New amputee cat walking backwards

[tripodbella]

My cat Bella had one of her back legs amputated about five weeks ago after she was attacked by a dog. She was walking and running just fine until a few days ago when she tried to back up for the first time. She got spooked by something, and when she tried to back away she couldn't do it and ended up falling over. After that, I kept noticing her backing up periodically for no apparent reason. I thought maybe she was just "practicing" going in reverse, but after a day or two she was walking almost exclusively backwards. It isn't intentional - she is trying to walk forwards, but has a very hard time of it. She often panics when she starts going backwards and ends up falling down.

Her stump moves around frantically while she's doing this, and I'm wondering if she has healed enough now that she is experiencing some kind of phantom limb sensation. It almost looks like she is expecting her fourth leg to be there and doesn't understand why it's not working the way it should be. She manages to walk forwards about 25% of the time, and the rest of the time she is extremely frustrated!

Have any other owners of amputees experienced this with their pets? Any advice from other three-legged pet owners would be greatly appreciated!

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

I'm thinking the same thing, she's practicing for a quick exit. She is spooked by her disability and you know we humans would spend two weeks on a morphine drip, so her progress is actually not bad at all. Your helping her ifnd her comfort level will assist her in her recovery. Keep her separate from others, in a baby gated hallway behind a closed door, until she is comfortable with the lost limb. Lay on the floor, the BEST therapy in the world, and she will explore you, climb on you, get her 'sea legs' back and she wil find her comfort level.

MASSAGE her stump! Lightly to get the tinglies and nerve endings in proper place for physical comfort. I spent a week with a woman in a hospital room who didn't speak a lick of English. She had her legs amputated. I was in hospital for different reasons, but I can tell you I learned a LOT about amputation!

She will dazzle you, I promise. The hind legs are a bit easier than front as I understand it. But her center of balance is shot to bupkiss, so she needs to find it again. Let her crawl on you in happy and safe comfort.

[CarolC]

You might want to read the following threads (clear through), where other members have described the same thing

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12540&hilit=backwards

viewtopic.php?f=11&t=12404&hilit=backwards

(P.S. I love your avatar )

[tripodbella]

Thank you both for the advice! It sounds from the older threads like there's not much to do but wait it out. It's just hard seeing our baby hiding under the bed all day because she's scared to try walking! Her mobility was great for the first four weeks after her surgery, so I wasn't expecting any major setbacks like this.

We're trying massaging her stump to see if that helps with whatever nerve/phantom limb problems she's having. She seems to enjoy it, so I figure it can't hurt!

[critters]

If you think it's phantom pain, you could try gabapentin. I suspect it's fear, though.

[tripodbella]

I just wanted to give everyone an update on Bella's progress. Last week she finally started walking forwards most of the time again. We did try to massage her stump on a regular basis, but there isn't anything else special we did that helped her come around. Like others in the earlier threads said, we just had to wait it out until she was ready. She still has her moments where she goes backwards, but she'll usually stop and then do a 360-degree roll on the floor and that seems to reboot her so that she can go forwards again.

Thanks again to everyone for the advice!

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

I have to tell you when my baby first got into his walker, he could only go backward. That worried me a bit
but he eventually figured out fowrard. Of course, he was walking by them

They do adjust on their clocks. We were put on this earth to worry about them, so it is natural.

I am happy to read this update! She'll come around and life will resume a normalcy ...