Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello everyone. I have this on my mind, so pardon the vent. Just 2 days ago I had to make a quick decision on whether to amputate my boy's leg.
He had a little bump on his rear leg. It felt weird, not like cancer, but I was scared nonetheless. Went to the vet, she wasn't sure what it was either. Took a syringe to it and aspirated, it was arterial blood. His leg would be black and blue for a while, sure. But the bump only got bigger with time. I felt pulsations in it. After the bruising was gone a while, it would suddenly start bruising again out of nowhere.
I was scared. This thing might be seeping blood, and if the artery gets damaged... I was afraid every morning I'd wake up and find my boy bled to death while I was asleep.
I'm an OR nurse. I thought it might be a (pseudo)aneurysm. Whatever it was, there were no vascular veterinary surgeons that my vet knew of in my country. My vet had never seen this before and didn't know how to treat it. Even if I found a surgeon, exploratory surgery would be extremely risky because if they hit the dilated artery, he could bleed to death quickly.
So I asked about amputation. Safer than trying to cut around the aneurysm. A procedure they do often and are very familiar with. The vet admitted she was thinking about that too, and said that if it was her pet, she would do the amputation. They had a spot for the day after. Otherwise it would probably have to wait until after the end-of-year holidays, which would have been about 2 weeks or longer.
So I had to decide that evening. I came home and asked my husband. He agreed that amputation would be for the best. So I called the vet, scheduled for surgery. I cried my eyes out. My cat has recently developed HCM and is almost 12 years old, so anesthesia is risky and there was a chance he would die on the OR table.
The morning of the surgery the vet called me. She said that there was a cardiologist who thought my case was interesting and had some time the day after to take a look. I started doubting my decision. Should I give this a chance? There was no guarantee this cardiologist would be able to treat this, and meanwhile my cat still had a ticking time bomb in his leg with surgery date being pushed back. I asked my vet to go through with the amputation.
The surgery went well, though he was on the table a long time. They told me many details, such as when the artery was ligated the bulge just went flat. Confirmation that it was something arterial. After the leg was off, they opened it up to take a look. They showed me pictures, and it does look like (pseudo)aneurysm. Everyone in the clinic agreed I made the right decision.
But when I see my boy struggling now it hurts. He's in pain and all I got was the veterinary equivalent of tylenol. He refuses to go on the litter box even if I help him. He lets himself fall when I try to stimulate him to go, tries to hide and makes himself as small as he can be. He lets his poop run, something he's never done before. He just lies on the couch, wrapped in blankets. My other cat wants to be with him, but sometimes accidentally steps on him because he wants to be close.
But he still purrs and likes being pet. 1 day after surgery he can hop small distances. He tries to jump but that doesn't work very well just yet. I just love this damn stinker so much, so it feels bad that I put him through this at his old age. I hope that when he's recovered, he'll love life just as he did before he got sick. But damn, the road is bumpy.
Sorry for the rant, and thanks everyone who read this. Take care of your loved ones and dearest tripawds.
- Remi
Remi, welcome. Sorry you had to join our club! What is your cat's name?
What a wild ride you just took with him. I can't recall anyone here losing their leg because of an arterial issue. Yikes! You and the vet acted quickly and saved your boy's life. GOOD JOB!
So why didn't he come home with other pain medications? This needs to be fixed as soon as possible. Please call the vet tomorrow before the long weekend. For a major surgery like this, he should have a combination of medications that address different pain pathways. Please check out our Best Amputation Pain Medications post and talk to your vet asap. The better his pain is managed the easier recovery is for both of you. The toughest recoveries we see are ones where there just isn't enough pain management happening the way it could.
Keep us posted OK? We are here for you!
Oh and don't worry at all, 12 is for sure not old! Check out our senior cats stories, you'll think your boy is still a kid!
Oh my goodness Remi, upi are not ranting at all!! You certainly have earned the right to, but your post certainly hasn't risen to the "rant" level.
Cannot agree with Jerry more about pain management . Most cats come ho e with Buprenorphine and/or Gabapentin for pain. This is MAJOR surgery that requires strong pain control. Most hoomans would still be in the hospital on a morphine drip. So yes, get with the Vet asap and get him the meds he needs.
You are in what we call the "what did I do TO my pet?" stage. It may take a couple of weeks, but you soon will be saying " So glad I did this FOR my pet". He will get his sparkle back! We know this early part of recovery is hard to watch and to be patient. The fact that he is taking a fee hops already is something to celebrate. And twelve is not "old" at all for kitty Tripawds. Seventeen on up we might consider "old" , but age doesn't hold tripawd kitties back at all.
Keep him hydrated as best you can. A little Tuna water seems to help. Peeing is important.
Rest, rest, and more resr..... very important right now to help healing. Of course, no jumping or running, which he doesn't feel like doing anyway right now. As much as his kitty sibling wants to be with him, quiet and solitude are necessary right now.
Stay connected and update when uou can about the pain meds. The hospital pain meds will be out of his system soon and yiu may see a vit of a crash..
Stay connected. We'll help you navigate through rec. You are a powerful and well informed advocate for your cat.
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!
Thanks for the well wishes everyone. Your support is deeply appreciated. Our boy is called Vuitton (thanks mom and her love for expensive bags) but we call him Vitty. I had his postop appointment today and expressed my concerns about pain management . It was with a different vet than the one who did the surgery, but this vet diagnosed his heart condition HCM and discussed the best anesthesia for his surgery so she knows him as a patient. She said that with his HCM, gabapentin or buprenorphine was inadvisable.The HCM is really scary for me, so I don't want that to get worse either. I was there when she did the heart echo, and his heart walls were so thick. There was barely any room left for the blood in his left ventricle. Luckily the condition isn't too advanced (yet?), but getting the surgery may have worsened it already. We will just have to tackle that problem later, now recovery comes first.
She gave me tramadol, again in a lower dose because of his heart. I read the page here on pain management and know it's not a great choice, but at this point I think it's better than just the metacam. If it wouldn't be enough, she said they could give something called solensia, but again rather not because of his heart. She told me the metacam should be enough, though, and that it was normal that he wanted to hide and not move a lot because it takes time getting used to having 3 legs. However if anything would come up in the weekend, I could always call the clinic, because they are on call during this holiday weekend. I'll be sure to take them up on that offer if I notice only the slightest thing wrong with my boy.
My husband did the night shift with him. He's a sphynx cat, so his place has always been on the sofa, under a nice pile of blankets. That's also his preferred place now. I tried putting him on a heating pad on the floor with lots of blankets but he just wouldn't have it, haha. He can't get off and on the sofa and use the litter box on his own yet, though, he seemed to try and get up to do so himself this night. My husband helped him and he had a bowel movement and urinated. So yeah, baby steps.
I do believe I made the right decision, rationally. But emotionally it still hurts. I really want the best for him.
EDIT: The tramadol seems to work. He's looking clearer and isn't trying to hide as much anymore. Even puts out his head to meet my hand for pets, purring. He's not walking around by himself yet, but I'll give him time.
Ahhhh....the ongoing battle between "logical" decisions and the conflicting emotions s that go along with it.
So glad Vuitton is seemingly responding to the Tramadol. Such a hard choice trying to manage the pain, yet protecting the heart. You certainly are being given a boatload of stressful issues.
GWIW, the recovery seems to be a "baby step" ahead of some at this early part of recover. Pooping and urinating are big pluses! And the pushing his head out looking for pets...splendid!
I know it's hard to beloeve, but he'll get the mobility handled eventually. The fact that he showed in jn trying to get up to ise the ltter box is a good sign. But yes, con to lift them off the sofa for now. He may jsesteps eventually. Not sure of the litterbox you have, but very, very low side where he can enter and exit helps.
BTW, hubby gets extra stars for bei6 such a good helper with Vuitt!
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!
Vitty! Love his nickname!
Thank goodness the Tramdol is working for him. I totally understand now why your vet was reluctant to prescribe anything like Gabapentin. That heart condition and the reason for the amp is pretty scary stuff. Being cautious makes sense.
Sounds like he's doing better today and on a steady road to recovery? YAY!
Not sure if you saw this but this Litterbox Tips post has some good ideas about assisting and making it easier to toilet a new Tripawd cat.
I hope you are having a restful pawliday weekend snuggling together! His recovery is such a gift!
Hi!
Vitty's cat dad here with an update but also a couple of questions...
Our boy has been steadily recovering the past week. He still spends most of the day sleeping next to his nurse brother, who has been by his side constantly, but the atmosphere really improved when he finished taking antibiotics. It seems like those probably made him extra nauseous. We only gave him the tramdol for a day or two as he seems good without it and the vet advised not to give if if possible.
He's now taking a daily trip to the litterbox and sometimes even comes for a cuddle and/or food. The wound is looking pretty good, despite the occasional sneaky lick in the rare moments we take off the protective vest the vets provided.
He's a bit of a drama queen when it comes to that vest. It's like a straightjacket to him and he refuses to move much with it on. It's a shame, it looks so nice on him too! We're definitely training future cats to wear them from a young age...
When the vest is off, we've been observing how he moves around. He's gotten pretty good at hopping around on the wooden floor and favorite couch. Making his way down from the couch is going ok too. However, he clearly struggles to make any form of climb, even if we make him a little staircase. Same goes for getting in our old litterbox, which has some raised sides.
When he's trying to walk up stairs, we can see him move his little stump in an attempt to keep moving but it obviously doesn't work. It's probably the most painful thing to observe right now. With jumps, he often just lacks the power to make it all the way and ends up kind of hanging there.
Until he gets better at it, I've been sleeping on the couch with them just in case something goes wrong or he needs help with a trip to the litterbox. It's maybe a little overprotective, but it's been worth it a few times already. But that's clearly not a permanently workable solution for any of us...
Will he learn to handle himself in these scenarios and to stop expecting the use of the missing leg? What can we do to help him? Is there some form of physical therapy? How scared should we be of him hurting himself after the wound has healed?
I've tried browsing the site, but had some difficulty finding what I was looking for with cats specifically and would appreciate any advice. If this is better suited as a new post elsewhere, please let us know!
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