Freya at her viewing posts

I took this photo of Freya at the top of her northern viewing post tonight.  As you can see, a collection of boxes (and yes, that is a skull mask – it’s one of my halloween decoration boxes) and a cat scratching post that helps her get up to look out. It’s night here now so her view is of the dark, and the potentially scary, backyard.

P1080001

And this is her eastern viewing post (her cat tree) with assistance up the various levels ably provided by her very first piece of cat furniture – a modified bar stool (it’s almost as old as she is).

She jumps up to the bottom platform of the cat tree then up to the right support of the cat stool and then up to the top bar of the cat stool, she then jumps from that to the top platform (the large one, not the upper smaller one), where she lounges in the morning sun for ages on end.

P1080007Hope that gives some idea of how Freya gets around and enjoys her views.

Michelle and Freya

 

 

A year (and more ie 14 months) on and all is well

Hi all

It has been such a long time since I posted – I can only but apologise and say that life became a maelstrom of activity.

But to the important stuff – Freya is well and happy albeit…. it must be admitted …. a bit too rotund for a tripod kitty.

After the amputation she got better and better every day and I was more and more certain that the best decision had been made. I then had to make a choice about moving home and so in late March 2013 Freya and I made the move across town. The place we were moving to was single storey which I was quite pleased about as while she was OK at getting up and down the stairs I thought it would still be easier for her at one level. I liked the new place and in fact it reminded me of the Queenslander style homes I rented in Rockhampton and I recalled how Freya would regularly launch herself up the security screen door at our last Queenslander style house to try and get to geckos. And the new place had screen doors even  … although these ones were flimsy ie not security. All in all, feeling pretty good with the move.

And the actual move did go well  – Freya is experienced at moving around (with a big trip from Rockhampton in Queensland to the Blue Mountains in 2002) and she was enjoying the new place a lot. I had friends help out and it was good.  One really good thing was that the large cat tree I had was in a new spot (I had kept her from it after the amputation) and I set up a few boxes around it so she could get up to part of it and when my back was turned she managed to get all the way up to the top!! I was so pleased and feeling that the move was a really positive step.

One dark cloud came along shortly though, which was that a friend of mine visited over Easter (about 2 weeks after we moved) and accidentally stepped on Freya’s remaining rear foot (quite heavily) which resulted in a soft tissue injury which meant Freya began falling over on her rear leg – it was obviously sore and the look she would give me when she collapsed backwards – heart wrenching. It was really difficult to see her fall over, which she was doing all the time after the injury, and I was quite upset.

But, she appeared to be recovering from it quite well, and then the real bad thing happened. You see, I wasn’t the only one who had been reminiscing about Freya jumping up screen doors, it appeared she was too. So one evening, about two weeks after her soft tissue injury, she was looking out the screen door and jumped up. The problem, the screen is not security and so there was no support and she started to tear the fly screen material and so she did as she had done in the past, jumped off backward … but this time, instead of landing on two healthy legs, she fell onto her one leg which was already injured and so she went down hard. She curled in a little ball and hissed when I went near her – she was hurting bad.

I was devastated.  Dark cloud replaced by stormy weather with lots of tears .. I mean rain.

That night she eventually uncurled from the floor and actually jumped up on the bed, but as soon as she got up on the bed you could see she was really hurt and so she again curled up and didn’t move. I was so upset I had the next day off work and made an appointment with the vet. He confirmed that she had injured herself and that she was to be confined to a room where there was nothing for her to jump up to, and to keep her contained in that way until her leg got better and with a soft tissue injury, that could be a while. At my darkest moments in that period I imagined what would happen if she lost the use of her remaining rear leg, how would she cope, what would that mean and so on. Those dark thoughts did not make me feel good and so I had to make myself calm down and take it a day at a time.

So, I moved from my bedroom into the spare room, set up a mattress on the floor and for the next 6 weeks she was pretty confined to about two rooms. She would seem to get better and then she’d fall over again. I kept a record and when she had one full day without falling back onto her leg I’d let her access a bit more of the house. There were regular set backs of course and it took a really long while for her to get better but eventually I moved back into my own room and she was able to get on the bed and get around without falling over at all. It probably took about three to four months, so it was around June/ July last year when I’d say she was back to as good as she could be.

And then, because I obviously prescribe to some kind of sympathy pain, I began limping myself and was eventually diagnosed as having a knee cap out of alignment along with osteoarthritis. So for a while it was a great combo at my place – a three legged cat and an owner on a cane/crutch. And yes, the jokes from my friends and work colleagues did get a bit repetitive after a while. But I’m improving all the time and haven’t needed a crutch for months now.

So there you have it – Freya has had a few setbacks (soft tissue injury followed by a bad landing) but she getting around well and gets up the big cat tree (via another smaller piece of cat furniture) and all. I also have plastic crates set up beneath another window for her to get up easily and look out into the backyard. When I find my camera charger I’ll take some photos of her setups so you can see for yourself.

I also came up with a solution for the screen doors as, even after her injury, she would sit at the screen and look up – and you can imagine how that made me feel. I didn’t want to keep the doors closed all the time as I’d feel like a prisoner in my own home and yet I didn’t want Freya jumping up and hurting herself again. I theorised that if she saw something a bit further up the screen that it would stop her and so I took some heavy duty clear plastic wrap (such as gets put around newspapers) and taped it about a foot and a half off the floor across the width of the screen door. And it seems to work a treat. She still sits at the screen doors and looks out and of course she still looks up, sees the plastic and makes no move to jump up. I’ll take a photo of that as well – it might be something for others to consider as well.

The next challenge will be to get her weight down and then maintain it. Wish us luck with that.

So, here we are, some 14 months after discovery of her sarcoma and 13 months after the amputation and I have to say it has been a roller coaster but she and I have come through it. The initial diagnosis, without amputation, was six months but the choice I made has meant she is still here with me. The diagnosis also said that, if we got the sarcoma early enough, the removal of her leg could be a cure and as the months pass and no sign of any other lumps (and believe me, I check regularly) it makes me more and more certain that the decision for amputation, whilst agonising, was the best one.

 

 

 

Two months after amputation

It has been such a journey since mid November 2012 when I first found Freya had a large suspicious lump on her left rear hock. It was as if I entered a dark tunnel that compressed my world and it was all I could do to make it from day to day. Then the operation and the recovery and then life seemed to become … normal again.

Freya is now a fully functioning Tripawd, although sometimes I walk behind her down the stairs (our morning routine as she knows there is food at the bottom and races me down) I see her different gait and the little hop she gives at the end of the stairs and I feel sad.

However, and I stress this, Freya is not sad. She might not be able to jump onto the kitchen counter anymore, or jump up on top of the toilet pedestal (both previous favourite places to go) but she can still get on the bed, the couch, and we have engineered a chair to help her onto her very own cat chair.  So, things are good.

Thanks to all who helped on the way and made the journey feel a shared one!

And for those about to embark on that journey through the dark tunnel – there is light at the end.

Our animal companions are strong, they are resilient and they can show us a thing or two about recovery and moving forward.

I’ll take a picture of Freya ten weeks after amputation and post it in the next day or two.

Thanks

Michelle and Freya

Happy 2 week Ampuversary Freya (and two days)

It really doesn’t seem like a fortnight since Freya had her leg amputated – but it certainly has been, and two days extra even.

It has been going so well that I even had a night away on New Years Eve, although I was a bit anxious I must admit. I left Freya in the loungeroom with blocked off access, and set her up with lots of water, food, cat grass, litter trays, etc. When I got home I saw she had pushed the door to the loungeroom so hard that the folded stairs I had against it to keep it closed had fallen over. So she definitely wanted to be out of the room at some point. She was a bit miffed at me, but got all sweet again when I opened a can of food.

And then later that afternoon on New Years Day I removed the barrier to the stairs!

Now, I have been quite worried about the stairs as they are steep. So, I made sure the stairs were obstacle free (removed the candles and flowers that I have at various points along the stairs) and made sure there were assists for her to get on the bed (boxes and such) and sat back.

And waited ……..

And waited ………………..

And waited ……………………………..

Righto. Anti-climax. All psyched up and the cat couldn’t care less – she can be such a feline. Actually, I don’t know if it is a feline versus canine thing but I suspect so.

So after a while I head upstairs to bed (bearing in mind that it would be my first night back upstairs too, as I have been downstairs with Freya all this time – the sacrifices we make) and rationalise that if she hasn’t made her way up before I finished reading then I’ll put the barrier back up so I don’t have to worry. I’m nearly at the end of my reading when I hear the heavier pawfalls I’m having to get used to, and they seemed quite close. And there she was, in the room looking as nonchalant as could be.

The next thing was to see if she could make the jump to the bed. She didn’t seem keen initially and curled up on the floor, but not long after the lights went out I heard her moving and she went to the side of the bed and I looked over and saw her size up the distance, stretch up, dig her claws in and pull/jump up. Well, I was pleased as anything, she came over to me and settled herself down to sleep. She slept all night on the bed, which is what she normally does and which I have been missing. And the following morning as I went downstairs she came barrelling after me at some speed – which is not unexpected as her front legs are fine and they are what give balance heading down – plus food is downstairs! She also took the time to rub against me on the way down, a familiar ritual of ours!

I also got her a new box today (she loves to lie in a cardboard box filled with crinkly paper) as the one she used to use had high sides and she got into it once after the amputation but then got stuck and hasn’t tried again, even though I lowered one of the sides. So, I saw an excellent low sided cardboard candidate out shopping today and brought it home, filled it with paper and it was a success. Feeling pretty pleased. Substitution is not a crime if it makes our newly three-legged doggies/kitties happy!!

Also, I noticed one of her toys (a mouse attached to a short pole) was moved from upstairs to downstairs. This is something she did all the time – I’d leave it one place in the morning and when I got home from work it was somewhere completely different. She hasn’t done that since the operation and today it was moved, and again when I got back from dinner out, it was somewhere different again!! It’s the little things that can make such a difference.

In terms of assistance to get up to things, Freya seems to not want to use them at all. She is comfortable stretching up, sticking her claws in and then pulling/partial jumping to get onto the couch and the bed but that is it. Anything higher she isn’t really trying at the moment and she ignores any assists I leave her (boxes next to chairs, etc) but I’ll keep an eye on that.

Please note that I’ll probably post less frequently now as Freya continues to improve, but I will return to make my observations, never fear!

Day 10 AA

Well, ten days after amputation.

I had a little scare this afternoon when I looked at Freya’s incision and there was a thin piece of what looked like dental floss sticking out from the middle of the incision by about a centimetre. Eek. It looked dried and not covered with any gunky stuff, but it was definitely there. OK – one hasty repair to an e-collar later and I put it on her and the sulks began (hiding behind the couch).

I then called the Vet on call as it was Sunday afternoon (not our usual vet but his associate) and after a bit of discussion it became clear that it was not an internal suture as she said they would be purple, but rather one closer to the skin that are used to keep the upper layers of the skin together – the fatty layers. She also felt it was not a matter for concern if the skin layers were still joined together – which they were (you can check out a photo from today below). So we agreed that the length of suture sticking out should be removed to avoid temptation and that the collar could go on when I’m not around to keep an eye on her.  If after observation I felt a trip to the vet’s was required we could do that in the morning. So, that made me feel a bit better.

I then went back to talk to my sulky cat and what do you know? The suture string appeared to have snapped off as it wasn’t there any more. I think maybe in the slight chase to get the cone back (and wasn’t that a golden moment in my life, lunging after a three legged cat with plastic cone in hand!) on there may have been enough movement to snap it off. No sign it was ever there really. I had said it looked really dry, not even like (now that I think about it) that it had even been licked by a cat recently.

Anyway, I examined the incision in a lot of detail as you could imagine and saw that the top part and the bottom part are healing really really well. The middle part is not yet covered by hair and has some little … bulges? … not yet healed over. I could see a little bit of what could be a suture stitch at the surface inside one of the bulges but it looks well settled in there. So given all that, the cone of shame came off and Freya forgave me ….. after some biscuits.

Then I thought, hey it’s Day 10 and I really enjoyed the comparison shot that was done of Fang at Day 3 and Day 10 (and again later comparing Day 10 to Day 21) so here goes, my comparison shot of Freya’s incision between Day 2 and Day 10, albeit not side by side but you should still get an idea.

Close up of internal suture incision - no exterior sutures or staples
Freya's incision 9 days AA

Freya’s incision Day 2 and Day 10

 

Looks good at Day 10 doesn’t it? You can see the bulges I’m talking about where the white patch on her belly ends at the right. But compare that area to Day 2 and it is amazing the progress that has been made. That area of bulge is obviously where the greatest pressure is and therefore will take the longest to heal over, but it is well on its way I reckon – loose bits of surface suture notwithstanding.

Freya also hopped up onto the cat chair again today. I worked out that she wanted to climb the leg and not use the wussy chair and so I shifted the chair that was in the way and up she went. She had been sniffing the air and all that and so clearly wanted to be up there that it was breaking my heart that she wasn’t able to – but of course she can!

Then it was another evening on the couch together. Excitement plus. But again, when I think how I was the first night after the operation when she was home, I’ll take lounging on the lounge together every time!

I’m off to work for the full day tomorrow, the first time since the amputation, but I should be able to come home at lunchtime to check on her (my guess, and you can work with me here, is ….. sleeping on the couch. Just a thought! LOL). I have made sure that I’ve had a few days where I have been out for half a day or so, or nearly even a full day (went to see the Hobbit at a 3-D cinema which involved driving an hour each way) but this will be the first full day. I’m pretty sure she’ll be fine, but we’ll see about me. When I went into work for half a day on Xmas Eve it was like I had a baby, showing off pictures and telling everyone how she was, and I expect tomorrow I’ll bore people the same way. Ah well, they can cope.