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Details - 8 days ago a semi-feral cat had her kittens in the flowers & weeds in the side of my house. 5 of the kittens were tightly tangled up in a weed vine and their umbilical cords. When I found them I had to cut them loose. 4 of the kittens where fine - the 5th one had damage to his hind legs below the hock where the weed was so tightly wound it cut off circulation. Every day, 2x's a day I wash his hind legs in peroxide and benedine and apply antibiotic. The hind feet have atrophied. One has completely fallen off, the other is only hanging on by a thread of skin. But there does not appear to be infection. There is bone visiable at the joint where the foot has come off. My questions are - can I save this kitten? Can a cat manage without back feet? If I can keep the wounds clean will the skin heal over the bone? Please don't tell me to take this kitten to a vet. 1. I don't have hundreds of dollars to spend on surgeries. 2. My vet would tell me to put him to sleep. I had a lamb with 2 broken legs, he said it wouldn't survive. I set her legs and now she is 3 yrs old and doing great. So my vet is a good person but he wouldn't want to spend my money on a stray kitten. I need to know what I can do for this kitten on my own. He's a fighter. He is 8 days old now. He seems to be nursing and scooting himself around. I just need to know if he has a chance and what I can do to give him the best possible one. Thank you.

Update:

just to update - I did discontinue the peroxide - we removed the 2nd foot - he is developing callouses over the ends of his "stubs" and seems to be eating well. there is no infection. So we are going to keep him and see how he turns out. My vet said he had never seen anything like this - to just do what I've been doing. it seems to be working

phrog · Accepted Answer

it should heal w/the proper care (and it sounds like hes getting it) and time...lots of time.

I had a found kitten that was paralyzed from midway to his tail...I made him leather boots/chaps to wear so he didn't get soars when he was just lying or dragging himself about...and a set of wheels with a sitting bar and harness so he could get around.  he did great and got around good until the day he died.

the chariot did make him wider than normal - so there were places he thought he could get into that he couldn't.  
we made him a house cat so I could keep better track of him...and because cats fight /defend themselves w/their back feet.
if he can walk  - he might just need "feet"  a padded boot might work.

good luck.

CindyRVT · Answer

First, discontinue using peroxide.  It actually kills tissues and doesn't do anymore for cleaning then the betadine you are using.  

And then take the kitten to the vet and get it examined.  Sorry, but that is the appropriate response in this situation.  No one who is not a veterinarian can tell you what is the best for this kitten and especially without seeing the kitten.     You don't necessarily have to spend hundreds of dollars or put the kitten to sleep, but you do need to allow a veterinarian to examine the kitten and advise you as to the best course of action for the situation that you have.  There are simply too many variables that can't be assessed by reading your post.

anglovesonedirection · Answer

Taking care of that many cats is a lot of work b/c my cat recently had kittens a month ago and whew, are they hard. However, mine were only indoor. I think the cat will survive. They make special legs for the cats making it walk the way it wants too. Make sure you keep it clean and healthy so it doesn't get infected. If it is that bad, I would put it to sleep to end its misery. It always depends how it looks so, whatever you think is best. When the cats grow pretty big and get to run, make sure you put them up for adoption, or, keep them if you want. I suggest keeping the kitten with no legs if he survives b/c you would know what to do with him since he needs his special care. If you have pictures feel free to show me b/c I would love to see what I could do! Hope I helped!! :D

Anonymous · Answer

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need help from experienced cat rescue / vet / vet tech?

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