Rehabilitation of a three legged cat

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Boris Diamond

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Tiger is better all the time. He is a very sweet and affectionate little guy. He is fine on three legs. He needed no rehabilitation for that as it seems he had been getting along on three good legs for a while before the injured left rear leg was removed.

But my large dominant cat Leo is having trouble accepting him. He sneaked into the bedroom one night, attacked Tiger and gave him a bite. Tiger had to go to the vet and take a course of antibiotics. With only three legs, maybe Tiger does not seem like a cat to Leo ( as one TCS member suggested.)

I would love to have Tiger in the bedroom at night, but that sets Leo off big time, even if Tiger is in there for only a few hours. Tiger spends most of his time in the bathroom. There is a covered cat house he likes and everything else he needs. I spend several hours a day in there with him.

I have started putting Tiger in the living room for a few hours a day in a cage with a blanket over the top. Leo seems to be handling that OK. I had hoped to have Tiger in the general population by now, but it looks like this will be a slow introduction. Seal and Boden seem OK with Tiger. I hope their accepting him will help Leo to accept him too.
 

denice

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I think it takes longer with the dominant cat. Since he is used to living with other cats I think chances are good he will eventually accept. He may not get beyond just tolerating him but that is okay, that is true of many cats who are in the same household.
 
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Boris Diamond

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I think it takes longer with the dominant cat. Since he is used to living with other cats I think chances are good he will eventually accept. He may not get beyond just tolerating him but that is okay, that is true of many cats who are in the same household.

Leo's behavior changed very much when I got Tiger. Now he is getting back to normal. I think Leo was upset that Tiger was in the bedroom for eight straight days when first got him. But it is what Tiger needed.

I think we will get there, it will just take longer than I thought.
 

fionasmom

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You are doing a spectacular job and I agree that this takes time. Leo probably was upset about Tiger, and cats don't look at these things from a compassionate point of view. My cats have never been overly happy that I rescued anyone else although everyone did eventually get along or at least live in peace.
 

Mamanyt1953

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I agree. This is going to be a long introduction, but I think it will work out eventually. And cats do learn from each other. Nieto, one of my little ferals born this year, will come up and let me pat him, but ONLY if Scamper (last year, and ready to walk in my house if Hek would have it) is with him. If Scamper isn't there, he'll come next to me to eat, but I can't reach out to touch him. Yet.
 
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Boris Diamond

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Tiger is coming out of his shell more. At first, he was hopping when he played with string toys. Now he scoots along much faster! I have the cage in the living room and there is not much excitement for the other cats when he is in there. He is still a scared little guy, but hopefully he will get over his fear soon.

Here he is in the cage - door open.
IMG_6876 (1).JPG

And playing with a string toy. My doors have lost much veneer to cat claws, but one TCS member said Cats are prettier than veneer! She is right about that!
IMG_6912 (3).JPG
 

Talien

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rosegold rosegold would be interested in this thread I think.

Cats do seem to be more resilient than people would expect, don't they? They get over the loss of a limb or an eye better than most of us would, and in much less time too. It's good that you were able to give him a home where he is accepted instead of seen as broken or defective.

The first abandoned Cat I rescued after moving to where I am now has a missing eye and it was easy to tell she had been abused because she was terrified of people, and moreso of hands. Even after she got used to me changing litter and bringing food and water into her room and stopped hissing, spitting, and lunging at me she would still attack my hands any time I got too close. It took a couple months before she stopped trying to actively maul my hands, and almost a year before she stopped shrinking back from hands or swatting them. I ended up keeping her and after she finally realized nobody was going to hurt her she turned into the happiest Cat I've ever met.
 
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Boris Diamond

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The first abandoned Cat I rescued after moving to where I am now has a missing eye and it was easy to tell she had been abused because she was terrified of people, and moreso of hands. Even after she got used to me changing litter and bringing food and water into her room and stopped hissing, spitting, and lunging at me she would still attack my hands any time I got too close.
Tiger will still give me a bite me from time to time. I'm usually lying down and petting him when he does it, and I haven't quite figured out what is triggering it. But someone must have treated him well at sometime in his life, as he is a sweet, cuddly and affectionate cat.

I have been heaping affection on Leo. He has to know he is number one or their will be no peace in this house! I think it's helping. He is less interested in Tiger.

This is the picture of Tiger playing that I meant to post last night. So I'll post it now! Similar picture, but I like the cute little tongue!
IMG_6913 (2).JPG
 

rosegold

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Tiger is soooo cute! I smiled reading this thread (thanks Talien Talien for tagging me). So glad that he is doing well.

I have a special love for tripods because of my girl Chai. She was trapped as a feral with half her leg missing, probably from a trap. She barely survived with a blood transfusion and her leg was amputated, then lived in the shelter for about a year after that... but hid constantly, never allowed anyone to approach or touch her, and was “unadoptable.” She was a sad little shell of a cat. But I adopted her anyway :) and brought her home, almost exactly two years ago now. With a few months of rehabilitation and care, she totally transformed into a sweet, loving, happy girl. It was honestly an incredible transformation and the shelter staff were shocked lol. But I always believed in her. She sadly passed away from FIP not long after that, but I’ll always be thankful that she knew love and safety for a few months with me and Chilli. Here she is in all her chonky glory.
BE5B3BB0-6DED-4B61-9106-35C5D8D97149.jpeg
 
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