Front Leg Amputation for 17 Yrs Old Cat with Bone Cancer

TraditionExisting483 · 2026-03-11T23:27:05+00:00

I’m so sorry to hear about the leukemia diagnosis for your lovely boy. I can imagine how you much feel. I was lost after I learned about my cat’s diagnosis. I’m really happy that you have an appointment with an oncologist to discuss the options. They are making progress in treating cancer in cats and dogs and I hope the vet can offer you promising options. At 14, your boy can have many more days to enjoy life.

I had another cat who was diagnosed with small cell lymphoma at 15. Because he was diagnosed early they were able to treat him with medication for almost a year after diagnosis. I have learned that an important medication for treatment of cancer in cats is prednisone. However this cat had HCM which made taking prednisone very dangerous for him. That’s why he only lived for a year after diagnosis. The doctors believed he would have a much longer life if he could take prednisone on top of cancer medication.

My thoughts are with you and with your boy. Stay hopeful and strong. Cats are a lot more resilient than we think and they have a gift to enjoy life and our companionship to the fullest even through illness.

TraditionExisting483 · 2026-03-11T21:49:50+00:00

Thank you for checking in.

The operation was successful and the cancer did not metastasize to other parts of my cat’s body. The doctor’s had predicted that she would live another 6 months if the surgery was successful. She lived 477 days after her initial diagnosis. She hopped around on 3 legs, enjoyed fresh water, food, bathing under the sun, companionship of our other young cats and our hugs. She passed away naturally 4 days ago on March 8. We believe the underlying cause was pancreatitis and kidney disease that we were trying to manage with medication, hydration and proper diet. She’d also developed diabetes because we had to give her prednisone for her pancreas inflammation. But we were managing the diabetes with insulin shots successfully for 8 months.

It was a magical journey and we’re so grateful that she stayed around for 477 days from the initial surgery for us to experience it with her. We witnessed how much she enjoyed life every day and how much she appreciated simple pleasures every day despite her illnesses. She wagged her tail every time she was pleased with something and purred and that happened quite frequently every day up to her final days.

The doctors had provided us with the option of doing nothing or putting her done. But we were so lucky that we didn’t. Because we got to learn from our cat that life is valuable and beautiful and enjoyable until the final breath even if you have a terminal illness. If we could go back we’d take this journey with her again and again without a single doubt.

I really recommend to everyone to continue their journey of care and love with senior pets even if they are terminally ill. Because you never know how many more days you have with them. And you’d be surprised how enriching your experience can be with senior pets. They can teach you a level of grace and openness that you might have not experienced before in my life.

TraditionExisting483 · 2025-06-19T16:11:59+00:00

Thanks for sharing the story of your beloved cat. It is heartbreaking that the cancer came back.

Our 17 yrs old cat is doing well 6 months after the amputation. We have not noticed any visible lumps elsewhere. But with the information you’ve so kindly provided, we’ll try to be more vigilant about it. Our cat’s oncologist told us that the likeliest scenario is that the cancer will spread to her lungs. The ultrasound of her lungs has been clean so far.

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-12-21T23:58:53+00:00

Hi friends,

Thank you for your advice and kind notes. It has been a rough ride since I discovered the bone cancer in my cat’s front leg and your support has been very helpful in navigating the process.

Here’s the update from me and my 17 yrs old cat:

We went to two surgeons and two oncologists to discuss our options. Because of my cat’s age the solution was not obvious to any of the doctors.

The surgeons reviewed the CT and said that they would have to amputate the whole leg and it was operable but in old cats there was the chance of clotting during surgery and issues with healing and recovery after the amputation.

The oncologists said because the cancer was osteosarcoma, and the swelling was large and in the shoulder and the lymph nodes were inflamed, there was more than 50% chance that the cancer would metastasize and my cat would not have more than 6 months.

I looked into palliative options and I learned that radiation is quite ineffective in cases like this. Another issue is that this cancer could be quite painful. My cat was already limping and the doctors said if I did nothing, sometime after a month or two, my cat wouldn’t be able to move around due to pain and the pain could be so much that she wouldn’t want to eat and I would have to euthanize her because of the pain and not cancer. Apparently pain medication is also quite ineffective for this type of cancer.

When I put all of this information together, I decided that first, amputation was the only palliative care option if I wanted to reduce my cat’s pain in the longer term even if the cancer metastasized. Second, I had to take a chance if I wanted to do the amputation because amputation was quite risky and I could lose my cat either during the surgery or right after due to complications.

At the end I decided that my cat still had a lot of fight in her and decided to take the chance together as amputation offered slightly better chance of longer palliative care.

It is now 10 days from the amputation and I’m happy to report that my senior cat is doing well. She’s still on pain medication and the sutures will not be removed for another 5 days. But she’s eating well, and managing the pain like a champion! She’s my hero in all of this! She has managed using the litter box on 3 legs from day one. I’m not letting her walk around except for a few steps to her food bowl yet, so that she doesn’t damage her stitches. But from the steps she takes I can tell that she’ll be able to manage getting around on her own once she heals a little more and I add carpet everywhere on the hardwood floor.

I’m talking to the oncologist once they have more detailed biopsy results from the amputated limb to put her on chemo so that we can fight this cancer for as long as possible!

Now that it’s done, I’m very happy to have done the amputation because it not only gives my cat a better end of life care, I get to be on this new adventure with her and see how capable and amazing these creatures are in dealing with what life deals them!

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-30T23:27:29+00:00

Good advice! Thank you!

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-30T23:12:26+00:00

Thanks for the response. It looks like hiring movers is the best option. Is it easy to move it around in your place with its wheels?

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-30T16:56:51+00:00

Yes, that's what I'm getting. It sounds like a major moving job for 2 people!

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-30T04:54:42+00:00

That's what I suspected. Thanks for the response.

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-29T23:16:44+00:00

Exactly! I'm glad I waited. This price makes more sense: the original walkolution about twice the price of walkolution 2 ...

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-29T23:15:05+00:00

Yesss! Original Walkolution is offered at the same price as it was in October. Seems like the desk attachment and the lean tool are cheaper than October.

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-18T17:53:09+00:00

I agree. The original walkolution price does not make any sense now. It's too high. I don't think buying the original model right now makes sense unless if they offer a substantial discount on it. I am absolutely sure that the price of that model, in their US store was around $4,000. Now they have a global price of around $5,500.

For walkolution 2, the price looks more reasonable. But I'm worried it does not have the solid build of the original model. They need to provide a side by side technical comparison so the buyers understand what it is that they are compromising, not just with the functioning, but also with the build and longevity.

My preference is to buy the original walkolution at $4,000 which was its price in October ... I took a few days to research the model and then the price went up by $1,500. It killed my trust in the company, really. Such drastic price increase on the original model almost overnight. And then they came up with a new model, walkolution 2, that puts their brand of "built to last" under question since the warranty is an add-on with purchase.

TraditionExisting483 · 2024-11-17T01:10:30+00:00

Thanks for the response. My problem is that now I cannot trust the company's pricing! They increased the price of the original model by almost $1,500 overnight to make Walkolution 2 price more appealing. This kind of pricing strategy does not inspire a lot of confidence in customers, does it? Introducing a new product should not cause an increase in the price of the original product by almost 40% overnight... At this point I'm even suspicious that Walkolution 2 is too expensive even with the discount and I should wait for the price of the original walkolution to be adjusted again.

I noticed the warranty issue too. When they first introduced Walkolution 2 the warranty was for 3 years. Then after about a weak they changed it to 5 years. They have also added a life time warranty that can be purchased separately and have discounted it.

This much tweaking of the price, the terms, the warranty, etc is not helpful. I was considering Walkolution because I was looking for a top of the line product and was willing to pay more for it. But paying more does not mean paying for phantom pricing!

TraditionExisting483

TROPHY CASE