Recently I was messaging with a friend of a friend whose cat is due to have a back leg amputated because of a tumor. She was worried about how he would do afterwards. I think I reassured her that they get along fine once they’re recovered; for example I found Morph (still full of stitches) at the top of my 8 foot cat tree about two days after he came home!
But my experience is only one example of what can happen, and I’m sure other people have learned things about three leggers and cancer survivors that I haven’t. So I’d like to ask any readers who’d like to to chime in with anything you’d care to share about your experiences which I will pass along.
Every comment will get a reply with a new picture of Morph being his obnoxious, three-legged self!
smoredogs 
When we went through it with Lucas, the vet team kept telling us about his recovery, “Let him set the pace.” Well, Lucas set it at RUN! We were having to restrain him from jumping on the couch or running in the yard. We had a little flight of steps down to the back door, and we were working on getting him to use a ramp while holding his harness, and day 4 or 5 he was just like, “NAH!” and started jumping from the top to the bottom. That said, there are tough parts, of course. He got super frustrated when he couldn’t do something without assistance, but overall… we can really learn lessons in resilience from these three-leggers. (BTW: If your friend hasn’t yet found the Tripawds community, it’s a must!!!!)
LikeLike
Great advice Maggie, thank you! And I just realized the WordPress comments don’t behave like Facebook so I can’t actually leave a picture in the comment!!
LikeLike
My comment is similar to Maggie’s. Basically, I found that I had to let Lucas fall, get stuck, etc. In addition to setting his own pace, he had to figure out his limits. We always helped when he needed it, often when he didn’t want it, but we let him learn his boundaries and he got really good at self regulating.
LikeLike
That’s good to know, I’ll definitely pass it along!
LikeLike
Hey, there! How nice that you’re helping your friend gather anecdotes from others. ☺ I don’t know whether you remember the tripawd foster dog (the mini great dane 😉 ) I had posted on my Facebook page…anyway, Monte lost his rear leg at the hip, due to being struck by a car. He was only a year old. The dog did his whole recovery at the shelter (in record time, I was told) and then came straight to my house. He had ZERO concerns about missing that limb, let me tell you. I didn’t need to do anything different (in fact, I had to take him back because he was too much energy for my corgis). Animals are incredibly resilient (as you know). I’m sure the kitty will adjust wonderfully. Hope this helps!
LikeLike
Thanks Elizabeth! He’s going into the vet’s on Thursday and his person is trying not to be too worried. Monte was amazing!
LikeLike
Sending positive wishes to your friend of a friend and her kitty! An amputation is so much more traumatic for us humans than it is for any dog or cat. They teach us to live in the present and to deal with whatever comes along as if it’s the way it’s supposed to be. Our pets are so much more adaptable than we are.
LikeLike
Makes me think sometimes that Vonnegut was right about our big brains being more trouble than they’re worth. Then I remember deep dish pizza.
LikeLike