My cat broke his back left leg yesterday and has had an operation today to amputate the leg as he's getting old (He's 17) and they weren't clean breaks. My question is have any of you had a cat with only 3 legs and how did they cope with it when they came home?
3 Legged Cat
My cat has its back leg missing. Got attacked by a dog!
he copes okay, his walking isnt the best but can run fine! albeit sideways.
IVe seen other cats be fine missing a leg!
he copes okay, his walking isnt the best but can run fine! albeit sideways.
IVe seen other cats be fine missing a leg!
The vet told me that cats cope better with a missing back leg than a missing front leg - they can't jump as high whereas with two back legs and one front they jump as high but the landing gear is half-size.
Three-legged cats usually do very well, fingers crossed your cat does.
Three-legged cats usually do very well, fingers crossed your cat does.
Originally Posted by elltridgefan1:
“My cat broke his back left leg yesterday and has had an operation today to amputate the leg as he's getting old (He's 17) and they weren't clean breaks. My question is have any of you had a cat with only 3 legs and how did they cope with it when they came home?”
“My cat broke his back left leg yesterday and has had an operation today to amputate the leg as he's getting old (He's 17) and they weren't clean breaks. My question is have any of you had a cat with only 3 legs and how did they cope with it when they came home?”
Yes, Helen The Tripod of Evilness has been sans one of the front legs for 15 years.
She is just fine. Only thing it stops her doing is catching mice etc as she can't pounce without falling over.She can jump the same as she could with 4 legs, and she basically always acted like there was nothing different. I suspect she thinks the leg is still there as when she does that 'pummelling' thing happy cats do, you can see her moving the 'stump' of the long lost leg.
She coped very well (lost it when run over by some thugs). When she came home, she just acted like nothing had happened. They do adapt well.
ETA: My son just reminded me to say the vet told us that we had to watch her weight as there's more strain on the heart with the 3 remaining legs taking all the strain. Not sure how true that is but we have never let her get fat. She's still an outdoors cat and terrorises all the cats round here - even those twice her size and with a full set of legs.
Thanks all. He's apparently doing well, having trouble going to the toilet cos he tries to squat and falls over. Mum's taking him home tomorrow, so we'll see how it goes
That's hopefully a good thing, he had a habit of getting up an 8 foot fence and refusing to come down! Knowing his tenacity he'll still find a way to do it.
Quote:
“The vet told me that cats cope better with a missing back leg than a missing front leg - they can't jump as high whereas with two back legs and one front they jump as high but the landing gear is half-size”
“The vet told me that cats cope better with a missing back leg than a missing front leg - they can't jump as high whereas with two back legs and one front they jump as high but the landing gear is half-size”
That's hopefully a good thing, he had a habit of getting up an 8 foot fence and refusing to come down! Knowing his tenacity he'll still find a way to do it.
I came on this forum 2 years ago when we had the same problem and was inundated with replies and advice from folk whose cats had only 3 legs. Ours, Harley, had one of his back legs amputated after a soft tissue injury which didnt heal. The worse time was just after he came home - very bald and sorry for himself for a week but after that he did just fine, and is still going strong. We were in two minds as to whether to go ahead as he wasnt in the first flush of youth (12) but worked on the principle that as he was otherwise healthy, if it gave him another couple of years in his beloved garden, it was worth it. He still goes out and about every day and night - the only thing he isnt allowed to do is to go out of the front of house. It involved him climbing a fence to get home and tbh, I'm not sure thats not how he injured himself in the first place. Walks very strangely - more of a drunken hop, but when he runs hes fine and interestingly, sticks his tail out sideways to compensate for the loss of the leg. Lots of tlc and yours will be fine too. Someone on here warned against helping him too much as he had to figure out how to do things himself, and it was the best advice ever. Its hard seeing them trying to manage in the first few weeks but they soon get their heads around it. Dont leave too many obstacles around, or too much temptation to jump, and they will adapt quite quickly. Good luck!
One of our neighbours had a three legged cat, (not sure how it happened) which was the biggest bird hunter in the street! I was forever chasing it out of our garden when it was climbing up into the hedge after the nests. Three legs never seemed to slow him down at all.
Back in the 70's our cat Mossy went missing for two days, and she finally turned up in a right state. Covered in blood and clearly very unwell. She was missing her back left leg.
She was rushed to the vet who cleaned it up and told us that Mossy had chewed off her leg to escape some sort of trap - probably a mole trap on the fields behid our house.
Despite her terrible ordeal, she recovered well and lived to 18. She seemed to take it in her stride (sorry) and was able to run and jump almost as well as ever.
She was rushed to the vet who cleaned it up and told us that Mossy had chewed off her leg to escape some sort of trap - probably a mole trap on the fields behid our house.
Despite her terrible ordeal, she recovered well and lived to 18. She seemed to take it in her stride (sorry) and was able to run and jump almost as well as ever.
