Cat's leg has to be amputated...

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

A few weeks ago I posted a thread about the knee injury our cat Stormy suffered, and the surgery that was required to try and repair it. http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=408574

Well, Stormy had her two-week follow-up appointment on Friday, and the news wasn’t good. When the vet took her out of the carrier, it was obvious that the knee was swollen, and the foot was pointed at a strange angle. Feeling the joint, the vet said that he could feel something there, and feared that part of the repair (which did involve inserting screws into the bones) had come loose.

They sedated her, took X-rays, and sure enough the screw that had been inserted horizontally through the top of the tibia had come loose. I suspect that it probably happened the one morning shortly after the surgery when she made a bolt for freedom and escaped from her cage.

They could go back in and repeat the surgery, this time with a larger screw (2.7 mm versus the current 2.0 mm), but the vet expressed doubts that a larger screw would hold any better than the one that came lose. Plus, Stormy’s not a large cat, and when you insert larger screws you run the risk of compromising the structural integrity of the bone itself.

So it seems that the only option at this time (other than putting the poor girl to sleep, which neither of us is ready to do), is to amputate the leg. She’s scheduled for surgery on Wednesday, which just happens to be my wife’s birthday as well. What fun!

On the positive side, the vet says that cats recover from this sort of surgery much faster than the knee reconstruction, and there are far fewer risks of complication. A very small (< 1%) of cats suffer from ‘phantom pain’ syndrome, but even if that occurs it can be treated with medication.

Still, it’s hard to look at her sitting in the cage knowing what’s going to happen. We both feel incredibly guilty - my wife more so than me, since she was out of town when the original injury occured.

2

I’m so sorry for Stormy.

I don’t know much about cats, but a friend of mine has two three-legged dogs on his cattle ranch. They’re both happy, healthy dogs, and (after a little while) don’t seem to miss their limbs at all. Tiger, a pit bull who lost one of her back legs to a mountain lion trap, still chases anything that moves. Every once in a while, I’ll be bouncing down a dirt road out there at 15-20 miles an hour, and I’ll look out the window and see Tiger pacing my truck.

Pets are so cute and cuddly that we sometimes forget that they’re animals… and animals are tough and adaptable. Best of luck to you and Stormy.

3

Runestar, as a life-long cat owner, my prayers are with you. It hurts when you see a loved one, two- or four-legged hurting. Stormy’s in pain, & you know she’s looking out at you wondering, “Why am I hurting, & what are you going to do about it?”

Tell her when she comes out of the vet OR, she’ll have lots of cuddles & loving, lots of attention & treats. As she heals, she’ll have lots of play fun, & will acclimate to the three-legged lifestyle in no time at all.

Comfort her & give her lots of loving. I’m sending good thoughts your family’s way.

4

Sorry to hear your cat has to go through more surgery. However, in keeping with what Enginerd mentioned, I’ve always heard that animals cope very well to life with three legs, so there’s no need to feel guilty. I’m sure she’ll do just fine. :slight_smile:

5

We have a three-legged cat.

Someone found her at the side of the road when she was a baby with her leg all mangled and smashed, and took her to the animal shelter. They had to amputate her leg (couldn’t be saved), she was fostered for a month, and the day she was made available for adoption we happened to be looking for a cat and fell in love with her.

She is missing her rear left leg. There are very few things she can’t do - she can run, jump, play, defend herself from her “little” brother who weighs twice as much as she does. Really, the only thing she can’t do is scratch her own left ear. We sometimes see her sitting, hip muscles twitching, and we scratch her ear for her as we tell her she doesn’t have that leg. She spends a while longer than normal cats when she judges jumping distances, sort of bobbing up and down for 10 seconds before she’ll make a jump. Her tail lists to the left to help her keep balance, and when she walks she kind of looks like a rabbit, but when she runs you can’t tell the difference. She would be an elevator butt cat, but she can’t balance well enough to do that if you scratch her butt, so she flops over and asks for pets by stretching out on her side.

But really, she doesn’t know any different, since she lost the leg as a baby, and from what I understand, even adult cats get perfectly used to having only three legs. She does get the phantom limb pain at times and her stump seizes up, but we just have to leave her alone and it eventually goes away.

I’m sorry your kitty is having so many troubles, but I honestly think she will be OK. Just be prepared to adapt your living space a little bit (like put an interim step between the floor and the windowsill) so she can still hang out in her favorite spots, give her lots of love and attention, and eventually she’ll never remember she had 4 legs. And her leg won’t be in pain anymore.

6

As a pet sitter, I’ve cared for two different three-legged cats: Peggles and Tripod. They were both happy, well-adjusted kitties who could run, play, jump and hold their own against other cats… Don’t beat yourself up. Stormy will likely recover pretty quickly.

7

Speaking as a pet owner, may I ask why you do not want to put her down? After all, this is life and we’re not gods. There must be a million cats (and other animals) out there who is only waiting for someone who will give them the care and attention you obviously give your pets?

8

If Stormy was going to be in severe pain for the rest of her life, then it would make sense to put her down. But cats and dogs can be perfectly happy with only three legs. They’re not horses.

9

You’re saying this one pet is disposable just because shelters are overflowing? Geez, that’s cold. There’s nothing else wrong with Stormy; while amputation is a major and drastic step, the end result will be a more comfortable life for the cat.

10

Stormy’s kind of my wife’s ‘special girl’. Although a shy and skittish cat, she always gets up on the bed after my wife does for a round of attention and pets. I can’t see either of us being ready to consider putting her down unless she’s in permanent pain.

And actually, my brother has a three-legged cat as well - Lyra. Although in her case she’s had three legs since she was a kitten. She gets around just fine, including dashing up and down the spiral staircase in my brother’s apartment.

11

Dogs can even get by on two legs.

Warning: slightly creepy (to me) video of canine walking upright like a mutant man-dog.

12

Ooh! And another of a dog missing two legs on the same side of his body. He seems to do better than the first dog.

The moral of this story: animals don’t seem to care much how many legs they have.

13

Got run over when she was a very young cat - shattered both back legs.

Didn’t come and greet us when we got home one night. Searched the suburb for her that night, couldn’t find her. Pulled herself home during the night with her front paws - wore off her front paw pads. Was on the back door step in the morning.

One leg could be repaired properly, with screws and bone grafts. The other leg had the ball part of the ball and socket joint removed.

She was OK.

A year or so later, some (words fail me) neighbours threw a brick at Shadow and shattered her back leg - you guessed it - the “good” leg. So, the “good” leg was amputated, and the only back leg she had was the one without a ball joint.

Still remember the vet nurse commenting on how, when Shadow came out of the anaesthetic, she went and used the litter tray, hopped out, and sat there looking at it, working out how to cover her mess. And she sat on her stump and used her front paws to scratch over her mess.

We had Shadow put down when she was about 15, and the arthritis from haveing walked as a tripod all her life became too great for her - not enough quality of life left - couldn’t pull herself to a new sunny spot every few hours.

That was about 10 years and several pets ago. We still miss her, and talk of her.

She was a very, very special pet. Vet science and animal pain management must have improved sight out of mind since Shadow was injured back in the early 80s.

If Stormy is important to you guys, I say go for it. Shadow’s company for those years was way worth it to us.

And Melrose thanks for the memory- I had forgotten the stump twitching! Nice to think of another amputee cat doing it!

14

Yes. Cats and dogs, provided their owner does not let them get obese, get along great on 3 legs. Humans have a much harder time healing from and adjusting to amputation; we shouldn’t let how we feel about it from our perspective interfere with the decision to do it with a pet. I had a dog with bone cancer whose leg was amputated; when he was running you couldn’t tell he was a tripod. He even developed a perfect two-point stance so he could still pee on the bushes out front. We had him for another three years and he was just as happy and silly and playful as he was before.

Try not to feel too bad about it Runestar, it’s for the best and when Stormy’s over the surgery she’ll feel way better. Even if the reconstructive surgery had worked, there would have been a risk for pain in that leg in the future from arthritis, etc. and she won’t have that now.

15

Poor kitty! I feel for you, but man…I’ve seen lots of animals with missing limbs live perfectly happy lives. Here’s to a smooth recovery!

16

Yep, Petra uses her front paws to cover anything that has a smell she finds objectionable, and this is not limited to poo in the litter box.

I just feel so bad for her unable to scratch that left ear, that I have to do it for her whenever I see that twitch!

17

{{{{{{{Stormy}}}}}}}}}

But it probably won’t be that bad. My kitty, at 70 (cat years) lost her eye. And still at 70 (cat years) could do a 4 foot vertical leap fromm a standing stop without a thought. Hell I couldn’t do that on my best day. 70 (in cat years), thyroid problems, no depth perception, and as as graceful as ever. They adapt. Have hope!

18

Is inserting screws in animals or have their legs amputated really the best course of action? I understand that this is guided by good faith and love, but it still doesn’t make it right. And I think that the idea that humans have a harder time adjusting to screws and amputations are wrong, animals move around a lot more than humans.

This discussion reminds me of a visit I made to the local vet some time back (ear infection). The vet was wondering if I had insurance covering major surgeries. I told him that I wouldn’t do that to an animal. The vet let out a sigh of relief and started talking about all the surgeries they did, even though the animal would be better off put down. Apparently, television was to blame.

I suspect that often pet owners do this for their own sake, rather than making a rational decision about what is best for the animal. Aka the OPs point made upthread that “Stormy’s kind of my wife’s ‘special girl’”. What if Stormy hadn’t been a special girl?

A pet owner is granted with more than the responsibility to care for their animals, there’s also the responsibility to say that enough is enough.

19

Alien, have you read most of the posts in this thread? Many, many animals have legs amputated and go on to live very full, happy and active lives. They are hardly suffering.

A limb removal is not (or shouldn’t be) multiple surgeries and a lot of pain and suffering.

Yes, I do agree that often people put animals through medical treatments that are ill-advised and not good for the animal. There are certainly cases where the pet is better off if they are just put to sleep.

However, I can’t see where you are getting that this is one of these cases. Ask a vet about limb amputation specifically, and you’ll probably get a very different answer than the one you got when you were discussing multiple surgeries and old, sick pets.

20

They also have 4 legs instead of 2 like people. I don’t think you can compare the two accurately.

Anecdotal evidence: my parents’ 3-legged dog can run faster than their 4-legged dog, and he’s smaller.