Forums » Smalltalk » My Tripod Kitty

Seeing as Sanne introduced you to her miracle (trunk?) kitty, who is pretty darn cute, I thought I'd share my tripod kitty.

He's actually a tripod, or a three legged cat as of earlier on today. Boba Fett had a freak accident not quite two weeks ago- we're not sure what happened, but we know he got spooked by my boyfriend falling and making a loud noise (not on the cat, they were on two seperate floors.) Somehow, likely by getting his claws stuck into the carpet and bolting, he managed to get a spiral fracture in two bones in his back left leg, right by the joint/knee (high up), with a bit of bone broken off. The surgery to fix his leg would include a metal plate, metal wires, lots of recovery time and lots of money.

The other option was amputation. If we let the leg go, he'd go lame or otherwise get an infection. I know we did the right thing (the only other choice was to put him down.) He's a fiesty cat and ooooh does he hate the vet with a passion. I think he's more traumatized about having to wear the cone than missing a back leg. When I took the cone off he was happy as could be and incredibly purry.

We, like Sanne, took him in as a stray and found him outside a Tim Hortons a year and a half ago, a skinny little cat. (Tim Hortons is a Canadian coffee chain, it's about as Canadian as you can get.) I took him home and named him Boba Fett. I've been joking around and calling this surgery his Sarlacc Pitt.

I am considering getting him this and saying he lost his leg 'in the war':


Boba Fett looking at me and asking me, 'Why you do dis.' (Note, it's his back leg that got removed, so you can't see it in the picture as he's laying on it.)

Awwwwww that's so sad to hear!
But glad he's doing well for now and purring and stuff.

Hehee, I totally think you should get him that. And d'awww, poor kitty! The cone of shame! (Up reference )

Also: Consider getting him de-clawed for future safety?

I agree, it's sad to have had that happen.

But I'm very glad he's at home recovering now. Looking at the photo, you could say that Boba has got his helmet now

I say get him dog tags for his collar. All veteran war cats should have them.

My god he's an adorable little trooper. I want to scratch his chin and tug his eyebrow whiskers.

Daawwrr! I'm glad he'll be fine. Animals aren't as bothered by one amputated limb as humans are, and a ton of them don't even care after a few months anymore. So I definitely think you did the right thing!!

I'll show the photo to Dette when I get home and have her paw the best wishes to him.

Aww, poor guy. Reminds me of Snowball. Give him time and he'll be motoring around like nothing ever happened.

There was a three-legged, tailless cat what used to roam my neighbourhood, when I was a wee thing. His owners called him "Stubby", no lie. Damn, I loved that cat.

Ah, man. Poor Boba. The cone of shame is the cat's mortal enemy. Truefax.

I took the cone off for a little bit, a few hours after I started the thread. Lo' and behold, he actually went running after me. A whole 6 or 7 hours after his surgery. I received a check up call from the vet and she was both surprised and pleased to hear how well he's doing.

Two weeks with that cone, we'll see how it goes!

Did I say a few months?

Aww, he's adorable! My friend's dog was recently hit by a car and will have to have his leg amputated. He's getting around on three legs really well though, (His bad leg is completely limp) it's nice to see another success story!

I think it's mainly due to the fact he's only been using three legs the last two weeks. (On advise from the vet we waited to see how the leg would do and then had to wait for the surgery.)
He still can't properly sit or do more agile things. He mainly flops to the ground when trying.

Thanks for all the support guys!

Dette sez "Feel bettur"

(It's almost scary how much they look alike!)

Heh, you cat loooks JUST like my parents cat.

I always like seeing other Handicats, mine is one two. Though hers is birth defect she only has three good legs then her tiny arm, which I call her strong arm. She tends to use it to wave and point...also got a terribly crooked tail that is so fluffy it falls over on its own weight. Handicats unite!

How is Boba Fett doing?

Really well! He's been running all over, been quite cuddly, and is acting the exact same as he did before outside of missing a leg and being extra lovey.

I can't wait until he can stop wearing the cone though!

His sutures finally came out yesterday and no more cone! I had to say he's pretty happy. He is so bad at the vet, that the heavier sedation we gave him at home wore off when he was hit by an adrenaline when he got into the vets. They had to put him under to be able to get the surtures out.
I'll post some pictures now that his incision is all healed up! He's a bit shaved ,though!

Chilling with his teddy bear! Sutures off and no more villainous cone.

I bet he's glad there's no cone!

You should get him pants though. Teach him modesty, woman!

Someone mentioned I should knit him a butt sweater.
I'm considering it.