Rahnee's leg needs amputation

Hi everyone,
Remember the cat Rani rescued that has the persistent injury on its limb? We brought Rahnee (that’s the cat’s name) for a second opinion today, and we were given four options.

Look at that wound on Rahnee – it’s been like that since she was found.

To leave the wound as it is would not be advisable because the chances of it getting infected is very high.

You may be wondering how it got to this state. Well, Rani’s friend found this poor cat about 5 months ago, in a drain. Some humans had tied rubberbands around its limb, thus killing the cells and this is what got her into this condition.

The vet says the damage is irreversible. Whatever cells that have died cannot grow back.

So we have four options now:

I do not know the spelling of all the scientific terminologies to explain what the options are, so I will just say it in layperson’s terms, as I understand:

1. Do a skin graft, but the success rate is very low, and the cat has to be kept very quiet for 3-4 weeks during recovery. Any movement or interference to the graft would render it unsuccessful. The vet doesn’t recommend this based on Rahnee’s behaviour. She is an active cat.

2. Perform a procedure where the leg is artificially straightened, and the cat would have to learn to use it as a “walking stick”. Success rate is also very low.

3. Dress the wound every day, but scrub it and irritate it until it bleeds (there won’t be much pain because there are hardly any nerves left on this part). The idea is to “wake it up” so that it would start healing. (I could see tears welling in Rani’s eyes when she heard this – No, Rani cannot bear to do this on a daily basis). Also, success rate is very low. It’s just a long shot.

4. Amputation – this is the “best” option, in the vet’s professional opinion because it is a simple procedure, and the success rate is more than 90%. Healing would be quite fast as the cut is neat. And judging from the behaviour of Rahnee (she is already running around with three legs now), she will be able to cope very well without the leg – this is the vet’s assessment.

Here’s Rahnee sitting comfortably in a corner. Even the vet found her adorable. She is really such a sweet cat.

You’ll be ok, Rahnee.

Terry helped fetch Rani and Rahnee to the vet’s today. Terry said during his short stint in Chiengmai, helping out at an animal sanctuary, he had also seen a similar case. The vets over there also did not know what to do.

So, the surgery is scheduled tomorrow.

Let’s all send positive healing energy to Rahnee as she goes through the surgery. May it be successful, and let’s continue sending her our loving thoughts as she recuperates and learns to cope with three legs.

AnimalCare will sponsor the surgery.

P.S. Rahnee was also spayed under our sponsorship a few months ago. A man promised to take her back to the kampung, but that did not materialise.

Rahnee’s leg needs amputation

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