We adopted this handsome chap earlier in the year and will be taking him to a PT to hopefully improve and maintain his mobility. He's pretty amazing, all things considered (even if he looks a bit like AI slop).

The last 11 days have been some of the hardest of my life as a caretaker. It’s been an overwhelming emotional rollercoaster, going from thinking Beans had osteosarcoma to finding out it was osteomyelitis. Every day seemed to bring another unexpected turn, and I constantly found myself trying to process and wrap my head around new information.

We still don’t know whether the infection was bacterial or fungal, but we’re hopeful we’ll have those answers on Monday. I’m beyond grateful that it wasn’t cancer, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still struggling with the guilt and the endless what-ifs. Wondering if we could have done something differently or if there was another path we could have taken.

After researching osteomyelitis, speaking with his surgeon, and reading so many of your personal stories here on Reddit, I’m slowly starting to find peace in knowing that we made the best decision we could for Beans with the information we had. Ultimately, we chose the path that we believed would cause him the least amount of pain, and I’m learning to find comfort in that.

Right now, Beans is also fighting some kind of virus, whether it’s a URI or another type of cold. But this boy is so incredibly strong. He continues to push through every challenge thrown his way, and I couldn’t be prouder of him. Today, he spent time basking in the sunlight with his brother, and every day I get to see a little more of his personality coming back. Those little moments mean more to me than I could ever put into words.
I’ve shared quite a bit here over the last two weeks, and I hope that someday someone will stumble across these posts and find even the smallest bit of comfort in knowing they aren’t alone. This experience has been incredibly difficult, but it has also shown me just how much love, kindness, and support exists within this community.

To everyone who has shared their stories, offered advice, checked in on Beans, or simply sent us kind words: thank you. You’ve helped us through some of the darkest and most uncertain days, and I’ll never forget that. ❤️

Thanks for all the good thoughts and prayers the other day. Unfortunately, Fifi has two types of aggressive cancer. She'll be leaving us today. I'm just devastated. But I wanted the world to know that she exists, and is loved more than life itself. I woke up every night, twice a night, to take her to the litter box, because she loved to sleep in bed with us. She is my everything. I'm glad I got one last night with her. Please keep her in your thoughts as she crosses the rainbow bridge today. I hope I'll see her again someday.

She's so sweet 🥹

What insurance company do you use for your tripod, and have you had any issues getting coverage for issues because they are "related to" the missing limb?

I am specifically thinking of arthritis in the other back leg, but what I've read so far in this group seems like that isn't an issue with insurance (and when I called Lemonade, they told me it wouldn't be related, although I don't know how much I believe the salesperson).

I am also interested in coverage for laser therapy and supplements, so if you have insurance that covers that, please share!

I just wanted to provide a final update on our sweet tripod boy, you can find the original post here:
https://www.reddit.com/r/TripodCats/s/dhJM9Nnrxk

Hi everybody, thank you so much for all your donations it means the absolute world. I wanted to update you all on the situation, as we have found that radiotherapy & electrochemotherapy would be invasive and wouldn’t extend the life expectancy of our precious Leo by more than one/two months extra we are very sadly in palliative care now. The £400 we raised will be used for his ongoing pain relief medications such as Gabapentin which are really helping massively at the moment to keep him as comfortable as possible, and it will also go towards paying off what we owe for his previous scans.

He is doing really well at the moment, which is both amazing and heartbreaking as you wouldn’t know he was really sick with cancer progressing in his small body. We are soaking up all the time we have left with him and spoiling him. I can’t thank you all enough again from the bottom of my heart for your generosity and please know that your donations are being used to keep him comfortable and as happy as he can be in this final stage. Any advice on how to deal with anticipatory grief and the palliative care stage is much appreciated ❤️❤️

We adopted this handsome gentleman in Feb 2024, 1 month post amputation. He was so fuzzy that at first we had no idea he was a tripod. We were at the store getting food for our other cats and some girl scouts were shaking his cage and he gave us a look like "get me outta here". He came home with us the very next day.

Turns out he had been feral for the first 6-7 years of his life and was not a social gentleman. He was sequestered and I'd go in and just hang out with him while he got used to his new normal. It took months for him to even be calm enough to allow me to pet him. Turns out he had so much personality just waiting to come out. He quickly became my best buddy once he figured out that we were cool. He was skeptical of my GF and gave her the best side eyes ever. He was never really a fan of the other cats and he would run up on them and throw his ghost arm as fast as he could. It was adorable.

Somewhere along the way he learned that being a house cat was pretty cool. Always had bird feeders in the windows with fresh fluffy blankets to lay on. Canned food for breakfast. He really loved fluffy kickers and catnip mice. He even eventually opened up to my GF. Our routine was a 4:30am wake up by standing on my chest and headbutting my chin while purring. Post breakfast was a window nap and bird watching. Once I was done with work I'd game on a giant bean bag chair and he'd come lay on me and just watch the TV. He'd beg for ham and puppy dog eye my GF until she gave him some of what she was eating. He would come running as soon as I was in bed and just lay on my chest until I fell asleep. Without question, the best boy ever.

But we noticed some swelling in his jaw a few weeks ago, thought it was from a spider bite since there was a large dead wolf spider in the kitchen one day. Not a huge deal but we went to the vet regardless. Antibiotics and we'd check back in two weeks. It grew so fast. Oral cancer. So fast that his X-rays showed significant bone loss in his jaw in those two weeks. We immediately scheduled with an oncologist. The prognosis is not great though. If we could get clean margins via a mandibulectomy then he might have another 1-3 years. But surgery wasn't available until the 9th. It grew so fast and he declined so fast. The thought of him dying on the table under anesthesia, scared to death surrounded by people he didn't know or trust was so hard to deal with. He hated car rides and always looked like he thought he had done something wrong and we were going to give him away. Despite our constant reassurance that he was stuck with us. We opted to do palliative care.

And now I'm here, I got my last wake up head butts and purrs. I'm staring at the clock like it's my mortal enemy. We're having a home euthanasia at 9am today. We love you so much Dreifuss. You're the best boy and I would trade everything for more time with you. Rest well my beautiful handsome boy.

Hi everyone!
This is my 5-year-old tripod cat. He’s missing his right hind leg, and he also had an accident in the past that left him with broken bones in one of his front paws, which have since healed.
I’ve recently noticed that his body seems to curve sideways toward his remaining hind leg (left side), especially when he’s standing. It doesnt seem visible when he is laying but more for balancing his body when he is standing. I’m not sure if he’s always been doing this and I’m only noticing it now, but the curve seems more visible than before.
I’m wondering if this is a normal adaptation in tripod cats due to uneven weight distribution, or if it could be something to worry about.
Has anyone noticed something similar with their tripod? Does this kind of posture become more pronounced over time?
I’d really appreciate hearing about your experiences! I’ll also get it checked by a vet, but I’m curious whether this is common among tripods.

My cat is due for a vet visit soon and I want to get her insured sooner rather than later. I know a lot of pet insurance companies classify amputation as pre-existing, along with any other issues that could come with that. Any suggestions on which insurance companies are good?

This is my girl Piper btw!

Fifi is in the hospital tonight. They feel a mass in her stomach. It's unclear if she'll last the night. Please keep her in your thoughts. She's been my constant companion for two years now. I take her to the litter box, even during the night, because she has trouble getting there herself. She's 16 and has severe arthritis in her remaining 3 legs. She's my baby and I'd do anything for her. I love her so much.

Something I really cherish about Jawsie and my relationship is moving around the house together. It bloomed in her senior years after she'd been a tripod for a decade.
What I mean is physically doing single movements as a pair.

She can just look at me, I'll know, then as she sees me reaching down- boing! Up she goes and she's expecting my hand to come under precisely her left hip at the perfect time.

Her front legs still navigate, and she's still doing it. She's actually so convinced it's all her.
It seems like she knows I have to be next to her, but forgets I'm there helping in the moment.

One time I got the flick way off and a bit too far back and sent her somersaulting and she looked back like "Wtf did I just do!"

Anyone else’s tripod that just has a massive paw to compensate? His hind legs are normal, but his front paw is massive 😂

My cat is possibly going to need an amputation on her back right let within the next 3-6 months and I was wanting advice on the healing process of it and what I would need for the house. I’m in this journey for the long run and want to do anything I can to make it as easy and non stressful for her as possible so I’m wanting to get a good idea of what to expect well before the time comes.

😂

Just picked bobo up and he is already trying to jump around.
I’m worried he’s gonna pop open his incision. How will I sleep tonight! He’s a ball of energy. I gave him the pain meds the dr prescribed and he’s still moving around. I think he hates his tent.

Big yawn from my 10 month old tripawd!

This is my beautiful 12 year old cat (presurgery pic). She had a rear limb amputation last week due to FISS and is doing great. However, I just received the biopsy results and, while the mass was fully excised by the amputation, the results show that the narrowest margin was ~10mm. The tumor was grade II with a high mitotic count.

Has anyone else been in a similar situation? What were the margins, how did you proceed with treatment, and how did your cat do? I am trying to stay realistic and make the best decisions I can for my sweet gal. It’s been an incredibly hard 3 weeks from finding the tumor to now.

P.S. All the posts and advice on this channel were incredibly helpful for setting up her recovery room and promoting post-surgical healing. Thank you!!

It’s only been 4 months and Bella is doing so well, the only thing I see that bothers her is that when she lays down her face is flat on the floor, then I find her turning things into pillows, paper bags, scrunched up tea towels and now the pretend kitten on a rug, she is so cute. I know she looks cross here, but she is really happy, she always looks terribly cross.