Question on stump dressing choice for kitten

[Sulee]

Hi, Am I glad I found you guys! I have a question on what to use for a dressing on a stump on a kitten.

Here's the background on this kitten... I live on a farm and found a littler of sick looking kittens that got dropped off in my garage, that were obviously neglected and abandoned by their mother (a stray that is wild, I see her every so often, but she runs off) They had colds which we cleared up and also had to bottle feed them for a couple of weeks, so they were young.

One of the kittens has a missing hind leg from the femar down. It doesn't appear to have a hock joint. I don't know if he was born that way or if the mother chewed off the leg along with the cord? At any rate, the stump was healed if it was an accident and the leg bone is moveable in the skin, like it has a furry sac over the bone. If he bends his leg way up, it is just a flap of skin hanging there. Which brings me to my problem...

Now that the kitten is 8 or 9 weeks old or so, he is more mobile and short enough that he touches down with the stump when he walks or runs. He's really loud when he jumps down from the bed and the stump hits the floor. Anyway, with all of that abuse, (we have hard wood floors) the stump is getting what I was hoping was a callous, but now I see it isn't and it has some clear drainage that needs to be healed up.

So I am wondering, is there any kind of bandage that a kitten will leave on or some way to pad the stump? I've tried bandaids without success of course! I tried wrapping in Vetwrap (as we call it with the horses) and that's almost impossible because he "retracts" his leg into the skin sac and I can't get a wrap on it.

My guess is, and I'm hoping I'm right, that as he gets older, his leg will be too tall to allow for the stump to touch down and he will switch to more of a hop.

We have an appt for the vet scheduled for next week. I really don't want to put the little guy through any surgery, but I suppose if he doesn't outgrow touching down or I can't heal up his stump, he'll have to have a higher amputation.

I'd really appreciate any ideas or experiences anyone may have! Thanks!

[critters]

This may, indeed, be one of the cases that needs further amputation, but, like you, I'd try to avoid it if possible, simply because it may be that the limb is of some use in the future. For instance, Lefty has a deformed arm that ends at about the wrist. He walks on it occasionally, uses it to wash his face, and it's his "clobber club." Have you tried self-sticking vet wrap to hold the bandages on? I've also sent the link to others who've been down this road with babies several times.

MORE THOUGHTS: boot http://www.handicappedpets.com/gallery/ ... /index.htm

shoe http://www.handicappedpets.com/gallery/ ... /index.htm

[mumpkees]

Oh your little one sounds very much like our Remington. He and his sister have birth defects. They also have a normal sister - all pulled from a local shelter just before pts. His sister, NoFeeties, has 2/3 of her rear legs and no rear feet. She actually has a tiny pad at the end of each stump and they have hardened enough for her to walk, run, climb and jump on them.

Remington has three normal legs and his right rear leg has a normal 'knee' and about an inch more of bone. There is no foot and the leg really isn't long enough for him to use for balance when he puts it down. His stub is covered in a flap of of skin and fur and his has no pad on the end of it.

We were worried that as he got a little older the weight of the stub leg would pull him off balance and be bad for his back. We probably should have amputated it as a kitten as he would have had an easier time healing, but we hate to put them through surgeries if it isn't necessary and they had had such a traumatic first few weeks of life to begin with.

Anyway, Remington is doing just fine. He was the first to learn to jump on the forbidden - HA - counters. He runs, jumps, climbs with no problem. When he runs he pulls the stump up against his body and just takes off.

Now as to protecting your little one's stump - depending upon how far off the ground the stump is when he is standing, possibly you could make him a 'shoe' like Fripple has (critters can you supply the link for Fripple's page?). If you could build the shoe up with something like lamb's wool or mole skin then he could wear his shoe all the time and that would give him protection and stability when he walked.

As to protecting it now so that it can heal, you could possibly get premie baby socks/booties and fill the bottom with some lamb's wool or mole skin fit it to him and most have a draw string thru them that you could pull tight. You might then have to wrap that with some masking tape (won't stick to fur) or vet wrap. You might have to get creative and attach a type of suspender to the sock that you could loop over his body in some manner.

I'm sure others will have more suggestions. Do keep us posted on the little one's progress. /mari

[critters]

Now as to protecting your little one's stump - depending upon how far off the ground the stump is when he is standing, possibly you could make him a 'shoe' like Fripple has (critters can you supply the link for Fripple's page?). If you could build the shoe up with something like lamb's wool or mole skin then he could wear his shoe all the time and that would give him protection and stability when he walked. /mari

Done. Hoppy's and Fripple's links are already above.

[Sulee]

Thank you for your responses. This really helps and gives me hope!

Yes, I have tried the Vet Wrap without success... but then I was putting it on a wiggling squirming kitten by myself and maybe I could try again with help. It's so hard to actually wrap when the stump disappears up in the skin pouch! I guess pouch is the best way to describe it. The skin is like a pouch and the leg bone is free moving not attached to the skin and he can move his leg bone way up to his stomach and the skin is still hanging. that's what he was doing as I was trying to wrap, so one second you are trying to get the leg wrapped and the next, there's nothing there but loose skin!

I will look into the shoe idea, it's off the ground by 1 1/2 - 2 inches. That sounds like if he'd leave it alone, it would be most beneficial. I also wonder about hurting his back with the uneven leg length.

I really appreciate both of your responses and am off to check out the links you have provided! Thanks so much!

[mumpkees]

You are most welcome Sulee. It is sad that when we try to help these special little ones we can't find the support we need through our vets.

I know what you mean about trying to bandage wiggling kittens. We have two moderately severe CH cats who wear diapers when they 'socialize'. It is as much fun trying to hold them up to keep from toppling as you thread the tail thru the hole and then prop them between your knees as you try to get the tabs fastened. LOL.

That was why i suggested a baby bootie/sock or the shoe - you could experiment to see how much 'cotton material' you needed to put in the bottom. When you sit him down and then he puts his leg bone back, you'll be able to tell if it is cushioned enough. Remington's leg bone is loose inside his 'pouch' too and is probably about the same distance from the ground as your baby's. He figured out early on that it wasn't any use for locomotion and didn't do much for support when he was resting, so he has pretty much always hiked it up against the side of his body when walking or running. Therefore, his skin and fur has completely covered the end of his stub.

Is your baby's 'leg end' rubbed raw and/or infected? Is he continuing to try to put it down on the ground to use it? You are right in that he needs to leave it alone so it can heal, but if his leg is just at that point where it is too much leg to lift and 'gravity' actually makes him put it down, he may need to consider amputation. His leg may be too heavy for him to pull up out of the way and as he gets older and heavier it will be a strain on his back.

We worried about Remmie's being a problem and we still watch him - he's a little over a year old and weighs about 8# - his gait is 'interesting' but fluid. We really didn't want to amputate and hope that we have made the right choice. His vet said 'wait and see' so we just watch him and try to watch him so that he doesn't get 'fat'.

What does your vet say? I know amputation kind of freaks us out, but cats and dogs, especially when youngsters adapt (and heal) very fast. The amputees we have had could be found in all the places they shouldn't be just like their four legged friends. If you do consider amputation, it is usually best to remove the leg at the hip.

Do keep us posted and don't hesitate to ask all the questions you need to. /mari

[stacybinnj]

I'm trying to figure this out myself right now. My 2 legged kitten has a stump that he runs on that is basically calloused over but he gets a rug burn sometimes. I don't know whether to leave it or wrap it and if I wrap it, it needs to be able to breathe. He needs his stump to get around so he needs to have the callous. My boy is about 5 months old. He also had umbilical strangulation of his legs either in the womb or just after birth (the kittens were in a mass all wrapped up together for 2 days before the ACO's were able to separate them from their feral mother).