Tag: Three-Legged

Well, it’s now been four months since Fang had his front left leg amputated.

I am happy to say that there’s pretty much nothing to report. The warmer months are coming and Fang is happily running around outside, enjoying the sun, the birds and the rodents in the fields. He continues to hop cattle fences and hunt in the neighbor fields, just like he has since he was a kitten.

In fact, he has now taken to chasing little Mamma Kitty around the yard. Half of me wants to grab the camera and get a video of him “booking it” across the field, as quick as he always was, while the other half wants to run and save Mammas from the terror chasing her down!

His hair is all pretty much grown back – though some of it grew back a lighter brown than the rest of his black fur. I think it’s cute. 😛

My last post mentioned that he seemed to be itching so hard that he was knocking his fur out – but, he’s got that all figured out now. He’s no longer missing patches of fur, and I don’t have to wince every time I see him scratching the heck out of his neck! The flea treatment helped with that, I’m sure, but I also just think he found a less awkward position to scratch himself at.

Now that I’ve gone through this with Fang, and I know it’s just not a big deal for him to have three legs, I’ve started to have a sense of humor about his three-leggedness that some people find “mean” or “insensitive”.  Firstly, I now call my fat cat, Feral (who has become increasingly more annoying with the lack of attention I showed him while doting on Fang), “Fatty-Four-Legs.” I think it’s a particularly awesome nick-name. I’m keeping it forever. 😛

In addition, I often play with Fang – though he is dangerous to play with as he is very fast and will really get is claws into you – and will stop suddenly and say things like “Oh my God! Fang! What happened to your arm!?”, or I tell people that he lost it in “the war.” My visiting family members who often want to be “boo-hoo” about the ordeal or feel bad for him generally do not get my sense of humor! But hey, it’s an inside joke, I suppose, haha.

So, life is normal, Fang is happy, and the world keeps on turning. And on we go to another month on three legs!

PS: There is another Tripawd kitty in our midst!! Check out Little Man’s Story, and leave a note! We are so lucky that there are Tripawd kitties out there willing to share their experiences for those kitties and kitty parents about to make the leap! (Remember, there are other Tripawd kitty stories in the “Tripawd Kitty Stories” section on the upper right column of this page!)

I wanted to show Fang’s “hop” at 21 days after amputation surgery. He gets around very well, and as you can see, still stops to scratch/stretch on various wooden objects like he always did. Please excuse my messy porch – been cleaning out the house. 🙂

We are now at three weeks after Fang’s leg amputation, and he is one happy three legged cat! As I mentioned in my last post, I didn’t and don’t really feel like there’s too much more recovering to do. Fang spends a lot of time outside in all of his regular places, and gets around beautifully.

One thing I have noticed is that last week, while he was getting around very well, by the end of the day he was quite tired and his “hop” became more pronounced. Throughout this week he has gotten stronger in the sense that he’s simply not as tired at the end of the day. Of course, like every other cat on Earth he sleeps a whole lot (13 to 16 hours a day is a normal amount of sleep for a cat, as a random bit of useless information), but when he’s up he’s active and I’m thankful for that.

We’ve had no issues with comfort-eating, as some cats do when they become stressed. In fact, Fang just doesn’t seem stressed. I haven’t seen him try to use his missing arm or forget it’s not there when he makes a landing – nope, he’s pretty much got it down pat.

He does have a difficult time cleaning the left side of his face without his left arm, so I help him out with that and he *loves* it. I don’t know if I mentioned that he came down with a cold right after the antibiotic shot ran out (1 week after amputation) – I suspect he got it from the vet, as that is extremely common. Anyhow, the cold has made his eyes a bit runny so for the second week and about half of this third week I had to help clean around his left eye for him a bit often. But now that his cold is going away he doesn’t seem to need the grooming help as much anymore.

He also cuddles with me more often now. I think perhaps he got used to me sleeping with him during the first two weeks so he is seeking out and soaking up the attention. He always comes into the office to sit on my lap whilst I’m on the computer now, or on the couch, or really anywhere. That’s a bit of a personality change for him – he always liked to cuddle, but it’s occurring more frequently now.

I’m confident that things will continue to go as smoothly as they have been, and I am so thankful for making the right decision (that is, to amputate rather than euthanize), that my vet listened to and cared about my wishes for Fang’s surgery, that I found the Tripawds community and other three-legged kitty owners, and that Fang has adapted and is doing so amazingly well. This Thanksgiving I felt a whole lot more thankful than usual. 🙂

Side note: I’m going to try to post a short video of his walk and run but he’s a hard one to record. When he’s out he tends to disappear and when he’s in he sleeps!

It’s been two weeks now since Fang had his front left leg amputated, and really I could not be happier with the outcome of this whole endeavor. I never would have imagined that things could be so normal after what seemed to me like such a catastrophic and life-changing loss. Fang can do everything he used to do – he runs, he jumps up and down from things, he plays, he rolls around happily, he purrs and loves life. And all this while his wound is still in the process of healing! I’ve not had to change a single thing in our house to better accommodate him.

Here are some of the highlights of week 2 of Fang’s recovery from becoming a three legged cat:

Day 8: Going Number 2

Yeah, it probably shouldn’t have consumed my life as much as it did – but not going number 2 after a large surgery can be a big deal! Anesthesia and pain medications slow the digestion process way down, and sometimes it can slow down so much that the body can’t get it going again so well! A lot of people said I should expect a bowel movement after 3-4 days – well that certainly didn’t happen! But, after 8 days and 1 small dose of Miralax he finally went. I’ve never been happier about poop….

Day 10: Fang Gives Us the Slip

By day 10 after Fang’s operation, he was back to getting up to sleep on top of the bed rather than under it, going into the rest of the house, and just generally being part of the family again. I was still keeping Feral, my fat cat, away from him, but he had already re-met and had the same mutual distaste for Mamma-Kitty that he always had and they were their normal snotty selves with one another. His personality was still strange – he wanted desperately to go outside, he hated using the litter box, and he spent a lot of the time acting a bit gloomy.

So on day 10, I walked into the house and Fang hopped out right into the yard. He had been in his usual spot whining at the door, and for some reason we didn’t think about it and Fang was out before anyone could catch him. So we went out looking for Fang around the yard (mind you, we have a bit of property). He still had his staples in, and I didn’t want anything to happen to them. Eventually we found him…

I have never seen Fang so unbelievably happy. He was rolling and stretching and grooming and sun-bathing – his demeanor was entirely different. He ran around in the fields, and eventually found himself a nice high spot on the wall to sleep in the sun. That’s when I knew, 100%, that Fang was not only going to be fine – but that he would thrive. He was not gloomy about his arm! – he was gloomy because he was cooped up inside! His full personality came back within one hour, and it hasn’t left since.

So, yeah, we kept letting him out when he wanted to go. Would the vets say that was a good idea? Maybe no. Do I think it’s necessary? Heck yes. His confidence, happiness, and energy far outweighed any potential costs. Besides, his incision was nearly healed anyway… just a bit scabby.

Day 10: Fang and Barrel meet

I was warned that with cats, after the recoup period where the household kitties aren’t together, there is a fairly good chance that the cats will not get along as well as they once did. The smell of the vet and the lack of interaction can deteriorate a once good relationship between cats, and the owner might have to put in some ground work to get everyone happy with one another again. People suggest doing positive things while they’re near each other, switching bedding amongst the cats so that they can get used to the new smells, etc. Well, when Fang booked it out of the house we didn’t get to do any of those things. He met Barrel, our fat cat, pretty quickly. I was worried because, while they get along well and can often be seen cuddling, Barrel does sometimes try to assert dominance over Fang by biting and playing rough – and Fang is much smaller and now has only three legs. Well, I’m happy to report that things were completely normal between them. In fact, after smelling each other Barrel licked Fang on the head a few times and was off to do other things. I have since then seen Barrel try a few dominating moves, but Fang batted him away just like he always did, and Barrel took the hint.

Day 13: The Staples Come Out

The veterinary office said to wait for 14 days to have Fang’s staples removed, but at this point he was already going outside and had gotten one staple turned on something, somehow. It wasn’t bad, but I knew it was time to get them removed. I emailed the vet, she said yes, and off we went to the vet’s office. I hated taking Fang back to the vet when he had just gotten his personality back – and he hated going as much as I hated taking him. But I had looked online about taking the staples out myself and, because I don’t have the special tool to do it, I would have done more harm than good. It took all of 5 minutes for them to remove the staples, there was no charge, and we were back home shortly thereafter. Fang didn’t do his usual after-vet run under the bed – nope, he went right back to the spot on top of the bed he was laying before that and rolled all around on the side where the staples were. I imagine they were itchy and bothersome, and he certainly seemed happy as a clam to have them out. Just one more happy surprise, I suppose. 🙂

In the end

I feel like there’s just not a whole lot more recoup to go… I mean, realistically at this point he’s pretty much exactly like he was before. Sure he hops now instead of walking but he gets around as quickly as always, runs brilliantly well, and lands perfectly without hitting his “bad side”. It doesn’t even make me sad to look at him without his arm, because he just doesn’t seem to miss it. Even my dad, who really sincerely believed that amputation was not the way to go, is thrilled at how well Fang gets around and how normal his life is.

So, there it is – the answer to the question that horrified me only two weeks ago: Would Fang be okay? Heck yeah – he’s more than okay! So here’s to our newly tri-pawd cat, living life like he always has! Active, healthy, and happy. 🙂

It’s been seven days since Fang’s amputation. This week has taught me that in many ways, what a lot of people have told me is true – this process is much harder on mommies than it is on kitty. Fang could get around immediately, and continues to improve every day. His confidence has been rocked a bit, for sure – he’s hiding more than he used to, because I believe he’s less confident that he can defend himself, but it’s been getting better every day. Just last evening he decided to join us in the living room for a while – he was under the coffee table of course, but he still came out there to visit and that was lovely.

I do not believe he misses his arm – but I do think he realizes that something is different, and he’s learning to cope with that. He can still jump onto things, over things, and off of things, even with his staples and one less leg. He even runs on the slippery hardwood floors without issue. In fact, I haven’t yet seen him try to do anything he couldn’t do. He’s got a wonderful appetite. He purrs when I pet him and rolls onto his back like he always did. He’s even jumped up into bed with me once or twice over the last week. He doesn’t hate me, or blame me, like I was deeply afraid of. And he’s not sad, which is the most important of all.

Some people might read this and say “My God, he’s hiding under the bed so much! He must be horrified!” But, being under the bed isn’t really a new thing for Fang. It was always one of his favorite spots, even as a four-legger. It’s true that he’s spending more time under there than usual, but then again he’s spending a whole lot more time INSIDE than usual (forced, of course), so I really have nothing to compare it to.

All in all, this is turning out to be a much, much better experience than I had dreaded. I have full confidence that Fangers will very quickly get to be back to his regular personality.  I whole heartedly believe he’s okay – and so I’m okay too!

Still no poop but… we’ll get there. Lol.