It’s been a big week!
On Monday, I found Painy sitting in the front yard, where he likes to hang out, with one paw held up off the ground. A couple of days before, I’d wondered if he was limping slightly & decided I was imagining things, but now there was obviously a problem.
Neither I nor the vet could see an injury, but just in case it was an infected bite the vet put him on antibiotics for a couple of days, starting off with a good dose by injection. He also mentioned the possibility that given the acute onset of pain, it could be bone cancer. I’m glad he told me so the family & I had some warning to think about this!
By Thursday, with no improvement, Painy had X-rays that showed half of one if his foreleg bones had been eaten away by cancer & was at some risk of fracture. His other legs & chest/lungs looked clear.
We talked about amputation, the vet being fairly encouraging as Painy is only 9 years old. He came home on painkillers pending a decision – amputation vs euthanasia.
That’s when I discovered Tripawds & looked up loads of info on cat leg amputations. I was however quite uncertain – it seemed unfair to burden an already disabled cat with another disability. Painy has been vision-impaired from birth – he can see enough to crash-tackle his mother, Mischief, and sadly also to catch lizards, but he runs into things in unexpected places (has a good memory map). Also he is quite timid – runs away from people until he knows who they are, & doesn’t often go in our backyard with our big dog despite being quite good friends with her, because she moves quickly & unpredictably. He stays outside too, rather than encounter the dog inside the house, & it worried me how safe he’d be in the front yard.
However Painy is also a happy, very purry little guy, who seems to have a knack for survival, including avoiding conflict with other cats or roaming toms in the neighbourhood.
In the end we’ve decided to give him a chance on 3 legs! He’s booked in for surgery on Tuesday (today is Saturday in Australia). We’ll keep him inside in a dog-free zone for awhile & see how he goes. Sadly the vet reminds us that it is still possible the cancer has spread eg to lungs & not showing on X-ray ye
By the way, Painy’s full name is Master Pain – that’s what happens when you let your son & his friend name a kitten! Apparently he’s named after a movie character!
I’ll keep you posted!
liz
welcome to the tripwads family!
Sorry U have had to find us, but glad U did as this is my saving grace to off load to those who can relate.
U do hope the surgery goes well Tuesday & that Master Pain recovers well very soon after!
Sending lots of well wishes ur way ☺️
Welcome and thank you for sharing Master Pain’s story! Best wishes for his speedy recovery, please keep us posted.
FYI: We’ve added Painy’s blog to our growing list of Tri-kitty Bloggers.
Liz, we are so glad you decided to blog and join the community. Today is Monday in America so that means Tuesday where you are. We send all our love & healing thoughts for an uneventful surgery and recovery. Keep us posted!