I have a kitten, about 10 weeks old with a broken front left arm. The break is bad, and she would need an $8000 surgery. She’s splinted and on gabapentin for now, but we are stumped on what to do. 3 vets have told us we CAN save it at a cost, but we don’t know if we can swing that. All of those vets said amputation is more affordable. I just want to know how you all came to terms with amputation and why?

I have a ~3 month old kitten who I found on the street back in July with a broken back hind leg. Yesterday was his amputation and he’s doing so well!

Up until his surgery he was on 50mg Gabapentin 2x a day. The vet gave me 100mg Gabapentin to administer every 12 hours. Started last night with only enough to last until tomorrow night (5 doses). I expressed concerns to the vet about gabapentin withdrawal and they told me not to worry about it, but I am worried! Anecdotally and just from personal experience I feel like cutting him off cold turkey after a month and a half of use feels crazy to me!!!!

Should I wait to see if there are withdrawal symptoms? Or after I run out of the 100mg stuff should I go back go 50mg 2x a day for a couple days, followed by 25mg 2x a day? I know everywhere says consult with a vet, but I consulted with a vet and I’m not sure if I agree with them! I do have a vial of the liquid prescription and feel confident in administration so that’s not an issue. Guess I’m just looking for advice if someone has been in a similar situation? I don’t want this baby to experience any discomfort if he doesn’t have to.

Thanks!!!!

We started with the closet but it was too big.
Next was the playpen but it was too small.
Finally, we switched the enormous new low entry litter box with a ramen box and the playpen is just right.

We were told not to use any litter box on day 1 home, just litter on a potty pad. Day 2 we used the low entry box, and day 3 we switched to the cardboard. These are the ramen boxes that they are sold/displayed in at Walmart, so I went this morning and got all they had available. I got 6 and they’re free! I figure anytime she poops I’ll throw it away. I put a potty pad under it so no pee soaks through to the blanket. I found Deluxe Kraft mac and cheese and Velveeta shells and cheese in similar boxes that will work well too. She loves scratching her face on the cardboard too so it’s a win.

Now I can comfortably fit her water and food in there. I also added a towel to the side she lays at bc she has gotten some poop on the blanket both times she’s gone #2 so next time I can just swap for a clean towel instead of trying to change the whole blanket.

I have her set up on my side of the bed next to a low window so she can see outside a bit. I put the LED candle in at night so I can see her anytime I wake up. Today is day 4 post surgery and she’s doing great. She finished the anti inflammatory medicine on Sunday, and her last pain medicine will be in the morning. After that it’s just gabapentin and an antibiotic so I’m looking forward to that. Just wondering now how long she will be happy with the playpen, but we’ll see. ❤️

My 14 year old boy has been diagnosed with a fast growing sarcoma on his back leg. No spread that they can see and defined margins. Vet stating that amputation is an option and will improve quality of life. Would you go for it? Will he bounce back even at 14? He’s happy and eating and playing but vet is saying we are talking months possibly weeks if we don’t remove the leg as the mass is growing and will cause pain and ulceration soon.

aka Monty, Mr. Baby, Montypotamus, & many others. He was supposed to live in the UK w his original adopter, but the universe had other plans. He stayed in TX to live w me, my wife, & our crew of misfits. He is now about 12 yrs old. He was diagnosed w lymphoma in Feb. It looked pretty grim, but he's doing amazing now on his treatment! Isn't he such a handsome baby boy cat?? Yes, yes he is. 🥹 Aside, the dog is also tripod (missing back leg), & they make up most of our tripod squad.

Hey guys. I have 3 cats. One of them is 11 years old this year, and the other two, who are from the same litter, just turned 12.

Yesterday, while I was rushing to get my daughter to school, I accidentally backed over one of my cat’s legs. I feel absolutely horrible about it. 😭 It was a complete accident, but that doesn’t make me feel any less awful.
She’s currently at the vet receiving pain medication since they’re closed today, and we’ve made the heartbreaking decision to amputate her leg tomorrow.
Honestly, it still feels like a nightmare I’m going to wake up from. 💔

For anyone who has been through something similar with their cat, what can I expect during the first few weeks after surgery? Is there anything I should buy or anything I can do at home to make her recovery easier and more comfortable? How will recovery be considering she is a senior cat?

I’d really appreciate any advice, tips, or things you wish you had known beforehand. ❤️🐾

Here is my baby. Amputated five years ago. Had him almost the entire time since. Light of my life. His PTSD and abandonment issues have improved incredibly! 💜

Hi, I love seeing everyone else’s tripods so I just wanted to share my baby :-) her name is Tomo, it means friendship in Japanese :3
Her hobbies include sleeping, eating, and demanding attention:3
Show me your tripods and tell me about them!

Zasha recently had to get her rear left leg amputated due to sarcoma. It’s been about a month, but I don’t think she’s confident enough to make her way to her favorite spot (at the top of the cat tree). Do you guys have any suggestions for cat trees or elevated platforms? Thank you so much in advance!

Reduced this cutie from a local shelter ! Had been there for over 100 days
My first cat and he’s the best kitty I could’ve asked for 🖤

I love videos and images of tripod cuties lashing out with the paw that isn’t there. Going for the hit and… a miss! Often more than one. Am I normal? Either way, please share your media with me.

Hi all,

Yesterday, my 18+ year old tripod sweetie, Biggie, incurred some sort of soft tissue knee injury (sprain or similar) to his remaining back leg. He's been a tripod for 16 years, and this is the first time we're dealing with an injury. I want to make sure we're giving him the best possible support. The injury was diagnosed by an emergency vet last night, who gave him a painkiller injection and prescribed rest and gabapentin.

We have him in a small bathroom with a low-sided litterbox and raised and standard food and water bowls. He's thankfully seemingly been able to get himself into the litter box, and we've seen him eat and drink. But he really can't get around at this point, he can do a step or two but then sort of just tumbles over — it's heartbreaking.

He's otherwise in relatively decent health for a super senior, though he does take thyroid meds and recently started solensia for arthritis. This injury aside, his mobility has also been pretty solid — jumps up on beds and chairs, no issues with stairs, etc.

If anyone has been in a similar situation and has advice and/or info on what the recovery process may look like, I'd love to hear it. He got discharged from the emergency vet at 3am this morning and we were pretty groggy, and didn't think to ask as many questions as we might normally.

First off: I wanted to thank this community for getting us through something very difficult and unexpected! It has been a god send and helped so much.

Second: I wanted to update about Toby, who became a tripod 3 weeks ago today. He has done well and still has a wonderful quality of life, and the picture I added shows him feeling well enough to jump on his favorite pillow! He has had some breakthrough pain that we’ve been managing but so far he’s done well.

We did, however, learn that his foot did have cancer that had spread from his lung known as a rare and aggressive form of cancer, feline lung digit syndrome. We took him to the ER yesterday for some fast breathing after a pain breakthrough and after 12 hours were told his tumor had grown in his lung and our oncology appointment may not go as we thought.

I’m just hoping at this point to give him a wonderful life, no matter how much time he has left. Whether that includes chemo or just comfort measures, I just want my little tripod baby to be happy and comfortable.

Guess I’m sharing this again to thank this community and give a little update in case anyone else might be having a hard time. Recovery happens so quickly and while his situation is a little different, I’m so glad I was able to alleviate his paw pain for whatever time he has left.

Sir Archie's post dinner bath

We've had Tim for 6 years, he was found in a recycling bin in Indiana. We've had Susan for 4, found her abandoned off the side of the road on the island of St. Kitts.

Husband is a vet and got this little rescue girl in after a car accident. He had to take her leg but she took his heart, and we foster failed pretty much immediately.

My BFF had a bump on her side 2 weeks ago. I didn’t immediately call the vet because she’d had 3 vet appointments in the past month because I’m a crazy person who kept telling them her lip was swollen and she had bumps on her chin. She had literally been to the vet the week prior. 4 days after noticing the bump, it grew from the size of a marble to about half of a golf ball. 2 days after that she went to the vet and they removed fluid with a syringe for testing. A week later it’s positive for cancer. We found out it was cancer on Tuesday and got x rays Wednesday. There was no spread to her lungs so the next day it was a consultation with a boarded surgeon and the day after that, Friday, her leg was amputated. They suspect injection site sarcoma but will definitively know in about 2 weeks. My girl is doing well. We had the closet setup at first, but she was all over the place yesterday when we got her home. I’ve never dealt with this, so I didn’t expect her to be so active and not so much as close her eyes the entire day. Finally around 3 am I moved her to the playpen. It’s a little tight thanks to my enormous litter box, but at least I know she’s not overdoing it and I can comfortably leave her alone for short periods of time. (Thanks to my Ring camera) She’s finally resting today.

BUT ALSO WHY THE FUCK ARE THEY PUSHING INJECTIONS ON INDOOR CATS AND NOT EVEN MENTIONING THAT YOUR CAT COULD GET AN AGGRESSIVE CANCER. I’m definitely going to look into reimbursement from the vaccine company. We don’t have pet insurance and it was almost 8k.

I love her so much.

My baby is 3 years post-amputation and 4 years old. Watching her recover those years ago was one of the most heartbreaking things I've been through. She had emergency surgery late at night and was sent back home (mere hours later) without painkillers or post-op care. Had to rally hard to get her what she needed without putting her through the stress (and pain!) of taking her to and from appointments. Seeing her the way she was lives rent free in my mind, and not in a good way.

Fast forward to now - she's the happiest, sassiest, craziest little thing. She's the baby of 4 cats, but somehow the alpha. Still though all these years later, she tries to use her phantom leg. I'm sure she knows her leg isn't there anymore, but like, she hasn't quite figured it out? She tries to dig in the litter box with it, and constantly swings at her kitty siblings, but even they stopped flinching at her phantom left hooks. Gives me a giggle. She's the best, it's incredible how cats adapt.

And on a side note, was anyone else surprised by how their kitties anatomy changed post-amputation? Squirty's front leg sits more centralised to her body now, like her whole shoulder has shifted almost? To be expected, but still wild. Also the muscles in her remaining front leg go CRAZY. Buffest cat I've ever seen.

That’s Binks. I like to call him my 3-legged roomba.
He was found alone by a road as a kitten at 4 months with a mangled leg, had it amputated, then spent 8 months with a foster. 3rd image featuring his 4-legged companion Miss Ma’am who I adopted initially because they were pretty closely bonded at their foster home.
Somehow within the year that I’ve had my little guy I never found my way to this sub. So hello, I’m new here, nice to see everyone else’s tripods too!

Chance turns 17 today! We adopted him at 3 months, he’d already had right rear leg amputation. He spent his early years harassing our 4 senior kitties. Diagnosed with IBD 3 years ago, and CKD about 9 months ago, but still living his best life. Due to arthritis, he can’t climb up on our bed anymore. So far unsuccessful with kitty stairs but we will keep trying! For now, he just wakes me up a few times a night to put him back on our bed, lol! First pic is recent.

Hi guys! I’m looking for some advice. I’ve rescued a disabled kitten around one month ago. She was born with deformed hind legs I took her to my local vet and they told me because she was born that way that there isn’t much that can be done to fix it but she could still live a good life. I went for a second opinion to more experienced vets but they told me the same thing and since I live in a very small country I couldn’t find a vet that had ever seen this anomaly or had experience with it. Next month I’m moving to another country and I will take her to a specialist there. Since she is with me one of her legs got much better, she can put the foot on the floor and put some pressure on it before it bends to the side (seen in one of the pictures) so I think that we could save that leg. Does anyone here have a cat like this or have experience with such disabilities and can give me some advice?

Yes, his name is Tripod! Just found this subreddit so thought I'd say hello!

He was born with 4 legs, got hit by a car at a few weeks old, the previous owners couldn't afford the vet bill so he was given up to a local animal charity who performed the operation and then we adoptrled him. Had him 3 years now and you'd never know he only has 3 legs until he tries to itch his ear 😂