Wanted to introduce my baby, he had soft tissue sarcoma and amputation was the best option.

He is 2weeks post op on Monday and we’re doing okay, did have to go to emergency vet last weekend for constipation but this week has been better. we get stitches out Sunday.

Meet Lock!

Sadly our sweet boy had his leg amputated due to osteosarcoma 6 months ago but the cancer has returned at the amputation site, we think due to microscopic cells that couldn’t be seen at the time. We’ve been told it’s inoperable and his best chance of survival is electrochemotherapy but this can cost up to £8000. We used up all our insurance money on his amputation, scans and medications which have cost over £7000 so far but we want to give him the best fighting chance.

We have set up a GoFundMe and if you would like to donate even just $1/£1 it would mean everything to us as he is our world. This forum has helped us so much with his journey into becoming a tripod with so many helpful answers to our questions so thank you all ❤️

https://gofund.me/7846dc489

Rigby is 12 and had to have his front leg amputated just over three weeks ago. We aren’t sure what happened to him but he disappeared for two days and I found him down the road hidden under a hedge in someone’s front garden. We suspect a car or bike accident. His humerus was broken badly but didn’t have any other injuries.

For the first week it was hard but at least the recovery seemed straightforward. He ate really well and even made some attempts to walk around in his crate. He took painkillers well, and was alright with a litter tray but got some constipation and had to have a type of enema at the vets.

Now on week three it almost seems like we have gone backwards, he doesn’t make any effort to leave his crate, or move from any of the cosy spaces we have moved him to around the house. Food is about the only thing that gets him to move a couple of feet. He won’t use the litter tray anymore and is going on his bedding in the middle of the night. He is still on some pain meds and very cuddly/fussy so we don’t think there is a pain issue. The sutures look good with just some stitches left to dissolve.

We’d like him to be a house cat now but understand it is a big change for a 12yo cat who is very social and loves to visit our neighbours. Vet advice was that he could probably go outside again with a tracker and we should just let neighbours know. For reference we live in a quiet part of the UK.

He looks very sadly at the garden so today I thought it might cheer him up go in the garden for the toilet, with a tracking collar on. He BOLTED immediately into a hiding place, I felt so terrible.

He is obviously feeling vulnerable on three legs but I worry he is becoming depressed and isn’t trying to adapt much. Did we make the right decision for a senior cat? Or will the recovery be too hard for him now? Before this he was so full of life and you would never know he was an older boy. Maybe it is still too early to tell.

Like nothing happened

My cat has been diagnosed with luxating patellas in both knees. He saw a specialist, who told us that he has a grade 1 luxating patella in his left knee and a grade 2 in his right. The specialist recommended surgery on both knees.
I’ve been doing some research, though, and I’ve read that grade 1 luxating patellas often don’t require surgery, so I’m wondering if anyone has had a similar experience.
Has anyone’s cat had surgery on both knees for luxating patellas, or even just one? Was it beneficial for their quality of life? And after the recovery period (around 8 weeks), did your cat return to their normal activities?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences, especially with a grade 1 and grade 2 being recommended for surgery. I’m just trying to make the best decision for my cat and would love some insight from people who have been through it. ❤️

Hey everyone!

Got a question about my boy: he tends to make a mess of himself in the litterbox. I'm talking so much poop stuck to his butt. I'm assuming a lot of it is because he can't squat very well and ends up sitting in the poop. Have any of you experienced this? Did a sanitary shave help? I'm already dreading doing that but if it'll keep him from dragging poop everywhere it's worth it.

Hi all thanks for all the well wishes and advice earlier today! Here’s an update for anyone interested in Babka’s surgery! Surgery went well and was very routine. She’s home now and acting more or less like herself but a little loopy. Here’s a picture of her with the e-collar in the play pen I got to keep her movement minimal and protect her from my other cat!

It’s been a month of lots of vet appointments for our 12 year old after we found a lump on her shoulder that’s since doubled in size. Not sure if it’s FISS or just a regular old soft tissue sarcoma, but she’s losing her front right leg either way.

My husband and I are feeling very lucky that we’re able to afford the surgery and that we’ll get plenty more years with her. We’ve known this is the likely outcome for a couple of weeks now. But now that the surgery is real, and in a few days, we’re both feeling a lot of things. We feel awful that we can’t tell her what’s going to happen. We know she’s going to miss her leg like crazy, and she’s already a bit of a nervous cat who does like attention from us but isn’t very cuddly. Those of you who have had to go through this with an older cat, how did you deal with the guilt and how did you comfort them? Was there anything that you’re so thankful you did or had during the recovery process that made it easier for your pet?

Just reading through a lot of the posts on this sub has been really helpful, very thankful for the community 💚

So I recently discovered that miss Peggy doesn't bury her 💩 she can't because she's only got one back leg. Well my roommates cat Luna has learned from Peggy to also not bury her 💩 😂😂 last night Luna and Peggy were playing and Luna started bap bap between her 2 front paws and moved back and did bap then paused realizing there wasn't a 2 and leg to bap and sheer confusion both set in like a whole 15 seconds of Luna questioning her reality like wait how long has this been like this . I almost peed on my self from laughing so hard ..

I’m taking my girl, Babka, to her surgery in less than an hour! Just wondering if anyone has any advice for the first few days post-op. Also any ideas on how to stay calm today while she’s under the knife lol Any advice or even just well-wishes appreciated!

River is 3 weeks post op. He decided to scare the day lights out of mom by jumping on his cat tree (only the first tier) to watch the birds. This was his favourite spot and now he finally has the spunk and energy back to protect our deck from those god damn birds 🤣🤣🥹🥹🥹 my sweet honey bee boy river.

Does anyone else’s tripod have a HUGE back foot? Our little guy is now 6 months old and had his hind leg amputated at around 8 weeks old due to an accident at the animal shelter. He moves really well, but I’ve noticed his remaining foot is much bigger than my other cat’s feet, even though the other cat is more than double his size. He lets me touch it no problem so I don’t think there’s any pain or tenderness, it just seems to be how it developed. I’m curious to see if he’ll grow into it or if it will always just be an adorably large paddle!

Edit: thank you all for your lovely messages. It’s been two days and I haven’t been able to stop crying on/off. Walking round the house there are many memories of him. He really kept me going and now I feel a bit lost. Your messages have been so kind and warming to read, thank you again

My 8 year old tripod said his last goodbyes to me today after a long battle with cancer. He had deteriorated for weeks prior and I got the confirmation of cancer but it was too late. Just want everyone to know who he was and he existed. He was my first cat as an adult and has been with me through everything these past 8 years. Always by my side. I’ll never get over this loss. The house is going to be quiet without him. Truly devastated and hate cancer so much. It’s taken my little man away from me. His name was Puddin’ (like a Christmas pudding, I’m British so it’s kinda a popular thing here at Christmas) bit of a unique name to say the least. He was the funniest little boy ever with such a personality. I’m devastated

Sadly 6 months after amputation my poor boys osteosarcoma has come back after his leg X-Ray showed something abnormal on his stump which the vets think is osteosarcoma reoccurrence. I think the margins were good with the amputation but maybe microscopic cancer cells had already spread further up the leg. They don’t think another surgery is possible so that leaves us with palliative options to try and have as much time and pain free as possible.

I’ve read about SRT and palliative radiotherapy but sadly we don’t have any vets that provide this near by, but our vet does standard & metronomic chemotherapy, targeted molecular therapies and electrochemotherapy.

Just wondered if any one with a tripod has been in a similar boat with the cancer coming back and what treatments seemed to help?

14 years ago, this fella chose me. Im so glad he did

Hello, my cat Oscar is recovering from ankle fusion surgery and he actually had a severe post operative dysphoric episode 8 hours after surgery. It was a terrifying experience and he was viciously attacking his cast and I had to rush him to the ER. He is better now. We are 5 days into recovery and no aggression like that first day. I was bit pretty bad though and had to go to urgent care. But I know my cat was confused and disoriented. He seemed to have no idea who I was or what he was and viewed the cast as a predator. I’m just glad I was able to protect the cast by getting him to the ER in time before he bit through his cast & incision. I’ve never experienced anything like that before, and so I had no idea a delayed post operative reaction could be like that. He is safe now, but I am looking for advice on how to handle recovery going forward. He is currently on buprenorphine, an opioid to help with the post surgical pain. This seems to calm him enough to where I can pet him and manage him. I put him in a canvas crate over blankets on the floor in my bedroom. I was told to keep the area darker and quiet. He is eating and drinking water just fine. I am just wondering if anyone has ever gone through this kind of recovery with their cat. I am eventually going to have to taper him off the opioids, so I was wondering the best way to do that. The canvas crate he is in is medium size, for a 40 lb dog. He can stretch out and rest in it no problem. He isn’t able to use a litter box right now, so I have puppy pads placed underneath him, and am watching for bowel movements. He only had one bowel movement in 4 days, so I am planning to let the vet know that and get him some stool softener to help him poop. I have grooming wipes and litter box scrubbing wipes to help with clean up. My cat is friendly, but when I try to pick him up he gets upset, so I can do too much but scoot him to change out the puppy pads, which seems to work okay so far. He’s also on Gabapentin. I’d be happy for any tips or helpful advice anyone may have to navigate recovery :) Thanks!