Cat with three legs

[lindapalm]

I'm wondering if anyone has had a cat that had to have his back leg amputated, and how it did.  We took our cat for a second opinion because of an on going problem with his back leg, new vet said it will never heal and has to be amputated.  I refused to believe it until he showed me the xrays, I'm still in shock.  We've been treating him for this problem for almost 4 months, but I never thought it would result in amputation.  I was hoping this second vet would cure it with laser.

Is there anything special we will have to do for him, and will he learn to walk fairly normally?

[lindapalm]

We had been treating it since Feb.  Because of allergies, he kept licking the joint.  By the time we got the licking problem resolved Spencer had licked the skin off the entire heel joint? and the calcification started going through his Achilles tendon, which made it unrepairable.  .  The vet said he could not get the calcification down enough, and there was too wide a gap on the sides of it to pull the skin together to heal.  I just wish the original vet would have tried something sooner, or at least warned us this might be the outcome.  I feel so sorry for him

[opus88]

What did the X-ray show? Is it cancer?? So sorry to hear a diagnosis like that, I know you've been trying everything and researching that's terrible news. However I must say animals adapt extremely well, I've never had a pet myself with 3 legs, but I am friends with some gals who run a rescue org.  Here locally and sadly they at times have to go the amputation route for injured animals, they do very well!! With bigger dogs if it's a hind leg they are more prone to arthritis in their remaining leg as they as age because of the extra wear and tear and weight but otherwise they run and jump and play like any four legged animal...same with cats. So I'm sure yours would quickly adapt and do fine as well