrets. 

Sorry this so long, if you want to private message me please feel free I would love to help in any way.

Best regards,

Marjorie