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[Misc] Anyone ever had a 3 legged cat?



S

Soton Seagull

Well-known member
Jul 8, 2003
4,098
Now with added Worthing! (& quite liking it)
Sadly no punchline to this, just wondered if the vast net that is NSC has any experience of a Tripod moggy, and any advice (helpful!).

For context our cat suffered a major trauma on Tuesday; unclear as to what, but effectively no longer has any knee ligaments attached and a floating platella plus bonus bits in one of his rear legs. Tomorrow he is having an op to remove the damaged leg as was preferable to the other option of complicated specialist surgery, needing a pins in the leg traction and being caged for up to 8 weeks (plus eventual guaranteed arthritis). Really difficult decision, but should back back to 'normal' in a fortnight with this option. All about getting him comfortable quicker, as you can't really explain to an animal what is for their own good.

Anyone here have a hop along furry friend? Guessing minimal adaptions, other than some assistance climbing stuff early days.
 




seagullwedgee

seagullwedgee

Well-known member
Aug 9, 2005
2,983
That’s very sad, I hope he pulls through, and well done you for doing your best. There was a 3 legged cat on one of my regular running routes down in Melbourne, and he was a perfectly happy chap who would sit out on the front pavement and watch the world go by. I often saw him scuttling along, but he was missing a front leg, and had adapted a hopping style to shuffle along without falling flat on his face. We are cat owners ourselves, and i guess the difference is your chap will be missing a back leg, and a cats body weight sits much more above its back legs, and it relies along spring from its back legs to climb anything even a simple step, or to take quick evasive action. So losing aback leg could be very difficult for him, and you will no doubt have to make some lifestyle alterations to help him to cope. If he comes through the op we’ll, I am sure he can be happy, healthy and content with owners as good as you looking out for him. All the best.
 


M

METALMICKY

Well-known member
Jan 30, 2004
6,073
The in-laws had a moggy who lived to about 16 of which 4 were spent with just 3 legs. The leg removed was due to a cancerous growth . Even as a fairly old cat it coped fine including some fairly steep stairs. The only caveat was that this was an indoor only cat. Being naturally a little less mobile might be more of a disadvantage for a cat that goes out. I'm thinking traffic, scraps with other cats and dogs/foxes.
 


Swansman

Swansman

Pro-peace
May 13, 2019
22,320
Sweden
My friends cat had a leg removed and it was no problem really... lost a bit of its agility etc but purrrfectly fine otherwise. My friend actually thought it was a blessing in disguise as he no longer needed to clean up dead birds, mouses and rabbits every ****ing day.
 


Stat Brother

Stat Brother

Well-known member
NSC Patron
Jul 11, 2003
73,713
West west west Sussex
We did and he was a psychopath - bless him.

(Apologies in advance this may ramble on a while as I wander down memory lane)


Ma Stat got him from a home as she wasn't too good on her legs either.

We called him Knucker (3 Old Knucker's and you were legless - come on people work with me here)

He was a massive Tom cat, with a withered front paw, found half starved in the woods.
Possibly had his paw trapped in a snare.
He was Sylvester black and white, but the white streak up his nose was very off centre.

Anyhoo Knucks only cared about food and fighting.

The happiest time he had was when moo-ma Stat moved to a long time empty bungalow.
The back garden was a meet up for all the local cats, until Knucker staked his claim.

He fought incessantly for nearly 2 weeks, until no other cat ever came into his garden.

His go to move was to sit upright on his haunches, swinging his good paw, until he connected, then pounce on his victim and attempt to bite it's face off - happy dayz.

He was regularly taken to the vets by passing strangers, they'd just accept him at the front and let him out the back.

He was once taken by an old girl who'd been feeding him twice a day for a few weeks.
She was surprised when the assistant said 'Hello Knucker what have you been up to this time?'
Naturally during that time he was also eating and sleeping at Mothers.

The one problem was this withered claws still grew and needed trimming.
Friends even turned up with the best of intentions to do it always looked at Knucks and 'no, that's clearly a job for the vet'.


At no point was his missing leg a problem.
 




M

METALMICKY

Well-known member
Jan 30, 2004
6,073
Going off at a little tangent cats are remarkably resilient and able to adapt. We had a beautiful 18 British blue shorthair boy who unknown to us was actually blind for the last 3 months he was alive. Other age related stuff caught up with him in the end but the blindness was not an issue to the extent that we didn't even notice. Our vet explained that cats can not only recall their normal environment but they are also guided by their whiskers. He actually joked that had we started moving furniture around we would have caused havoc!
 




Ninja Elephant

Ninja Elephant

Doctor Elephant
Feb 16, 2009
18,855
A married couple of friends were debating getting a cat, the wife wanted one and the husband really didn't. So they compromised, and got a cat but with the condition that the cat needed to have some kind of disability so the husband would feel a connection with him/her. They got themselves a beautiful little three legged fella called Herbert. He just got on with his life, they only knew him as a hopalong but it didn't stop him exploring. He liked getting up onto beds and whatnot, so they put little stairs out for him and sometimes he'd use them, other times he'd clamber up and cause chaos on the way.
 






Pavilionaire

Pavilionaire

Well-known member
Jul 7, 2003
30,580
Our family cat got a tumour on her leg, vet gave us the choice and we opted not to put her down so off came the leg. Life pretty much carried on as normal for the cat and we lived in a 3 storey townhouse with basement.

I'd say it depends how old the cat is - near the end then lethal injection, younger then amputation. Our cat was probably 7 or 8 when she had the op. Cats are pretty resilient.
 








Lower West Stander

Lower West Stander

Well-known member
Mar 25, 2012
4,753
Back in Sussex
METALMICKY said:
Going off at a little tangent cats are remarkably resilient and able to adapt. We had a beautiful 18 British blue shorthair boy who unknown to us was actually blind for the last 3 months he was alive. Other age related stuff caught up with him in the end but the blindness was not an issue to the extent that we didn't even notice. Our vet explained that cats can not only recall their normal environment but they are also guided by their whiskers. He actually joked that had we started moving furniture around we would have caused havoc!
Click to expand...

That’s really interesting. I’m suspicious one of our two cats is blind or at least has very limited sight (she’s 15) But I really can’t tell. Getting her into a basket to go to the vets is a military operation.

Short of going through this ordeal (last time it took all day) is there any way of checking?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 






B

billpotter72

Member
Mar 24, 2015
40
Yep we have a 3 leg cat in fact my partner has had 2 over the years.
Our current one is getting on now but she is still super mobile.
I am sure its been mentioned but it really depends on which limb is missing if its a hind leg then their ability to jump is seriously reduced (obviously).
Our cat exists in a house with 4 teenagers, 1 other cat and 2 puppies and she more than holds her own.
 


dingodan

dingodan

New member
Feb 16, 2011
10,080
I have a cat with no arms no legs and no head!







Oh no, wait, it's a pillow.
 




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