cheesecat – Page 5 – Feta the Three Legged Cat

Feta Finds her Furs-onality

As Feta started to feel a little better and settle into her new (temporary??!) home, it quickly became clear that she was a very quirky cat.

You'd look stupid in this hat, too. — “Who are you calling ‘quirky’?!”

She started showing her playful side more and more, and it turns out she just loves catnip mice.

And catnip birds. And catnip anything, really.

“Dude. Duuuuude! Like, DUDE! This bird thing is FREAKING MEOWT!!!”

She became more demanding, too – if I was sitting in my computer chair, she thought she should be sitting with me, and would beg pathetically until I helped her up.

"Note — “Yes, much better. This is how you should treat Cat.”

In fact, she became a pretty vocal cat overall – pretty laid back, but also not shy about trying to get my attention! …or maybe just trying her paw at karaoke?

“I BELIEEEEVE I CAN FLYYY!” “No, you can’t. You’re a Tripawd Cat, not a bird. Enough!”

Most surprising to me – though really, I should have expected it – was how obsessed she was with food. Compared to my dog, who won’t eat a filet mignon if it’s not cooked to his exact specifications (which are always subject to change), Feta would eat anything, anywhere, at any time! I thought everyone said cats were picky?!

She raided the grocery bags.

“Look, ma! I learned how to get up on the couch!”

She tried to get into things that fell out of the fridge.

“If it has my name on it, can I eat it?!”

She just overall went after food any time, any where she could find it. Boy am I glad she can’t get up on the counters!!

Finally, after umpteen warm compresses, courses of antibiotics, and vet visits (the last of which she had to attend by train, since my car was broken!), Feta was cleared to go cone-less!

Just a three-legged cone-headed cat wearing a harness, safely belted in to her stroller, walking back to the train station. NBD.

No, thank YOU, NJT! Three paws up for cat accessibility.

Cone-free at last!!!!!! Oh boy, was she excited to be able to finally groom herself again. Finally, FINALLY, the amputation site infections had all cleared up and she was back on her way to health.

“Oh, abdomen, how I’ve missed your sweet hairy taste!”

However, while the stumpy-leg issues were resolving, it became increasingly clear that something was not right with her remaining hind leg. Even at rest she held it stiffly, sometimes sleeping with her leg splayed out at weird angles.

I continued doing my best to do “passive range of motion” leg stretches with her daily, and tried to support her as she walked on the leg as much as she was willing (which was not much). Still, she started increasingly choosing instead to stick her back leg out straight in front of her, like a strange fuzzy cat-ski, and paddle herself around using only her two front legs.

Hilarious to watch, but can’t be good for her!

This continued even after we moved to a new apartment, with her paddling around and looking silly while her stiff ski-leg was getting caught on things and causing all sorts of trouble.

It was distracting you from petting me, anyway. It had to go. — “What do you mean, ‘Why is the internet out’? How should I know? I’m a cat!!”

So, while the infections were gone, and the amputation site was now beautifully healed and filled in with fur, all was not well with Feta’s rear end, which was causing all sorts of problems. Next up: stay tuned for The Litterbox Battles!

Feta’s Stump Stumps Me

So, I found myself with this 3-legged cat living in my bathroom. After diving head-first into fostering, this was neither the strangest nor least-expected thing to happen to me this year.

Still can't decide if she sniffs and licks me out of love, or a desire to see if I'm edible. — “Well, looks like I ended up with a 3-legged bathroom cat.” “Well, looks like I ended up with a weird-smelling crazy human.”

While the cat herself was easier than expected, her leg stump was starting to seriously concern me. I didn’t know what if anything I should be doing to care for it (clean it? bandage it? leave it alone?), and it looked to me to be open and unhappy. But, since it changed very little from when I first brought her home over the next several days, I figured it must be working as intended. Or something like that.

Seriously, that does not look comfortable

Before long, however, it started to get worse, and what I thought was “cat breath” smell I started to suspect was actually coming from the wound. Uh oh!!!

Graphic wound picture – if the amputation site looks like this, it is not good. Also, bad smell is bad news.

Consulting with the shelter, it was decided I would try to keep her from licking it and see if it got better.

Curse you, human, and your lick-blocking contraptions!

“I will lie here glaring at you with angst and resentment until you feel guilty enough to feed me the good treats.”

To keep her up and moving about, I also started feeding her kibble out of an interactive food dispensing ball. This worked great, except she would roll it around until it got stuck in corners or passageways where here lifesaver-bumpered head couldn’t reach. Eventually we gave up the food ball and donated it to another cat at the shelter whose current enrichment feeder was wearing out.

Before long it became evident that the licking was more likely to be a consequence of, rather than the cause of, the issues with the amputation site. So, much to everyone (except the vet)’s dismay, back to the vet clinic she went for a thorough wound-cleaning and antibiotics.

I took advantage of her absence to Macguyver her a new litterbox contraption, as she was having significant trouble using the standard-shelter-issue stainless steel pan I’d had for her before. Cardboard “waterproofed” with decorative tape? Why not? Nothing but the most attractive bathroom decorations for my precious, abscessed, 3-legged shelter snowflake.

One must be polite to one's pottying pets — Thanks for your sacrifice, neighbor’s Chewy.com box I pulled out of the trash room! Pinterest, here we come!

To everyone’s frustration (except perhaps the vet’s office, since they loved “Mama Cat” and were always happy to see her), this process of leg infection, treatment, good health, then reinfection, continued through several more cycles (and several different antibiotics) before things finally settled down. Fortunately, the abscesses all seemed to be relatively superficial, but we were all still very concerned that the infection might either spread (“It’s not like there’s anything more we could cut off!” lamented the shelter director) or indicate the initial infection was worse than we’d thought (“But what if it’s been the SAME INFECTION all along?!” I moaned to my dog. He sighed indifferently.).

Along the way, Feta was graduated to the full Cone of Shame, which she had to wear for several months. She donned it quite glamorously, even if she looked kind of like a deformed art deco lamp.

“I am a blooming Catflower Lamp! Give me treats to see me shine!!”

Eventually, after some additional veterinary flushing and re-suturing, the amputation site looked like this – forming an ugly-but-healthy kind of barrier of dead skin, which eventually came off of its own accord. The tricky part was keeping a close eye on it to make sure no infections / abscesses returned.

Maybe we’ll give you a few more weeks to recover before your Sports Illustrated bikini shoot, eh, Feta?

What was most remarkable to me was how sweet and cooperative Feta remained through the whole recovery process. Whether it was happily slurping up her raspberry-flavored meds (mixed with wet food and canned pumpkin, to help with poo problems):

This looks more like the result of the poo problems than the prevention!!

Or just continuing to be gentle and affectionate with me even as I gave her uncomfortable hot compresses and leg stretches several times a day:

Volume up for a purr party!

Feta the Cheese Cat was just a rockstar, a true model patient. Good girl, Feta. You are awesome.

Cheese Cat sold separately. — Like my shirt? You can get one just like it, or one featuring a cat instead, here! 😀

Feta Cat Goes to Foster

Before Feta, I had been fostering a series of orphaned kittens and had never had a full-grown cat. However, since I was moving soon, after returning my last litter (to go into their new homes), I told the shelter that I couldn’t foster anymore until I got settled in my new apartment.

The next day, I went to volunteer and drop off some “unneeded” fostering supplies… and came home with a three-legged cat. Oops.

I was to keep her “just for the weekend.” Ha! Didn’t quite work out like that!

The “foster quarantine room” (extra bathroom) was quickly cleaned and sanitized, and Feta Cat moved in. I knew nothing about her other than that she’d recently had a leg amputated and had been living at the vet’s office.

I immediately noticed two things – one, she is very friendly and kind, and two, she was having trouble with that remaining back leg:

https://goo.gl/photos/CZj4JeqcTXPY7Eti9

Relieved that I hadn’t been stuck with an aggressive cat who wanted to eat me (especially since although I’ve raised a bunch of kittens, Feta is the first adult cat I’ve been responsible for!), I set about figuring out what she needed and working to get her comfortable in her new digs.

https://goo.gl/photos/UwcqC3kE5cAHYGDs8

“Hello. I am Cat. You gives foods now, yes?”

She was (very, very carefully) introduced to my dog, a meeting which went surprisingly well!

“Hello, strange big-eared cat. You has foods?”

It became obvious that she was friendly – really, really friendly – and absolutely loved human attention! (As well as food. Really big on food.) At the vet’s suggestion, I worked on encouraging her to move around and get some exercise, especially with that weak hind leg. Feta was a great sport about it all!

https://goo.gl/photos/hpcBRsABfrYW2dqr7

All in all, Feta decided that she liked being in foster, and I decided that I liked her, too! For the moment, everything was going great!

“I will not chase this thing, but if you hold it for me, I will bat it with my paw until I grow bored and demand more interesting playthings.”

Feta Cat starts a blog

Hi everyone, and thanks for your interest in Feta the Tripawd Cat!

Feta’s story, as I know it, is currently in the middle of its development (this is when some exciting plot turn is about to happen, right??) but for blogging purposes, it seems most sensible to start with the beginning.

For the Cliff’s Notes version, you can read her whole story so far summarized here.

However, if you’re ready to go back to the beginning and work your way up, stay tuned! We’ll walk (or, more accurately, hop-drag) you through the whole story.

Does this cone make me look fat? No? Then why are you being stingy with the treats?!?! — Feta Cat does some market research before embarking on her own literary experiment.