3 month old Kitten - Club Foot

Status
Not open for further replies.
Nicole & Baby

Nicole & Baby

Very Active Member
Good morning, a coworker of mine is adopting a 3 month old kitten that has a club foot. Any suggestions on what needs to be done or how to proceed for kitty? She wants the best possible solution - but is getting varied Vet advice. Any thoughts? confused_cat
 
Did the vet say anything special needs to be done? Does this kitty have twisted leg syndrome or was this a possible break that didn't heal correctly? I think your coworker is awesome :)
 
Jennifer,
I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I have minimal information & have not heard of feline club foot - so please bear with me here ;-)
Kitty was born with this birth defect & one vet is saying to amputate the leg, the other is saying further research needs done. Xrays look good. Any helpful ideas?
 
If there's no pain I would not amputate, but if the foot gets in the way, gets caught on things and could hurt the kitten, well then who knows. Blood supply is good to the foot I assume, otherwise they would not hesitate to remove.

There's a possibility it's twisted leg syndrome, although that usually effects two legs, not one, but I'd read up on it anyway.

http://www.showcatsonline.com/x/caring- ... -leg.shtml
 
Not a vet but.. usually, amputation is recommended if the cat isnt using the foot at all-dragging it can cause further damage and pain. If the defect itself is causing pain ie bones rubbing or joints fused. Sometimes if the cat is dragging it and there is no feeling at all in the foot/leg, that also might be cause to amputate because the pain caused by dragging wont be felt by the cat and may cause a lot of infections and other problems not seen until damage is done.

We had a kitten at the shelter who had his back leg basically pushed forward and up so the toes were head level (yea hard to visualize!), so he wasnt using it really at all. As a kitten, it didnt seem to bother him and he was adopted. He was returned as an adult and the leg had grown normal size, and the weight was so uncomfortable-making him lopsided, that we amputated it. As a kitten it probably should have been but because he was a tiny kitten it didnt seem to bother him.
 
I agree that amputation may be necessary to prevent injury to the foot. Cats do great with only three legs. My civi Stuart had a rear leg amputated shortly after birth because of a defect. He gets around fine and is ten or eleven years old now.
 
someone on here (on community if i remember correctly) just adopted a kitten from a shelter who had a bad front leg thus it was amputated. not sure what was wrong with the leg but the kitten was doing fine last i saw. i wanna say it was one of the gals who fosters/rescues a lot.......i think they named her Isabelle (but i'm not sure i'm right on the details as i'm not around a whole lot these days)
 
I hope the little kitty is ok. I only have experience with my own cat fluffy who had to have his front right leg and shoulder amputated due to him having cancer, I have no knowledge of club foot. My cat adapted very well, he was angry with all the stitches he had but the first night we got him home (we payed for an extra night in the kitty hospital even though they wanted us to bring him home the same day as the operation) he was jumping up onto the living room window to have a nose about. He is very active in the garden, he uses the scratching post, he still thinks he has four legs, I can see his stump moving when he is in the litter tray, he still thinks his leg is there. I am sure the vet will advise you well judging on xrays etc.

I hope the kitty doesn't have to have an amputation but if the poor little thing is in pain then maybe it's best. Cats adapt quite well to having 3 legs, we did plenty of research before we went ahead with fluff. It was very upsetting at the time, I don't think fluff would be here with us now if we didn't go ahead with the amputation, but that was cancer so it's a totally different thing with kitty having club foot.

I hope all goes well with kitty regardless.
 
HI

This is usually caused by an abnormality in the tendons. If this is a wee kitten, it's possible that s/he will learn to use the leg and there can be some adjustment in the tendons as s/he grows. I wouldn't amputate unless it seems hopeless (no chance of stretching the tendons) and/or the leg already has damage from dragging, etc. Your coworker's best bet is to get really good radiographs and take them to an orthopedic specialist for an opinion. If the shelter or her regular vet does the x-rays, she only pays for the consult with the orthopedic surgeon and gets an expert opinion.

Kudos to her for taking on a "special needs" kitty.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top