BTW, legless cats can survive and thrive. Case in point.
Posted on 06/18/2012 6:08:35 AM PDT by RoadGumby
Hello all,
I am hoping to hear from all the cat lovers here on Freep.
I am the new owner of a kitten that has some deformities from birth.
Her front paws are not fully formed and lack any claws at all. This is the best of her deformities.
On the other end, she is lacking her back feet. She has her upper thigh (Femur?) and then the next bone(s) that would be the same as our Tibia and Fibia. And that is all.
She is about 4 weeks old and was brought into the animal clinic my wife works at. They were going to put her down, but we decided (even though we already have 7 cats) to take her in and give her a chance.
What I need is information and or resources to use to figure out how to help her. She does try to walk and get around, but has obvious traction problems. The BIGGEST hurdle I see is getting her litter box trained.
We have named her Grace.
Any help information wise would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance
God bless little Grace and her caring kitty parents!
God bless you!
BTW, legless cats can survive and thrive. Case in point.
The operative word is ‘rubbing’. :^)
*chuckle* I was just funnin’ ya.
http://www.bestfriends.org/index.htm
I volunteered there on several vacations. They have *lots* of special needs kitties.
I *knew* there’s a reason that I like you!
Precious!
Like you too!
I am a serious cat lover, and I agree with you.
Some other kitty who wouldn’t live a life of pain and frustration could be spared the kitty gas chamber in this one’s place.
Admirable intentions, but I’d spare a better equipped kitty instead.
They were willing to take a FeLV kitten for me. (Luckily, I found her a home at the last moment.)
She would have done well there. (Of course, having a forever home is so much better than going to the shelter.) The animals and humans there were very happy (Mr. Sg marvelled about that), so they have my confidence.
Life of pain and frustration. Huh.
I can tell you, Grace came to us at 4 weeks old or so. Obviously viable in that mama cat fed her and she had made it those 4 weeks. But in the wild, that was to be the end of the line for her. Not so with more ‘domestic’ care.
You have a hard heart. A better equipped kitty? You look at the outside and decide her fate. If you took a look at the inside, you’d see a loving kitten that plays with the older cats, who cuddles and purrs, wants to be held. She is putting on weight, ‘walks’ alot better now on the slippery hardwood. I’d say she is ‘equipped’ well.
Does she have some challenges to overcome? Yep. But she is on her way with them.
We had 7 cats before Grace. And THAT was to be all. “Better equipped” or not. We had fostered 3 litters and the last one we kept, intending to foster no more. Then Grace came into our life. She could not be turned away, 7 cats notwithstanding. I’d say we have spared 8 kitties from the gas chamber. Would that others would do the same. Would that others would spay and neuter to reduce the number of cats being killed because of a lack of home.
But don’t criticize me or my intentions if I opened my heart and home to an animal that needed help.
We just had to put our cat Leopold to sleep. He had urinary problems that are common to male cats and there was nothing that could be done.
He was only 4. He was my buddy and I miss him. :(
It hurts. I loved him.
*Sobs*
We just put our Manx Leopold to sleep.
He was my buddy and I loved him so much.
It hurts. :(
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