Three Legged Cats

Entering my living room I could hear Basil's distressed cries but at first could not see him. Then I spotted that little feline, he had wedged himself under my stereo player as far back as he could. Reaching in I curled my arm around him and carefully pulled him out, I somehow knew what the cause of his distress was even before I'd seen it.

But even so the sight of the poor chap's mangled rear leg with most of the fur missing from it, gave me a start.

Not really knowing what to do and not being prepared for such an emergency, I grabbed hold of a towel and wrapped it as gently as I could around Basil's mutilated limb. After a bit of a hunt around I found the cat carrier and placed my little friend inside, he didn't protest as he normally would have, just looked at me as if he knew his only hope was to be taken somewhere.

It was late in the evening when we arrived at the usual veterinarians' surgery, to my dismay I found it to be closed up for the night. I was considering banging on the door and shouting that I had a badly injured cat that needed treatment straight away, when I remembered seeing an emergency veterinarians' office just a little distance away. (three legged cat continues below)

In a few moments we were there, the lights were on so I walked in with Basil pitifully meowing. I gave the receptionist the explanation that the cat must have been hit by traffic and she gave him some comforting words and called out the back to the veterinarian.

After what seemed like an age examining Basil the kindly looking vet gave his opinion. He said that as well as being hit by a vehicle the cat had probably been thrown by it but did not appear to have any other bones broken. He said he was not sure what could be done but he would do whatever he could.

My details were taken and I was told to go off home and expect a phone call in about two hours.

I was not at all hopeful. I was convinced that the poor cat would have to be put down, after all the leg was bad he must have lost a lot of blood. Why, I asked myself, didn't I keep Basil as an indoor cat? The road is a fairly busy one and cats and traffic don't mix. But even as I was blaming myself for the accident I knew that Basil was not a cat that would be happy kept indoors. It was not like I was at home all day to keep him company, I had to work, so it would have meant locking my feline friend up all day in a small flat, he would not have been at all happy.

After what felt like an eternity, the phone rang. At that time my phone had the old bell ring and it seemed to forecast doom. Well, this was it. This was going to be the vet who was going to tell me that he was unable to do anything to save Basil. (three legged cat continues below)

"I'm very sorry," said the veterinarian, "But I had no choice but to remove the leg."

Having been convinced that the vet was going to tell me that Basil had been put down, I was overjoyed with that news and so I exclaimed " Wonderful! That's marvelous, thank you so much."

The man must have thought me to be some kind of lunatic for being so pleased about my pet cat loosing a leg!

The veterinarian explained that the amputation had gone very well but that Basil would be in need of a complete rest for a while. I was to phone in a couple of days when I would likely be able to take my three-legged cat home.

I picked Basil up from the veterinarian and took him back home to the flat. He had more of a stump than I visualized that he would, and the little fellow was able to bunny hop around the place. Basil spent the first two days indoors and was quite quiet and subdued, but on the third day I arrived home from work to find that he was not in the flat. Looking around the garden I could see no sign of him, calling out didn't bring him running either.

On the one hand I felt this was a sign that the cat was getting back to his old self, on the other hand I couldn't help but worry how he was coping with his handicap. I went back inside. A short time later I heard the rattle of the pet door, only it didn't quite sound the same way as it usually did. When I went to take a look I found Basil stuck half way through the flap, only having half of his rear leg power he hadn't quite managed to get all the way in!

I did not want to upset Basil by pulling him by his front legs I carefully opened the door and gently pushed him in. That was the one and only time as far as I know, that he got stuck in the pet door Basil must of learned to adjust the thrust of his remaining leg.

Did that cat let having just three legs stop him from attempting anything? No, never. It never stopped him from walking along the type of garden fence that are nothing more than thin slats of wood that overlap each other, they have a very thin top edge, cats love to walk along them. It must be a tricky task for a normal cat and one could be forgiven for thinking that was something a three legged cat could not do, that's what I thought until I witnessed it. He would make his way slowly along the fence, his rear end seemed to drop every other step and it looked like he was about to fall. He never did, he always made it along the fence to the end.

Like every cat, Basil liked to hunt, or at least try to. I don't think that he ever had much success even when he had four legs. Did losing a leg deter him from his hunting attempts? Nope, not a single bit. He'd lay in waiting for pigeons to land in the garden, then he'd try and rush at them, naturally he never got near to a catch. Ever heard a pigeon laugh!

Being a three-legged cat got Basil a lot of attention, which he loved. I honestly don't believe that Basil even realized that his leg was missing, it certainly didn't seem to stop him from doing much, he just got on with life. Basil was around for quite a spell after his accident. I still miss that little fellow but I've resisted getting myself another cat until I can afford to move somewhere with a lot less traffic.

Three legs or four, he was a great little cat, full of mischief but also full of love and affection. . . Three legs but 100% cat.

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