A Perfect Valentine to Steal Your Heart

In May of 2021, a good Samaritan found an injured cat on Douglas street….despite her busy morning, she swooped him up and starting calling around to find help for him. While the Humane Society and Police generally provide care for strays, there were a few miscommunications that day, and he ended up at Lewis and Clark Veterinary Clinic. This sweet stray, who is now named Dougie, was wet, cold and very thin. He had a visible fracture in his right femur (rear leg); the soft tissues (muscle, skin, and ligaments) in his right rear leg were infected and necrotic (dead). His right rear leg would have to be amputated.

Picture of Dougie on arrival:

After taking x-rays, we found that Dougie also had several pellets and BBs lodged in his soft tissues throughout his body as well as a fracture of his left femur that was healing. At the time, Dougie’s tail was also injured but we were not sure how much or if any of his tail was savable. Doug also had multiple pea sized lumps on his front legs and face, and neck as well as severe long term ear mites.

Picture of Dougie’s x-ray:

We attempted to place an intravenous catheter to stabilize Dougie on IV fluids and antibiotics but years of living on the street meant that Dougie’s skin was extremely thick and tough and we were unable to place an IV catheter. In general, patients do not get put under anesthesia without an IV catheter as this is the main way to administer life saving medications to those animals that are in critical condition. Dougie however, was an exception to the rule since we were not able to penetrate his super tough skin with an IV catheter.

Twenty four hours after arrival, Dougie went to surgery. Thankfully, despite being thin and very sick, Dougie pulled through anesthesia long enough to have his leg amputated. While he was anesthetized, we were also able to collect blood from Dougie’s jugular vein and found out the he was positive for FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus). This is a virus (similar to HIV in humans, although not contagious to humans) that is spread by blood. This virus is common in outdoor cats that fight (or cats that are attacked by FIV positive cats). Unfortunately, this virus is not curable.

The multiple pea-sized lumps that Dougie had on his face, etc. were chronic abscesses (long term areas of infection that had scarred down). Following surgery, antibiotics, and pain management Dougie started to be on the mend but a few days later his tail started to become necrotic (dead) and infected. Dougie was going to need a second surgery. Unfortunately, despite being on broad spectrum antibiotics, the infection was spreading quickly and within a few days, Dougie was no longer able to walk.

Ten days after arrival and nine days after his right rear leg was amputated, Dougie went back to surgery—his entire tail up to his lumbar spine (his back) had to be amputated due to infection—unfortunately, there are very important nerves and muscles in that particular area and we didn’t know how Dougie was going to recover from the surgery. We didn’t know if he would regain the use of his remaining rear limb.

You might be asking yourself why we decided to keep trying to save Dougie instead of humanely euthanizing. Despite Dougie’s rough condition and FIV positive status, he purred like crazy from the start. His appetite was great and he was in good spirits. Dougie was trying to survive and so we were going try to save him.

Following his second surgery, Dougie had a surgical drain to help keep infected material draining from the area (see picture below).

Slowly but surely, Dougie started to walk again. After a few months, Dougie started to be able to use the litter box again. Dougie’s a little different than most 3 legged animals…he doesn’t have a tail or even a stub of a tail to help provide balance so it took a while longer to get back to a normal routine.

Fast forward several months…. Dougie is a permanent resident of the clinic. He has a different lifestyle these days. He no longer has to dodge bullets, worry where his next meal is or if he’ll have a warm bed. His chronic ear mite infections resulted in severe scarring of his ears which gives him a persistent “owly” look but he couldn’t be more loving if he tried.

Below is a video of Dougie enjoying his soft cat couch and catnip toy.

Video of Dougie cruising the treatment area of the clinic: