First, I'd like to say thank you all so much for being part of the Tripawd community. Because of the resources here, our 18-year-old cat, Fluffy, is now recovering from a successful amputation instead of waiting for the inoperable tumor on his leg to... well, as the vet said, explode.

How it started [Feb-Aug; Vets 1 + 2]

Fluffy is actually my childhood cat, who was living with my brothers until he came into my care in Feb 2023. Our vet did a senior panel, and he was healthy as an ox, except for some mobility issues we attributed to age. When we noticed he was crying at the bottom of the stairs instead of bounding up them in March, we began Solensia shots to help with arthritis. Every month, we took him in for his 1 Solensia shot, which really did help with his mobility issues! Until we noticed there was a mobility-hindering mass growing on his back left knee joint. At his June Solensia appointment, the vet took a sample of the fluid around the joint and found cells with multiple nuclei (aka a mutation) which explained why it had grown so quickly in just over a week. The mass had grown all around his knee joint, which not only made walking more difficult (he had begun to limp) but also meant it could not be surgically removed.

The first vet told us that our options were palliative care (steroids to help with inflammation), pursuing amputation, or trying chemo, which he did recommend due to Fluffy's age. In July, we started him on steroids to help keep him comfortable, keeping the dose low enough that Fluffy could sustain long-term steroid treatment for as long as the tumor played nice. After some trial and error, we settled on giving Fluffy 5 mg of Prednisolone per day. In August, the second vet agreed with the first: amputation was an option, but likely too hard on a cat Fluffy's age. The mass had stopped growing, and the steroids were keeping him comfortable. Still, I couldn't stop thinking about how shocked both vets had been at how good Fluffy's bloodwork, etc. was for his age! Sure, he was 18 years old and a little chubby (18 lbs), but the only thing slowing him down was this stupid, inoperable tumor.

Finding the Tripawd community [Aug; Vets 3 + 4]

The first vet had said that the next step for more aggressive treatment options would be additional bloodwork/x-rays to determine if he was a viable candidate for amputation or chemo. I started trying to learn everything I could about senior cat amputations and stumbled upon all of the lived experiences of the Tripawd community. I know every cat's situation is different, but I found a lot of hope here. So, at his August Solensia appointment, I asked the third vet for his opinion and said, "Our previous vet said the next steps for something like amputation or chemo would be additional tests to find out the scope of what’s going on, so I’d like to pursue those exploratory tests." Fluffy passed all of his physical, bloodwork, and x-ray assessments. The third vet was torn and said, "I really don't think you'd be wrong with either option: continue palliative care or pursue amputation." His main concerns around amputation were: 1) anesthesia is riskier for senior kitties and 2) being FIV+ would potentially make healing slower. But amputation was now officially an option on the table and the only one that would actually resolve the issue. Otherwise, we were back to waiting for the tumor to outgrow its blood supply, the skin not growing fast enough to contain it, and then putting Fluffy down.

The third vet referred us to a fourth vet for the amputation. A week before our July appointment, we noticed the mass had grown, which was abnormal. The larger-sized mass made Fluffy's limp more pronounced but he was otherwise unfazed by this development. The fourth vet felt confident Fluffy would recover well from an amputation. His mobility was good aside from the mass-induced limp, his bloodwork/x-rays were excellent, etc. Even though Fluffy was 18 years old and a little overweight, the surgery itself was a common one for him and his practice, uncomplicated by comorbid conditions, likely 1-2 hours under anesthesia max, etc. I asked him what the likelihood was that Fluffy wouldn't survive the surgery itself and he said 20%. His recommendation was to do the surgery sooner rather than later because it was the only way to resolve the issue of the imminently rupturing tumor.

So, we booked the surgery for 9/12/2023. 

The week of Fluffy's surgery [Sept; Vet 4]

The week before his surgery, the size of the mass increased again. The mass appeared to finally be cutting off circulation to his foot, and he was barely putting any weight on it. His foot looked like it was asleep (limply held, imprecise footing, abnormal gait, weird foot placement, etc.). He’d been less agile/steady on his feet, walking for shorter stretches and less overall, holding the leg up more, and in far more pain. The color of the mass had also changed, and there appeared to be a buildup of fluid/blood and a few lesions externally. I was distraught! I had been so anxious about booking the surgery and him potentially dying during it. Now, I was sure I'd waited too long to schedule it. 

We took Fluffy in bright and early on 9/12, and the folks at the vet said he was booked for 10 a.m. 

We got a call from the vet at 12:01 p.m. The first thing the vet said was, "Well, you officially have a tripawd!” Fluffy's surgery could not have gone better! There were no complications, he did great under anesthesia, and he was waking up gently and purring for everyone who came to check on him. He stayed overnight so they could give him fluids and monitor everything post-op but he would be coming home the next day!

The vet called this morning to say he was doing great—even getting in and out of his cage already! We went to pick him up this afternoon, and he was so happy to climb (fall) into his memory foam bed. He's a little groggy (got to love that long-acting morphine) and is still working out how to maneuver with one less leg, but he's alive and the tumor is GONE!!! Even as he gets frustrated trying to stand up or hop in a straight line, he's still purring and attentive and happy to be back with his family and watching his birds.