Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I am at a loss how to/what to do for/with this feral 6month old. Long story to give you what I know.
I manage apartments and we have a feral community of approximately 12 felines. She has only her rear femur. The person that feeds them said this girl was this way since 2 weeks old. The one and only time mother cat let her be touched. Feeder thought it was a birth defect but stated there was an abscess on end of stub and maybe a pointed portion of bone. This is usually healed but a month ago it was abscessed again. I honestly believe a racoon may have gotten a hold of it and chewed it off.
This young girl is not going to make it through the winter. The feeder got bit that drew blood on both hands when she tried to grab the kitten. Since then, I have been sharing cheese with kitten to try and bond. She reached for cheese on my finger once but usually is about a foot away on opposite side of safety fence. Yesterday was difficult with about 6" of snow. I shared smokey links with her, but she would not get closer than three feet likely because she could not move as quickly.
Honestly, I am afraid to catch her just to have a vet look her over and then put her down. It will be difficult to spend money on a feral that may not be okay living with people. I would consider taking her in if she could socialize, but I have two special needs adult cats that come first.
Thank you.
Allen, thank you so much for trying to do the best you can for this sweet kitty.
First of all. I doubt that a Vet would recommend euthanasia. This sounds treatable and, eve. Of amp is the solution, cats do extremely well on three. We wont go there quite yet as the kitty needs to be properly assessed.
I think you'll be pleasantly surprised at how quickly she can adapt to being cared for and loved by humans. One of our most knowledgeable people about cats is Holly. She will be a great source of information. She'll see your post and respond.
We've had several members here who have taken on a feral cat situation because of a bum leg that needed attention. Just letting you know it certainly doable.
Do you have a rescue near you who will help trap the kitty? And maybe they have connections with a vet who will assess her and get her the proper treatment that she needs. But yeah, she definitely needs to be out of the weather. Where do you live?
Thanks again for your willingness to help. I know I haven't given you much as far as Solutions but others can be more specific with that.
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!
Hi Allen,
I'm sorry this poor kitty still isn't ready to be handled. She's clearly in a lot of pain.
Have you seen Huckleberry's blog? It shows that there is hope that even a wild feral kitty can transition. Maybe not in your household but another one with more availability to help this kitty.
I also doubt your vet would recommend euthanasia. Is there a local rescue who can help? A shelter with TNR experts? I can't recall if you mentioned one or not in your previous posts.
Hi Allen, im going to link your other post here so anyone can read further.
Ferril with stub/injured hind leg
I also ditto Sally and Jerry that euthanasia wouldn't, shouldn't be on the table. I think you are making significant progress. You did say the cats have winter shelters.
We can't speculate what the trikitty needs, nor can the feeder; a vet will have to look at her to help.
Jerry linked in your last post tripawds can match to help pay for the amputation.
Allen, something your shelter needs to know about is our Tripawds Rescue Grant. We will match $500 toward the cost of amputation surgery for any cat in the care of a rescue or shelter. If that's what you really think might be needed it's worth a mention. Maybe this will help to convince them to assist in the TNR?
What about reaching out to the Harbor Humane Society for help? They do TNR. Harbor Humane Society is a 501C3 nonprofit organization and holds a contract with Ottawa County
https://harborh.....wa-county/
I don't know how these programs work, but shoot them an email. I'm confident they can help you or direct you further. The most important aspect is they treat & neuter and place her back in your neighborhood where you can continue to work with her. Since this kitty is so young, she can be tamed, and the worst scenario is she stays with her community cats, who have food and shelter.
Let us know how else we can help.
Hugs
Live in west Michigan. We had 6-8" snow and it was tough on this girl trying to follow the cat trails. The local shelter is not taking anything. The closest shelter that will, if we deliver is an hour away and I am working. My fear of needing to put her down is, nobody intends to do anything for her. Their idea is take the cute kitten not the expense of a real cat. If it comes down to rather I can or can't handle cost on a feral cat that may or may not socialize, I will not leave vets with her to let her die in this winter.
Without a solution standing in front of me it is going to come down socializing and expense. Nothing has come forward yet with alternative.
I'm sorry. I am not happy. I will try Harbor Humane Society.
You ROCK Holly, thank you for adding those links and giving such fantastic input as always.
We understand your frustration and feeling of helplessness. Hopefully you’ll get some solutions from some of the links Holly gave you. Maybe you can pass some of this I formationto the*feeder* and they can be more proactive.
Allen, you-can-only do what you can do with your time constraints and financial situation. There is no judgement here.
I live in a rural area here I am constantly dealing with cat and kitten drop offs. For every one I’m able to get *fixed’ another four or five litters (with three to five babies each) swarm the area
Anyway, you are trying to help this kitty and are willing to go as far as you can with limitations that constrain you. That’s more than most people would do. So please don’t beat yourself up and do what you can and that’s all you can do.
Hugs
Sallly 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!
I agree a 3 legged cat would struggle in a cat community regardless and even more challenging in the winter. I HOPE you hear back ASAP from Harbor Humane Society. We are thankful you care and are trying to help the kitty. No apology is needed!
Please keep us posted.
Hugs
Can anyone throw out a possible price range for this? If the femur was chewed or broken off, can it be smoothed on end then stitched and remain on the kitten? I'm sure some would take the approach to remove the femur. This girl is beautiful as she is. With the femur and muscle mass in the area she is able to sit normal. You cannot tell anything is wrong. It does not work of course when she tries to scratch behind her ear. She has managed to get on a cement ledge about a foot high to be with the others.
Allen, a lot of surgeons are now preferring to leave as much of the limb as possible now, for those reasons you see (sitting normally, etc). However, there is a lot of wound healing care that goes into leaving a lot of residual limb, and if this kitten isn't up for much human contact, it may not be the best idea. It also requires a very skilled vet who has done these types of amputations before. We see many wound healing complications in these cases.
Only a vet can tell you for sure if it's right for this kitty, and that also applies for price of the amputation itself. Generally we see amputations on cats running anywhere from $1000 up to $5000 depending on where one lives.
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