Accommodating A 3-legged Cat

[florine]

L leo12 Thank you for the tips! I will look into that and be sure to provide him with options for getting around the house. Spencer sounds like a cutie!

 

[kittyluv387]

We have a cat, Spencer who is missing a back leg for about 4 years now. He has short legs, which I think makes it harder for him to get around with only three, and he doesn't seem to walk as well as other three legged cats I've seen. He is also 11, and his front leg seems to have quite a bit of arthritis. I have been looking for a Cousequin? supplement for him that has no chicken in it, but haven't found one yet. He can't have any chicken. I would suggest you start your cat on it early, before problems start. My husband made several stools, that look like an upside down box, and we carpeted them. We put them in front of the chairs Spencer likes jumping on so he won't have to jump up or down as far as he would without them. Were also considering putting the litter boxes upstairs instead of the basement, so he doesn't have to do the stairs. Your cat is still young, so I doubt you will have any problem, but I would definitely keep an eye on him from the beginning to make sure he doesn't try jumping on something higher than he can handle. Good Luck.

Are you sure cosequin has chicken in it? I didn't see it in the ingredient list. But jf you're referring to the natural flavors you can buy human grade glucosamine and chondritin powders and put it in his wet food. They're the main ingredients. It's better because of no filler.

 

[leo12]

The two types I've checked into so far say that the capsule has chicken flavoring. I tried giving them to Spencer, sprinkling the powder on the food, and not the capsule, He ate the food for about a day, then refused. kittyluve387, do you know how much of the human powder I should give him? I really have to try something, he is walking pretty bad on the front leg of the same side as the amputation.

 

[leo12]

Florine, I'll warn you, your kitties ear will itch, and he will think he is scratching it with the leg that is missing. Its sad to watch so I find myself scratching Spencers ear for him.

 

[kittyluv387]

The two types I've checked into so far say that the capsule has chicken flavoring. I tried giving them to Spencer, sprinkling the powder on the food, and not the capsule, He ate the food for about a day, then refused. kittyluve387, do you know how much of the human powder I should give him? I really have to try something, he is walking pretty bad on the front leg of the same side as the amputation.

How much does he weigh?

 

[florine]

L leo12 Awww I will definitely keep an eye out for that and help him out with any ear scratching lol

 

[leo12]

Spencer weight 9.5 lbs.

 

[kittyluv387]

Spencer weight 9.5 lbs.

Well cosequin would direct your cat to take one capsule a day (2 capsules for 10 pounds or more). Each capsule contains 125mg of glucosamine and 100mg of chondroitin. You want something equivalent to that dosage. If you look at the glucosamine powder below, 1/8 tsp is 520mg. That would mean 1/16 tsp is 260mg and 1/32 tsp is 130mg. So you would want to use 1/32 tsp of the glucosamine powder per day for your cat for a 1 capsule equivalent. You can buy 1/32 tsp on amazon or something, it's called a smidgeon. For chondroitin the product below states 1/8 tsp is 425mg. That would mean 1/16 tsp is 212.5mg and 1/32 tsp is 106.76mg. Again you would want to use 1/32 tsp for the 1 capsule equivalent of chondroitin for your cat. Your cat is almost 10 pounds so if you notice the supplements are not being effective you can probably add a little more than 1 scoop of each.

BulkSupplements Glucosamine HCL Powder (100 grams)
BulkSupplements Chondroitin Sulfate Powder (100 grams)
Stevia Select Smidgen Spoon .015cc - 1/32 Teaspoon - Pack of 5 Plastic Scoops-Tiny Scoop for stevia, Crafts, or Baking

 

[tarasgirl06]

Hello!

A coworker of mine had adopted a cat last November who had been found injured on the street and his back left leg had to be amputated due to infection. He is six years old and the cuddliest cat you can imagine!

Long story short, she asked me if I would be able to take him as she is no longer in a position where she feels she can properly care for him, so I may be bringing him home as early as next week.

I have a couple questions about making the transaction as smooth as possible! His current owner told me yesterday when I met him that he has trouble jumping, and gets around vertically by climbing most of the time. He climbs onto her bed, climbs up the couch, climbs into his window seat. He also enjoys hiding under things low to the ground. So I want to know what I should have ready in my home for his arrival?

I want him to have plenty of safe spaces as I have one cat already (Florine), and I want them both to feel safe during the introduction process. Florine enjoys high places so I have plenty of those around my home, I just am not sure what to provide for him closer to the ground!

Thanks!

Hello florine and sweet cat! Here ya go:

Three-Legged Dog or Cat: Tips for Adopters

 

[leo12]

kittyluv, the bulk sounds like it would be safer because there is less flavoring, etc. added like there is in the pills. I'm going to give it a try, and if bad boy decides not to eat his food when I mix it in it, I can always use it for myself. Thank you

 

[Kflowers]

I mix Sweet gum's in a lump of canned tuna. She won't eat wet food. Tuna may have it's dangers but without the meds she can't walk much, so that decision is made. She's allergic to all the meds the vet has come up with. Walking is a good thing. With the dasuquin she has a normal life.

 

[Talien]

I mix Sweet gum's in a lump of canned tuna. She won't eat wet food. Tuna may have it's dangers but without the meds she can't walk much, so that decision is made. She's allergic to all the meds the vet has come up with. Walking is a good thing. With the dasuquin she has a normal life.

Have you tried a bit of tuna flavored canned food with some of the water from a can of tuna mixed in?

 

[Kflowers]

No, I haven't tried that. I do know she likes only one brand of tuna and she only likes it in water not oil. Our cat seems to have a bad reaction to some base ingredient that Purina and Mars use in their cat food, which cuts down the possibilities. But I'm on line and Chewy has my address. What other brands of tuna cat food do you suggest?

 

[Talien]

No, I haven't tried that. I do know she likes only one brand of tuna and she only likes it in water not oil. Our cat seems to have a bad reaction to some base ingredient that Purina and Mars use in their cat food, which cuts down the possibilities. But I'm on line and Chewy has my address. What other brands of tuna cat food do you suggest?

I feed my Cats raw so I don't have much firsthand experience with canned food, but I have heard good things about Tiki Cat and I know they have a couple Tuna varieties. daftcat75 might be able to help there since I've seen him mentioning it from time to time.

 

[Kflowers]

thanks. I'll look once Chewy decides to work again. We have to avoid chicken, which just makes things so much easier.

 

[daftcat75]

Krista is an IBD kitty so she has multiple sensitivities (chicken and salmon.) She also ate dry food all her life until the dental issues started this past year or so. All the thickeners and gums in wet food are all new and mostly unpleasant to her.

That said, certain Tiki Cat flavors got her through the worst of her pancreatitis when it was a battle just to get her eating and keep her eating.

Her two favorites were:

Aloha Friends Tuna with Pumpkin
Hawaiian Grill Ahi Tuna

Other flavors she would eat that also treated her well:

Manana Grill Ahi Tuna with Prawns
Hana Grill Ahi Tuna with Crab in Tuna Consomme
Aloha Friends Tuna with Shrimp

There's one or two flavors that use a gum to keep things together (sardines, mackerel maybe?) and we avoided those. We avoided all the chicken ones. This also meant that we had to skip on the After Dark line which I honestly would have liked to have given her if it weren't for the chicken.

And the mousses... Those were mousse in, mousse out. She liked the taste well enough and it worked great as bribe. But I feel like it was doing nothing for her looking at (and smelling!) the returns the next day. Or sometimes same day returns...yikes!

Every cat is different. But that's Krista's experience. I keep a few cans and pouches of Tiki Cat in case she stops eating again. But mostly she eats Rawz turkey these days. There aren't enough calories in Tiki Cat to help this old cat put weight back on.

 

[Kflowers]

Thanks. The chicken thing is hard, but I hope as more cats are found to be sensitive to it, more varieties without chicken and without chicken broth and chicken fat will turn up.

 

[Tobermory]

Hi, florine . I was at the sanctuary today and thought you might like to see a picture of three-legged Boo surveying the cat room from atop one of his favorite spots. He jumps from the floor to the low table at the bottom left of the picture. From there he jumps to the window sill and then to the top of the cat tree. He can also jump from the table to the platform below the “cave.” In the second photo he’s telling me to quit taking his picture and get busy with the head and face scritchies.

 

[daftcat75]

Thanks. The chicken thing is hard, but I hope as more cats are found to be sensitive to it, more varieties without chicken and without chicken broth and chicken fat will turn up.

As allergies go, it’s usually the protein, not the fat. Also, if it helps your ingredient reading, egg is a different protein than chicken. Krista can’t do chicken but she’s good with egg.

 

[Faikey]

Uhm. I rescued a kitten a few years ago and we had to amputate her leg the day after. Expensive kitty
Anyway she acts and keeps up with the other cats without any problems at all. You cant even tell she has 3 legs except for when you are staring at her. Just my two cents. She even picks fights.