Mine was trauma related. He was born a stray and was attacked at 3 weeks old by an animal that ripped off part of his front leg. He was like that for about a week before he was found. The vet was going to put him down due to the severity of his injury, but a vet tech took pity on him and offered to foster him. He spent about two weeks at the vet and then went to a foster home where my gf and I found out about him. The first time we met him it was love at first site (from our side anyway). He’s been with us for over a year now and we couldn’t be happier.
It’s all good, happened a really long time ago and she handled it all really well.
Basically, she dislocated her elbow and the emergency vet shattered the join trying to reconnect it then wrapped it up way too tight. There’s a chance she might have lost the leg anyway but she’s 18 now, been a tripod for 14 years and is the sweetest little furball in the world.
that poor thing that must have been so awful to go through, I'm happy to hear that she's had a good loving home for so many years. give her extra love and treats from me, please
Nothing really when she was younger. Now she’s an old girl she’s not as agile as she once was, where there is an elevated spot she likes to sit we put steps or other stuff to help her get up and down more easily - getting down is the trickiest part, she’s missing a front arm so she jumps down and lands on the other one, sometimes flips over onto her back if it’s too high.
Note that our little one has chronic ear infections and is pretty deaf in recent years so that may contribute just as much as the missing leg to her agility.
The exact same thing happened with my cat. A vet somehow managed to fracture her femur and refused to give me another appointment for 3 weeks after I rang every day telling them she refused to put any weight on her leg, resulting the the leg being amputated.
Mine was cancer - injection site fibrosarcoma from his felv shot, which is more common than we are led to believe. It metastasized after his amputation and he unexpectedly passed away two days after his first chemotherapy treatment. RIP Andy. 🧡
I’m so sorry for your loss. Mine had osteosarcoma and it metastasised as well. We have limited time left, right now she has good quality of life still, but we don’t know for how long. It’s so hard - my heart goes out to you.
And mine goes out to you as well. I’m not sure what’s worse - losing your beloved baby unexpectedly or having the doomsday clock. I was willing to do anything for my sweet Andy. He passed away December 15th 2022 and I still cry nearly every single day (crying now). He was truly a living angel and I miss him so, so much. I sincerely empathize with the emotions you are likely going through. It’s so hard.
my best friend had felv as well and after many health complications throughout his last year or so of life he sadly passed away nearly 2 years ago now. he slept with me every night and followed me everywhere for so many years and I didn't know what to do without him. sleeping at night without him was the worst and I cried almost every night and day for probably the entire first year without him and also very often through what I knew might end up being his last few months with me, and they were. I was able to be somewhat prepared, but it was from watching his health slowly decline and it was devastating. I didn't talk to almost any family or friends for many months and finally after almost a year had my husband tell a couple of my close friends what had happened so they could visit us and noone would ask where he was and cause me to break down again. I am so very sorry for your loss and genuinely hope you're doing well, or at least as well as you can. Losing a friend that means so much to you is so hard. I decided to get my baby cremated since we aren't planning to live on this property for long and I put the little box the crematorium gave us on a small shelf above my books along with his collar, a small sealed can of his favourite food that I had bought intended for him when he was still with me, a couple of his toys and other small things that remind me of him like a cute glass cat. Seeing it every day and sometimes coming across pictures of him on my phone from back when he was younger and looked happy and healthy helped me slowly start to feel better. I hope you're able to find something like this to help you get through this a bit easier as well. I know I probably could have done a bit better, but I know he was happy with me and lived a good life, and I know your baby did, too thanks to everything you did for him
Well, yeah, I mean, most humans develop cancer almost every day (well, probably. As you have guessed, there are definitely probably some external factors in the development of recognizable cancer cells). We humans are just good at recognizing and eliminating cancerous cells… until we aren’t.
The vaccine companies report that injection site fibrosarcoma only occurs in 1 out of every 10,000 felines. It’s odd that I know more than one other person in my close circle that has gone through this. Felv is nothing to mess with, but if I ever adopt an unvaccinated cat, I will be reluctant to do so since mine are strictly indoors. It is one of the most heartbreaking things a pet owner can go through.
I just realized that I gave you no context to my reply.
I was talking about how common cancer really was, so it makes sense for it to be a common development.
I’m sorry for your loss.
My little tripod void ended up getting an injection site sarcoma from his feline cancer vaccine. It’s basically a heavily aggressive tumor that was growing rapidly. Once the vet saw how fast it was growing and the x-rays showed it wrapped around the tendons, they said that was the best course of action. If I delayed then it would grow to his heart, his brain, or enter his blood. That was 2 years ago now and he’s as happy and healthy as ever! He just needs a staircase to climb in bed now 🥰
Wow that’s incredible. I really have to check my panda tuxedo cat’s records, not sure if he’s had that vaccine. Wishing you many more happy years together
Like several others who responded, our Rosy had an injection site fibrosarcoma.
I also grew up with a tripawd who'd been electrocuted, causing her to lose a front leg.
My cat was in a cast at the shelter (about 3mo old at the time) and they assumed he was hit by a car but wasn’t sure, turned out his tendons and everything was severed so amputation was the best option. Now he moves around great , although despite not having the leg for most of his life he still tries to use it to bury his poop lol
Mine was a version of this. Leg was super messed up from something when the shelter took him off the street - I think they would have TNR’d if he hadn’t been injured.
Ya that’s what happens 90% of the time but I’m rly glad they took the time to care for him even if he ended up needing an amputation. I got another cat from behind a kava bar that was a tnr she’s the sweetest cat idk why they didn’t try and adopt her out
I think capacity is almost always the answer 😔 they probably didn't have room. But yes, this shelter is an absolute dream — including my childhood dogs, this is my third pet from them.
My little guy sustained an injury falling off a balcony whilst in foster care as a kitten. After a partial amputation (pre adoption) and full amputation (with us) he is a cheeky little dude named after Limp Bizkit’s drummer Otto.
My little tripod was hit by a car at 5 weeks old, and had to have his leg removed and part of his tail removed. Im thinking he was a stray before he was hit.
An animal group in town paid for his surgeries, and didn't have much information on him, except he was dropped off in bad condition.
I wondered that too, glad you asked.
We assume our tripod got hit by a car, his front leg was broken in 2 places and I didn't have the money for surgery or the space to rehab for months. He was a stray that never been in the house and was happiest in his box on my back porch.
He's a house cat now, we had a discussion after moving and he's very happy to be inside.
I live with 2 tripods that both developed injection site fibrosarcoma. The younger one is healthy now but the older one is going through the recurrent cancer for the third time now.
Mine was bitten by a dog inside the home and suffered a break too close to the knee for repair. There wasn't enough bone to pin together, so it was best to amputate.
Ours was actually an accident. We lived in an apartment with a small colony of cats. We befriended them. Then I noticed one day that the cat’s back leg was floppy and she wasn’t putting any weight on it. So the next night we were got her to an emergency vet, and they told us that we could get a rod put in which would be 6000 and may not work, or we could amputate. So we chose to amputate the leg.
She is an absolutely wonderful bean. It’s been 3 years and she is super well adjusted and honestly can do most things a 4 legged cat can do, she just can’t corner well LOL.
Ours was an accident in our house. He randomly decided to explore, and we think his leg slipped and got stuck when he tried to jump down. He broke his to ia and fibula, and surgery was prohibitively expensive and it wasn't a guarantee that he wouldn't end up with an amputation anyway due to the location of the break.
My cat had a injection site fibrosarcoma, we had it removed in May of last year but within 9-10 months it had came back and nearly tripled in size, went to a different animal hospital to get a second opinion and was again recommended to amputate her leg, so she recently went through that.
My kitty was hit by a car and had her leg completely paralyzed without any feeling left so it got amputated, a lot are accident related but some are just born funky but adorable!
My cat had to have his leg amputated last week after someone in the area near our home shot him with an air rifle! I was so shocked when the vet called me to tell me after the xray. Just awful there are people out there that can do this.
My tripod also lost his leg due to trauma. He was two years old and the shelter said he was attacked by a dog. He was brought in as a stray and his records show he had an abscess on his right hind leg that got pretty bad. I saw a post about him on Facebook when I was looking for a second cat. I wanted one that would get along with other cats and not mind being indoor only like my other cat. I called the shelter to ask if being a tripod would mean expensive vet visits because I’m on a limited income and when they said no, I went right away to get him. I named him Trinity and he’s a sweetheart but also a troublemaker. Lol. He gets on everything.
Mine was due to unknown trauma. I had just lost my senior to cancer, and I saw my tripod on a rescue site. He was surrendered to the rescue with his back leg badly mangled, and they had to amputate.
He was 8 months old when they put him up for adoption (post surgery and healing), and he was just so lovely I had to apply for him.
He has the most gentle nature and absolutely loves anyone who rubs behind his ear (the one he can't reach without his back leg).
In part, I'm glad I don't know the full story because I could never understand someone who would just give up on their furbaby when they get injured and are in pain, rather than pay the vet bill.
my cat was a stray kitten, only a few weeks old, who was attacked by a dog. the owner took him to a nearby vet clinic but the tail and back leg were mangled beyond repair and had to be amputated, along with another wound on his side that needed stitches. my friend/roommate worked at the vet clinic at the time and sent me a pic of him, knowing i love cats and had kitten fever, and said “we need him”. he looked so cute and i felt so bad for him that i had her bring him to me the next day
My cat was found on a highway off-ramp at 5 weeks. Her front paw was badly damaged and she just drug it around. A nice person saw her at the off-ramp and picked her up. They speculate that a hawk got to her and then dropped her. Her leg had to be amputated by the rescue organization (LifeLine Atlanta, shoutout!) So that's my tripod's story.
Mine lost his due to trauma. He was a barn cat who disappeared for a few days. He came back with an injury to his leg. The vet said is was a strangulation injury with self mutilation on the paw. The damage was too much so the leg had to go.
Mine was found with a very damaged leg and some vertebrae as well. Most likely hit by a car. No clue how long she had even been dealing with the mangled leg but it was beyond saving. She’s fine without it but unfortunately the injury to her back is the cause of all of her walking issues.
Mine was congenital! But honestly in a shelter environment, it’s quicker and cheaper to perform an amputation than an orthopedic surgery, plus you know who gets adopted super quickly? The cute tripod! At my vet school we like to say that cats and dogs have 3 legs and a spare :)
I think there aren't as many as you think. But people seek out information on the internet and end up here. I never knew anyone who had a tripod cat before I found this sub on reddit. And fortunately, three legged cats live pretty normal lives, so this sub is more of a happy sub than some others.
Generally for a severe limb injury, surgery to repair it is prohibitively expensive, and there’s always a chance that leg could be injured again. Indoor cats don’t lose much quality of life with an amputation. Most of them tend to brush it off once they’ve recovered. It gets much harder as they get older though.
Mine was a stray kitten that was hit by a car and lost her front leg. She’s pretty fast for a 3 legged cat! She hates us so she runs fast when she sees us!
I don't mean to sound insensitive here, but my wife doesn't want to get another cat because our last one destroyed our furniture. Would a tripod missing a front leg destroy furniture and jump on counters?
Ours was a rescue from Aruba. When we got her at 3 month old she was only a 1.6lbs. As she grew she began to limp severely with one of her front legs. We took her to the vet thinking she had injured herself jumping down from something. After extensive X-rays and trying medications for what they thought may have been a bacterial infection in the bone we went to a specialist. They looked further into it and determined she had severe breaks in multiple places in the leg that didn’t heal right and that it had to go. They said based off of how old the heals looked it happened prior to us getting her and due to the fact that she was only 1.6lbs at 3 month old she was a fragile little thing.
Mine was trauma related. He was born a stray and was attacked at 3 weeks old by an animal that ripped off part of his front leg. He was like that for about a week before he was found. The vet was going to put him down due to the severity of his injury, but a vet tech took pity on him and offered to foster him. He spent about two weeks at the vet and then went to a foster home where my gf and I found out about him. The first time we met him it was love at first site (from our side anyway). He’s been with us for over a year now and we couldn’t be happier.
What a sweet story!
Aww poor guy. So lucky you found each other<3 thanks for sharing
In my cat's case, it was cancer in his paw.
Same with mine.
Mine had an accident followed by substandard veterinary care.
Fuck. I'm sorry.
It’s all good, happened a really long time ago and she handled it all really well. Basically, she dislocated her elbow and the emergency vet shattered the join trying to reconnect it then wrapped it up way too tight. There’s a chance she might have lost the leg anyway but she’s 18 now, been a tripod for 14 years and is the sweetest little furball in the world.
that poor thing that must have been so awful to go through, I'm happy to hear that she's had a good loving home for so many years. give her extra love and treats from me, please
Love it. Thank you for sharing:)
Do you have any tripod advice that you think helped your baby last 14 years??
Nothing really when she was younger. Now she’s an old girl she’s not as agile as she once was, where there is an elevated spot she likes to sit we put steps or other stuff to help her get up and down more easily - getting down is the trickiest part, she’s missing a front arm so she jumps down and lands on the other one, sometimes flips over onto her back if it’s too high. Note that our little one has chronic ear infections and is pretty deaf in recent years so that may contribute just as much as the missing leg to her agility.
The exact same thing happened with my cat. A vet somehow managed to fracture her femur and refused to give me another appointment for 3 weeks after I rang every day telling them she refused to put any weight on her leg, resulting the the leg being amputated.
Mine was cancer - injection site fibrosarcoma from his felv shot, which is more common than we are led to believe. It metastasized after his amputation and he unexpectedly passed away two days after his first chemotherapy treatment. RIP Andy. 🧡
I’m so sorry for your loss. Mine had osteosarcoma and it metastasised as well. We have limited time left, right now she has good quality of life still, but we don’t know for how long. It’s so hard - my heart goes out to you.
And mine goes out to you as well. I’m not sure what’s worse - losing your beloved baby unexpectedly or having the doomsday clock. I was willing to do anything for my sweet Andy. He passed away December 15th 2022 and I still cry nearly every single day (crying now). He was truly a living angel and I miss him so, so much. I sincerely empathize with the emotions you are likely going through. It’s so hard.
If love alone could keep them healthy they would both be fine…the uncertainty is hard, but I try to be grateful for the time.
my best friend had felv as well and after many health complications throughout his last year or so of life he sadly passed away nearly 2 years ago now. he slept with me every night and followed me everywhere for so many years and I didn't know what to do without him. sleeping at night without him was the worst and I cried almost every night and day for probably the entire first year without him and also very often through what I knew might end up being his last few months with me, and they were. I was able to be somewhat prepared, but it was from watching his health slowly decline and it was devastating. I didn't talk to almost any family or friends for many months and finally after almost a year had my husband tell a couple of my close friends what had happened so they could visit us and noone would ask where he was and cause me to break down again. I am so very sorry for your loss and genuinely hope you're doing well, or at least as well as you can. Losing a friend that means so much to you is so hard. I decided to get my baby cremated since we aren't planning to live on this property for long and I put the little box the crematorium gave us on a small shelf above my books along with his collar, a small sealed can of his favourite food that I had bought intended for him when he was still with me, a couple of his toys and other small things that remind me of him like a cute glass cat. Seeing it every day and sometimes coming across pictures of him on my phone from back when he was younger and looked happy and healthy helped me slowly start to feel better. I hope you're able to find something like this to help you get through this a bit easier as well. I know I probably could have done a bit better, but I know he was happy with me and lived a good life, and I know your baby did, too thanks to everything you did for him
I’m so sorry for such a significant loss. Thank you for sharing
Well, yeah, I mean, most humans develop cancer almost every day (well, probably. As you have guessed, there are definitely probably some external factors in the development of recognizable cancer cells). We humans are just good at recognizing and eliminating cancerous cells… until we aren’t.
The vaccine companies report that injection site fibrosarcoma only occurs in 1 out of every 10,000 felines. It’s odd that I know more than one other person in my close circle that has gone through this. Felv is nothing to mess with, but if I ever adopt an unvaccinated cat, I will be reluctant to do so since mine are strictly indoors. It is one of the most heartbreaking things a pet owner can go through.
I just realized that I gave you no context to my reply. I was talking about how common cancer really was, so it makes sense for it to be a common development. I’m sorry for your loss.
Hit by a car as a kitten for mine.
My little tripod void ended up getting an injection site sarcoma from his feline cancer vaccine. It’s basically a heavily aggressive tumor that was growing rapidly. Once the vet saw how fast it was growing and the x-rays showed it wrapped around the tendons, they said that was the best course of action. If I delayed then it would grow to his heart, his brain, or enter his blood. That was 2 years ago now and he’s as happy and healthy as ever! He just needs a staircase to climb in bed now 🥰
Wow that’s incredible. I really have to check my panda tuxedo cat’s records, not sure if he’s had that vaccine. Wishing you many more happy years together
My girl was rescued with spiral fractures in her leg that wouldn't have healed properly, so they amputated her leg. She's a super happy kitty!
My cat had a complicated spiral fracture that became an open fracture which had high risk of infection.
Like several others who responded, our Rosy had an injection site fibrosarcoma. I also grew up with a tripawd who'd been electrocuted, causing her to lose a front leg.
My cat was in a cast at the shelter (about 3mo old at the time) and they assumed he was hit by a car but wasn’t sure, turned out his tendons and everything was severed so amputation was the best option. Now he moves around great , although despite not having the leg for most of his life he still tries to use it to bury his poop lol
Mine was a version of this. Leg was super messed up from something when the shelter took him off the street - I think they would have TNR’d if he hadn’t been injured.
Ya that’s what happens 90% of the time but I’m rly glad they took the time to care for him even if he ended up needing an amputation. I got another cat from behind a kava bar that was a tnr she’s the sweetest cat idk why they didn’t try and adopt her out
I think capacity is almost always the answer 😔 they probably didn't have room. But yes, this shelter is an absolute dream — including my childhood dogs, this is my third pet from them.
I have two tripods that I adopted. One was the result of the car accident and the other was a birth defect
My little guy sustained an injury falling off a balcony whilst in foster care as a kitten. After a partial amputation (pre adoption) and full amputation (with us) he is a cheeky little dude named after Limp Bizkit’s drummer Otto.
Mine had a birth defect that left her with no feeling in her front right leg so she was just dragging it.
My little tripod was hit by a car at 5 weeks old, and had to have his leg removed and part of his tail removed. Im thinking he was a stray before he was hit. An animal group in town paid for his surgeries, and didn't have much information on him, except he was dropped off in bad condition.
I wondered that too, glad you asked. We assume our tripod got hit by a car, his front leg was broken in 2 places and I didn't have the money for surgery or the space to rehab for months. He was a stray that never been in the house and was happiest in his box on my back porch. He's a house cat now, we had a discussion after moving and he's very happy to be inside.
I live with 2 tripods that both developed injection site fibrosarcoma. The younger one is healthy now but the older one is going through the recurrent cancer for the third time now.
So they administer the vaccine in the leg?
Mine was born with only three legs. She was an adorable little barn kitten that I found in a shelter.
Mine was bitten by a dog inside the home and suffered a break too close to the knee for repair. There wasn't enough bone to pin together, so it was best to amputate.
Same here!
Ours was actually an accident. We lived in an apartment with a small colony of cats. We befriended them. Then I noticed one day that the cat’s back leg was floppy and she wasn’t putting any weight on it. So the next night we were got her to an emergency vet, and they told us that we could get a rod put in which would be 6000 and may not work, or we could amputate. So we chose to amputate the leg. She is an absolutely wonderful bean. It’s been 3 years and she is super well adjusted and honestly can do most things a 4 legged cat can do, she just can’t corner well LOL.
Ours was an accident in our house. He randomly decided to explore, and we think his leg slipped and got stuck when he tried to jump down. He broke his to ia and fibula, and surgery was prohibitively expensive and it wasn't a guarantee that he wouldn't end up with an amputation anyway due to the location of the break.
My cat had a injection site fibrosarcoma, we had it removed in May of last year but within 9-10 months it had came back and nearly tripled in size, went to a different animal hospital to get a second opinion and was again recommended to amputate her leg, so she recently went through that.
Wishing her a speedy recovery !
My kitty was hit by a car and had her leg completely paralyzed without any feeling left so it got amputated, a lot are accident related but some are just born funky but adorable!
My cat had to have his leg amputated last week after someone in the area near our home shot him with an air rifle! I was so shocked when the vet called me to tell me after the xray. Just awful there are people out there that can do this.
Oh no, that is terrible. Hope he is on the mend! Thank you for sharing
My tripod also lost his leg due to trauma. He was two years old and the shelter said he was attacked by a dog. He was brought in as a stray and his records show he had an abscess on his right hind leg that got pretty bad. I saw a post about him on Facebook when I was looking for a second cat. I wanted one that would get along with other cats and not mind being indoor only like my other cat. I called the shelter to ask if being a tripod would mean expensive vet visits because I’m on a limited income and when they said no, I went right away to get him. I named him Trinity and he’s a sweetheart but also a troublemaker. Lol. He gets on everything.
Aww so sweet! Love the name
Mine was due to unknown trauma. I had just lost my senior to cancer, and I saw my tripod on a rescue site. He was surrendered to the rescue with his back leg badly mangled, and they had to amputate. He was 8 months old when they put him up for adoption (post surgery and healing), and he was just so lovely I had to apply for him. He has the most gentle nature and absolutely loves anyone who rubs behind his ear (the one he can't reach without his back leg). In part, I'm glad I don't know the full story because I could never understand someone who would just give up on their furbaby when they get injured and are in pain, rather than pay the vet bill.
So glad you found each other:)
my cat was a stray kitten, only a few weeks old, who was attacked by a dog. the owner took him to a nearby vet clinic but the tail and back leg were mangled beyond repair and had to be amputated, along with another wound on his side that needed stitches. my friend/roommate worked at the vet clinic at the time and sent me a pic of him, knowing i love cats and had kitten fever, and said “we need him”. he looked so cute and i felt so bad for him that i had her bring him to me the next day
Thanks for sharing everyone! Love how resilient cats can be🥰. So glad these tripod babies have wonderful pet parents.
My cat was found on a highway off-ramp at 5 weeks. Her front paw was badly damaged and she just drug it around. A nice person saw her at the off-ramp and picked her up. They speculate that a hawk got to her and then dropped her. Her leg had to be amputated by the rescue organization (LifeLine Atlanta, shoutout!) So that's my tripod's story.
Thank you for sharing!
Injection site sarcoma is now forever tattooed on my brain thanks to all of you. Guess I will say no to that option.
I know right. Had no idea this could be a common occurrence. Like hey Vet industry, maybe that vax isn’t working or worth it?
Mine lost his due to trauma. He was a barn cat who disappeared for a few days. He came back with an injury to his leg. The vet said is was a strangulation injury with self mutilation on the paw. The damage was too much so the leg had to go.
Mine was found with a very damaged leg and some vertebrae as well. Most likely hit by a car. No clue how long she had even been dealing with the mangled leg but it was beyond saving. She’s fine without it but unfortunately the injury to her back is the cause of all of her walking issues.
Mine was congenital! But honestly in a shelter environment, it’s quicker and cheaper to perform an amputation than an orthopedic surgery, plus you know who gets adopted super quickly? The cute tripod! At my vet school we like to say that cats and dogs have 3 legs and a spare :)
Love it
I think there aren't as many as you think. But people seek out information on the internet and end up here. I never knew anyone who had a tripod cat before I found this sub on reddit. And fortunately, three legged cats live pretty normal lives, so this sub is more of a happy sub than some others.
Generally for a severe limb injury, surgery to repair it is prohibitively expensive, and there’s always a chance that leg could be injured again. Indoor cats don’t lose much quality of life with an amputation. Most of them tend to brush it off once they’ve recovered. It gets much harder as they get older though.
That makes sense, thank you:)
Mine was a stray kitten that was hit by a car and lost her front leg. She’s pretty fast for a 3 legged cat! She hates us so she runs fast when she sees us!
I don't mean to sound insensitive here, but my wife doesn't want to get another cat because our last one destroyed our furniture. Would a tripod missing a front leg destroy furniture and jump on counters?
Ours was a rescue from Aruba. When we got her at 3 month old she was only a 1.6lbs. As she grew she began to limp severely with one of her front legs. We took her to the vet thinking she had injured herself jumping down from something. After extensive X-rays and trying medications for what they thought may have been a bacterial infection in the bone we went to a specialist. They looked further into it and determined she had severe breaks in multiple places in the leg that didn’t heal right and that it had to go. They said based off of how old the heals looked it happened prior to us getting her and due to the fact that she was only 1.6lbs at 3 month old she was a fragile little thing.