Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi guys, I recently was fostering a cat with a shattered femer back leg for 2months whilst they tried to see if the bones would fuse back together. This did not end up happening, so about 3 and 1/2 weeks ago his back leg was amputated. All went well and it started mending and i was able to take him home, however he then bit around the wound quite badly which caused a lot of fluid to drip out and looked sooo scarey for someone like myself who has not experienced it before. Anyway that healed up and i adopted him and brought him home about a week and 5days ago. I thought all would go well but he has been not himself at all like he was before the surgery. He is great in the morning and purring like mad and then he seems to get a twitch in his stump and does a big leap from getting a fright from the pain (i assume) and then that is him written off for the day - he spends the rest of the day curled in the corner of our kitchen (only place he will go). He seems miserable and the stump hurts if you go to touch it. I am wondering if he is having phantom pain or if it is just needing to still heal (although it will be a month since having it amputated on the 5dec). Does anyone have any similar experience with their cat? Is there anything i can do to help compfort him and take the pain? or is it just something you have to wait out?
It is so hard seeing how completely different he is now after the surgery. Before it he was so confident and was confident around the house - now he seems completely depressed and scared of everything (i am assuming because he is in pain?). I am waiting to hear back from the SPCA (who i fostered and adopted him from) to see what they think i should do but they have not got back yet and i am feeling really stressed and worried about him.
Has anyone had this with their cat when their limb was amputated? Any advice will be soooo appreciated!
Thanks in advance, Laus
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I don't know cats, but it does sound to me like there is some pain. Hopefully some of our members with cats will be along soon with advice.
Will he allow you to massage the amp area at all? Maybe some heat would help the muscles relax a bit? Since you have adopted him now can you take him to your own vet? How old is your kitty?
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
What a lucky cat to have you. I also got my current cats from the SPCA. I'm sorry to hear that he's struggling.
My cat Mona had her front leg amputated 18 months ago and I think she had a couple of zaps of phantom limb pain but it did not linger. We had a recent posting here from Hattie whose cat Jerry was continuing to mess with his incision, potentially due to phantom limb pain. He's now on Gabapentin. Here's the posting: http://tripawds.....need-help/
I haven't used this drug myself but a lot of people here have used it for their dogs. I'm sure you can send a PM to Hattie to find out more information.
In the meantime, in addition to Karen's suggestions above, perhaps you can try an icepack on the area (10 minutes at a time with a towel). That may give some relief.
Out of curiosity, do you have tile floor in the kitchen? I remember my cat would go to the tiled area and lay down on her amputated side, possibly because it was cooler.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
krun15 said
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.I don't know cats, but it does sound to me like there is some pain. Hopefully some of our members with cats will be along soon with advice.
Will he allow you to massage the amp area at all? Maybe some heat would help the muscles relax a bit? Since you have adopted him now can you take him to your own vet? How old is your kitty?
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Thank you for your post Karen, gosh i'm glad i found this site! Definitely helps feel like you are not going through it all by yourself :p
Unfortunately he won't let me touch it right now but the SPCA did say they may try show me what to do with the massaging of it once he lets me touch it. Good idea with the heat pack, i will do that today and try it out!
Yea i will definitely take him to my vet - we have one last appointment with the spca available but if they take too long to get back i will just book him in with my usual vet who gets back straight away (SPCA are aahhhhmazing but obviously are crazy busy so there is a bit of a backlog sometimes).
Going to call them again today to ask about it - if no reply back i will call my vet.
Thanks so much for replying to my post 
kazann said
What a lucky cat to have you. I also got my current cats from the SPCA. I'm sorry to hear that he's struggling.My cat Mona had her front leg amputated 18 months ago and I think she had a couple of zaps of phantom limb pain but it did not linger. We had a recent posting here from Hattie whose cat Jerry was continuing to mess with his incision, potentially due to phantom limb pain. He's now on Gabapentin. Here's the posting: http://tripawds.....need-help/
I haven't used this drug myself but a lot of people here have used it for their dogs. I'm sure you can send a PM to Hattie to find out more information.
In the meantime, in addition to Karen's suggestions above, perhaps you can try an icepack on the area (10 minutes at a time with a towel). That may give some relief.
Out of curiosity, do you have tile floor in the kitchen? I remember my cat would go to the tiled area and lay down on her amputated side, possibly because it was cooler.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
Thanks so much for your message Kerren.
Actually i saw that about Hatties post about the Gabapentin last night, so i will look into more of his posts and pm him too, and also ask the spca what they think.
Yay for spca cats! They do such a good job there don't they, thank goodness there are rescue shelters like them around the world!
Good about the ice pack too i might try that.
We have a lino in the kitchen so i'm not too sure what it is that he likes about it, but i'm wondering if it is either the cold feeling from the lino like you said, or if it feels like a little room with the cupboards surrounding him.
Thanks again for replying to my post 
Ditto everybody's adivce and support! Kudos to you for giving this special kitty a great forever home!
Does sound like lain is involved. When it's "phantom limb" pain, it comes on all of the sudden and, in the case of dogs, they try to run away from it and hide sometimes. I think, if that's what it is, your kitty is afraind to .ove.
Also make sure the vet checks for any staples that could possible jave been left in. Stranger things jave happened!
Sending you the best wishes arou d!
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!
Hello Laus! Your cat is so pretty! (I'm assuming that's him in the profile pic)!
I just saw this post now - haven't been here in a few days. Yes, my cat had his right front leg amputated at the end of June so he's 5 months post surgery. Kerren is correct! I came to this forum for advice because my cat would NOT leave his incision area alone. He did not have anything drippy coming out and would allow me to touch it; however, what he did and currently still does, is itch the crap out of it to the point he has many hairless patches that are just riddled with bloody scabs. My vet gave him an injection, then prescribed Prednisolone a few weeks later. That didn't work either and the fine people here suggested Gabapentin. The vet prescribed that to me a few days ago and my cat (Jerry) currently takes 50 mg of it in the morning. I have to open a 100 mg capsule and pour half of the powder into his food in the morning. Jerry did not touch his scabs for the first few days and they were really starting to dry up and heal nicely, then BAM....ripped them open again. He does it daily, but it isn't as bad as before. I make Jerry wear t -shirts in an attempt to put a barrier between his nails and the scabs, and his shirts used to be B L O O D Y. He will itch the scabs on Gabapentin, but not at the level he did before. Progress? I hope so. It hasn't been a week on this med yet, so I'm waiting a bit. I do have to go to the vet tomorrow to pick up a new NurtureCalm collar so I will definitely be mentioning it.
Jerry also does not seem afraid and doesn't act skittish or confine himself to a corner. I have nothing to offer you there 🙁 SO sorry your kitty is experiencing this. Maybe a NurtureCalm collar? I swear I don't work for the company or anything...I was just amazed at the results and all my vet's clinic cats wear them (even the one he grabbed off the floor the day mine needed an emergency blood transfusion)!
I also learned of the Farabloc blanket from this site. That is my next move if the Gabapentin does not offer Jerry some consistent relief soon. Maybe check that out?
Hopefully either the ASPCA or your regular vet can do an exam and figure out what's behind the behavior. I wish you luck! Please post a pic and/or update when you have one.
Hattie & Jerry
Hugs,
Hattie and Jerry Cat (right front leg and scapula amputation due to chondrosarcoma at age 14, lived 2 1/2 years post amputation, succumbed suddenly to suspected lymphoma at age 16)
10/2001 - 10/9/2017 R.I.P ~ Love you always
Hi Boxerhattie, thank you for your post! Oh your poor kitty picking at his scabs all the time!
I actually took Humphrey back to the vet on the weekend, and the crazy thing is that he lay on the vet table completely relaxed and let the vet touch and massage all over the amputated leg and he didnt meow or try to scratch her away! I couldn't believe it because at home he won't let me touch it. So i don't know what is going on there.
The vet noticed the amputated leg muscle was still twitching like mad, which she thought was unusual after a month of having the limb amputated. So she is going to get the surgeon who did the surgery to call me and discuss if there is anything they can do to help. He has done two giant leap/frights today, so it is back to twitching and hurting (i'm not sure if it is hurting, or if it just twitches and gives him and massive fright which causes him to jump and get a fright).
Does anyone have the issue with the muscle still twitching and causing the cat stress?
Thanks, i must look up about the calming collor. I bought some Feliway spray and the diffuser plug-in today so i'm hoping this will help him settle in a bit to our house again. Fingers crossed!
I hope your kitty gets better too!
Oh, I so wish I could help you! I have no idea about the twitching thing, but sure am glad that you and your vet are on it! I hope you find a resolution soon. Humphrey is such a great name and he's a real cutie!
Hope to hear some good news for him soon!
Hattie & Jerry
Hugs,
Hattie and Jerry Cat (right front leg and scapula amputation due to chondrosarcoma at age 14, lived 2 1/2 years post amputation, succumbed suddenly to suspected lymphoma at age 16)
10/2001 - 10/9/2017 R.I.P ~ Love you always
boxerhattie said
Oh, I so wish I could help you! I have no idea about the twitching thing, but sure am glad that you and your vet are on it! I hope you find a resolution soon. Humphrey is such a great name and he's a real cutie!Hope to hear some good news for him soon!
Hattie & Jerry
I know isn't it hillarious 
That was his name with his previous owners and he actually really suits the name.
Yea hopefully we will figure the twitching thing out soon! AND hopefully he starts to feel comfortable at our house, because now i think he just associates our house with negative connotations from the pain and frights he's been through with his leg! It's crazy how different he is now post-amputation! Before the amputation he was walking around the whole house and soooo laxed out! Now he won't go anywhere except corner of kitchen or my room and is so wary of everything around. It sucks! Hope the Feliway stuff helps and we can get him feeling like it is his home and comfortable again. Fingers crossed! I guess it can take a while for cats to adapt back and every cat is different so we just have to be patient. Just soooo hard seeing him not happy and not himself!
Anyway i will let you know if we have any progress! Hope your kitty is doing ok too and the gaba is helping a bit!
Cheers,
Laura and Mr Humphrey 
Hi Laura & Mr. Humphrey,
It's such a great name! I adopted a Boxer a long time ago with the name Earl. He was 7, so I felt bad and didn't want to change his name but I disliked it so much. After a couple weeks, I realized it totally suited him and was so glad that I kept it for him.
I don't know a whole lot about cat behavior...hopefully Kerren or someone else does. That is so sad that Humphrey keeps to certain areas now and is really wary. Hopefully it is just that the surgery is still fairly new and he's just one of those kitties that may take a while to adjust? It would bum me out too - it must be really hard to see him behaving differently. I would find it very difficult to be patient. I hope he's his normal self again soon. Does he also kind of keep to himself then or is he cuddly at all with you? Like being pet or massaged?
It just goes to show you how different cats are. We found our cat as a stray back in 2001 as a young cat/kitten and all these years he was kinda just independent - friendly enough - but did not want a person to initiate affection. He wanted to do it. If you picked him up, he'd slash the crap out of you trying to get away. Now after surgery, his temperament is totally different, but for the better! He's super cuddly now.
Here's to hoping your Mr. Humphrey is back to his old self again soon once he is feeling better and realizes he is safe and extremely well cared for!
Hattie & Jerry
Hugs,
Hattie and Jerry Cat (right front leg and scapula amputation due to chondrosarcoma at age 14, lived 2 1/2 years post amputation, succumbed suddenly to suspected lymphoma at age 16)
10/2001 - 10/9/2017 R.I.P ~ Love you always
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