There was a lot of things we thought wouldn’t happen with a cat with three legs and we were wrong on so many accounts. We were afraid he’d never be able to get up the stairs. He managed that on the first day we brought him home. We thought he wouldn’t want to play anymore…nope, still happy to play feather toy, bat balls around his toy, wrestle with his adopted kid sister, and chew up catnip toys. He was our best mouser, and I expect he probably could still get a mouse, if one were dumb enough to enter a house with three cats. I really thought he couldn’t get up on the kitchen table anymore, wrong again! I stepped away from the table to start to clear the breakfast dishes only to turn around and catch him on the table cleaning up the remnants of my waffle and eggs. He can jump. His landings aren’t always perfect but it doesn’t slow him down, especially when there might be butter left on a plate.
He flies off the bed and races me down the stairs in the morning to receive his breakfast. He can’t get up on a high dresser or the top of the cat tree but short of that, he can get anywhere he wants to be. We have steps and ramps to help him, but when excited he forgets all about them. He uses them more when tired — and it is true, he does tire more easily. We have a two-story house and he will pick which floor he wants to be in more now than he used to and that is okay. And he occasionally gets frustrated when trying to get up from the bed or a blanket pile — it’s hard to get his balance, and we’ll hear what we have come to recognize as the “frustrated meow,” and well give a hand getting up. We are just so happy to have him with us, and I know his adopted siblings “the tigers” are happy to have him too. Castiel remains the alpha cat and the caretaker of his younger siblings. And check it out, his fur has all grown back now. We think he looks very handsome.
We do have one challenge though where we could use some guidance. His sibling Aleksandr likes to go for walks in the backyard on his harness. Castiel would like that too. A harness is needed because our home backs up to open space and there are a lot of wild animals (coyotes, bobcats, foxes, hawks, etc.), and despite his three legs — Castiel can move fast! Are there any harnesses that are secure on a three-legged cat? He is missing a front leg. Anyone have any ideas?
