I want to make a peg leg for a kitten
I found a kitten at my in the parking lot at my job and one of her front paws doesn't work. She can use her shoulder but her wrist is like a cooked noodle. I took her to the vet and he said he wrist didn't form correctly and that it's permanent. He said it doesn't hurt her and to just leave it alone.She gets around ok and somewhat uses the bad leg but when i bandaged it up( straws and gauze) she seemed to get around better. But the bandaged leg slips on the tiles so I was thinking I'd like to fashion up a little prosthetic "foot" for her. Maybe something that can strap on just above where it goes all floppy with a slip proof tip on it. It would need to fit around/over/beside her paw. Maybe a removable cast that her leg fits into...I don't know. I don't want to spend alot of money because she may not want to use it but i figured it was worth a try. I added some pictures so you can see her paw, might help with design concepts. Any suggestions?
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my suggestion is this, don't do it it could cause serious injury to the kitten and would make it harder for to to walk
the poor thing was probably kicked out because of that wrist...
good luck to your little kitten
As far as the attempted construction, I did order Sugru but I don't seem to have much talent with it, lol. She got around fine without anything, though, so what can you do.
But, the good news is, the kitten went to a nice family home that has a dog with a similar leg ailment. She and the dog are best of friends and she is happy with her new family.
So,all ended well, though it would have been really cool to see her use the peg leg. And sport an eye patch.
Second, cats have this thing about pulling off anything that is attached to them so it will need to be chew proof.
That being said I want to commend you for taking in a orphan. Probably some one else dumped it because they didn't want the hassle of dealing with a defective animal, like we are not all defective in some way ourselves.
There was a cat around here for a while that had gotten injured and his paw was curled under much the same way. He had learned to walk on it sideways as best he could. The problem is that when he used it in the wrong direction of the joint it just rolled rather than giving resistance. The side of his paw was rubbed bare and had developed a callus from where he dragged it. So anything that could stiffen up the joints would probably help, that way it would lie flat and offer some support rather than just curling under. If the kitten gets used to it now as a kitten it might just accept it later on and work with it.
Last fall one of my cats turned up with what looked like a bite on the upper front leg. It hurt her for a while and was pretty swollen. As she started to recover from it she found a way to walk easier that I was amazed by. On the bare floor whee there was no rug she would flip her foot forward and put it out straight and then just scoot it along without picking it up. It was pretty efficient and she got pretty good speed out of it. She did that for about 2 weeks before the swelling went down. So they can be inventive in dealing with problems. With a little help who knows, yours might turn out just fine.
She did the scoot thing with her paw when I bandaged it up. She seem to think it was something to chase, lol.
She does get around fine, I guess I just feel bad that she can't use her paw. I did some online research and it seems cats do not think much of prostheses. It slows them down and gets in the way.
Although I'm still tempted to try it, I won't carry alot of hope that she'll accept it.
Which is a bit of a shame, because the she would look like a pirate kitten,lol. I could tell visitors a crazy tale about how she lost her leg at sea. :)
Yeah, burying will be a bit more difficult. If she doesn't find a good solution, you might want to be extra scrupulous about cleaning the box. (BTW, I've been quite pleased with the Omega Paw semi-self-cleaning litterbox. Nothing fancy, just a clever arrangement of screen and scoop.)
I'll second the thanks others have voiced for your giving her a home. (I think my own two would agree, but they're busy with their early-mid-afternoon nap right now.)
Like
What I did was get a wooden tongue depressor (the the doctors have) and steamed it till it was bendable.
I bent it till is was about the shape the kittens ankle to paw would be while standing. I then strapped it to the kittens lower leg with a small velcro strap. (mine came from our tv cables).
It worked pretty good. for the week we had it. It was later adopted.
:(
Quadrapeds usually learn to manage well enough on three legs, "tripod" being a not-uncommon name for such pets.
L
There you go then, thanks.
L
and visit their site http://www.orthopets.com/ - search Google (or whatever) for dog orthopedic braces etc.
I am a genius!!!
The one foot was badly mangled, but she got around on it almost as if she had four good working paws. They sometimes do better if we don't mess with them.
wooo polymers
exactly !
Animals don't stress over what doesn't work. They just focus on leaning how to work with what they've got.