My Three Legged Cat Tripod

by Katherine Thornton
(Alexander City, AL, USA)

First picture after surgery

My cat Tripod was born outside along with three others. Her mom decided to move them inside. Unfortunately one kitten was killed by one of our dogs that we had at the time.

I think he might have thought she had a squirrel or something like that. She moved in two, and my dad found the last one. It didn't have any of its back legs, and he did away with it.

When he came in, he asked if the others were fine, and my sister said, "Yes. They're ok."

I looked at them and didn't notice anything unusual. When my mom came home that evening from work, she saw them. She mentioned to me that one of them was born with only three legs.

I didn't believe her, so I looked again. Sure enough one one of them only had three legs. So my sister took the fully developed one, and I got Tripod. I had always wanted a very unique animal.


The first few days I was thinking of what I could name her. I threw around different words that began with "Tri." I settled on Tripod because it fit so well. "Tri" for three and "pod" for feet. Yes, it was definitely the name for her.

Her deformed leg kept filling up with fluid and leaking out. I gave her as much love as I could. So many times I was afraid that she wasn't going to make it.

When she was three weeks old, she had her first visit to the vet. They said that it would most likely have to come off, but we'll have to see. If they had to take it off before she got big enough to be tubed, they could do it with just a mask on.

She got bigger and stronger with each passing day. Her leg stopped filling up with fluid, but the end of it didn't have any skin over it. We took out visit to the vet again to get vaccinated. The news stayed the same, "We'll most likely have to take it off."

About a month passed before I got felt comfortable to have her surgery, which was January 22. The big day came. I was on the edge of my seat for most of the day. Finally, I went into work (I work at the vet clinic).

She was awake when I went in. She meowed at me and I gave her a little bit of loving. She slept for most of the day. They told me she was a mess because she kept twisting up her IV line.

It was a sad two nights not having her at home. The morning I got to bring her home, she went wild. She was running around the house like a crazy cat. She was playing and enjoying herself. She's doing well, minus the few times she's trying to take her stitches out.

I've always been a dog person. I still somewhat prefer dogs to cats, but Tripod's really grabbed me. I love her more than anything, and I can't imagine what life would be without her.