A Tipsy Kitty
Heartbreak to happy ending
“Walking into Garland Animal Services (GAS) is heartbreaking” said Stacy Bauer, NBCR Board member. “There are always so many deserving cats and kittens who need a home.” Cats end up at shelters for various reasons — some are owner-surrendered, some are brought in as strays wandering the streets, some are seized from the grips of animal abuse and neglect, and some are simply abandoned. Most cats brought into NBCR are healthy, only needing routine vaccinations, necessary tests to rule out disease, and spay/neuter procedures.
Quite a few of the cats pulled from GAS, however, require time to get over their neglectful past and are placed in caring foster homes to recuperate from any conditions that come with being a neglected cat. And then there are the handful that are considered special-needs cats, many of whom require surgery to help correct injuries or congenital defects.
One of NBCR’s recent special needs kitties is Tipsy. Tipsy is a beautiful, sweet Chocolate Lynx Point Siamese-mix kitten that was turned in to GAS as a stray. Possible damage or injury to one of her front legs caused her to bear all her weight on the other three legs. In instances like this, when a cat is believed to be injured or has a deformity, the cat is not put up for adoption to the general public through the shelter but rather rescue groups are contacted to see if they would take the cat or kitten. This ensures that the cat will be properly vetted and have time to heal and recover and eventually be well enough to be adopted. Municipal shelters simply do not have the funds to spend on corrective surgeries and proper care for special needs cats, and rely on privately-funded, volunteer-based rescue groups, such as NBCR, to be able to place the cat into the home it deserves.
After a visit to the vet, we discovered that Tipsy had nerve damage to her front right paw. It was not apparent if it was congenital or from a past injury. As she grew and 
gained more weight, she bore all her weight on her good limbs and dragged the damaged paw. The dragging caused sores to erupt that if they became infected could potentially turn into abscesses.
The best thing for Tipsy’s health was to get that paw off the ground and that would normally mean amputation of the whole limb. However, Tipsy still had partial feeling and function in the limb and the vet decided that only the paw had to be amputated. On November 4 Tipsy underwent surgery to have her right paw amputated and a small part of her paw pad placed at the end of her leg. With luck, over time the paw pad will expand and help her to bear some weight on that limb.
Tipsy has been a trooper through all her tribulations. “When I visited her after her surgery, she was laying down in her cage using her big bandaged leg as a pillow, and when I spoke to her she immediately started purring and making “air biscuits” with her other front paw,” said Stacy, who rescues cats and kittens from GAS for 
NBCR. Stacy also cared for her after her surgery.
“We thought Tipsy would need a second surgery to adjust the paw pad that was left to bear weight but considering that she always places her weight on her other limbs and rarely uses the paw — less leg to walk on — the second surgery did not seem necessary” said Stacy. She uses her paw-less limb to bat around toys and groom herself but may never be able to use it to run or bear weight because she cannot fully extend it.
After a few weeks of healing and getting over an unpleasant bout of gastrointestinal upset brought on by the stress of the surgery, Tipsy’s prognosis is excellent. She is healing wonderfully and is finally able to be put up for adoption. Tipsy is an extremely sweet and affectionate kitten and her handicap doesn’t slow her a bit!” Tipsy’s happy ending is still in the making. 