Becoming a Tripawd….

It’s Random Tuesday once again!

I hope everyone is having a GREAT morning!  Me, I had to go to the dentist at 7am for my 6 month cleaning but after leaving and getting half way there I realized I forgot something I needed.  Once I got back home to get it and went to get out of the car, I saw I managed to forget to also change shoes as I was still in my UGG house shoes. ?  So yea, my mornings been GREAT!

Any who…

I’ve mentioned my Gracie baby a few times in my previous posts.  For this post I wanted to tell you about the time she tragically broke her front left leg.  I know I’ve touched on this subject too, but I thought I would go a little more in-depth.

It was the beginning of January in 2014, mom and I had gone to the gym up the street from us.  I had let Grace outside like everyday that morning and every time I came home to check on her she comes straight to the back door.  On this particular morning, Grace just stayed there on the top-tier of her cat tower.  After a couple of minutes of her not moving whatsoever, I went out to ‘talk’ to her to see what was wrong.  When I went to pick her up her left front foot just kinda hung there.  Since my mom had once majored in Veterinarian, I brought Grace inside and asked what she thought.  She said I needed to definitely call the vet.  So I called the vet and made an appointment to come in that afternoon.

Grace Wrist X-Ray Grace Wrist X-Ray #2 Grace Wrist X-Ray #3 where Doc tried to fix it before amputating

I dropped her off since I knew it was actually broken just didn’t know how badly.  They did x-rays and sent them to me letting me know her ‘ankle’ part of her foot was shattered in many pieces.  The vet asked if I would mind if he did an experimental surgery to help fix the shattered pieces.  Either way I knew it had to be fixed; so I had no problems with the surgery (best way to learn right?).  Since it was experimental he offered to pay for a big portion for the services. While Grace was at the vet over that weekend; I decided I needed an extraction from worrying, so we drove over to Dallas.

Grace in her new 'bedroom' after surgeryOnce we got back on Monday afternoon, we picked Grace up from the vet and she then had a cast on her leg.  Finally getting home, I set up Gracie’s new ‘home’ for the next 6 weeks.  Doc said she needed to be where she wouldn’t move much; so I borrowed my aunts baby pen she used for her dog when he was a puppy.  It worked out great except for Grace figured out she could jump out of it so I had to put a piece of cardboard on top. 🙁

Giving Gracie baby some TLC -- Dixie was jealous so she got some too.. Over the weeks, I had to administrate pain medications to her and make sure she had plenty of TLC time.  Every week we made a trip to visit the doctor to make sure everything was looking good.  When I dropped her off for I think it was her 4th week appointment, while I lunch with one of my cousins, doc called to give me bad news.  He informed me that Gracie’s leg was not healing correctly.  Due to it not healing he said the leg was going to have to be amputated.  I was devastated and so happy my cousin was with me.  We headed over to the vet and I got to see my Grace one more time with all 4 legs and then left her there so they could do the surgery.

Once home on March 7th, 2014, she took her time exploring the house and ‘running‘ to where to wanted to go.  Here’s the video I took.  Every night after that, I carried her upstairs and then carried her back down in the mornings.  Eventually by March 14th, 2014, she managed to make her way upstairs by herself.  She was a bit hesitant at first but made it up safe and sound.

FavPicsofGraceAbove is a collage of pictures where in the first one shows her in the window sill upstairs.  That was the first thing she did after she made it upstairs by herself.  Below that is her sitting on top of the chair we relax in to watch T.V.  On the top right, she’s outside exploring with Dixie girl.  And the last but not least, is just one of my favorite pictures of my Gracie baby.

Sister's Drawing of Grace as a Tripawd
Since my sister was in Istanbul at the time she sent me a drawing she did of Grace trying to cheer me up. I still think it’s a pretty cute drawing so I had to share 🙂

First time outside since surgeryGrace: Haven’t been outside in months!! Literally sniffin’ everything!!! (While mommy watches me like a hawk)

It wasn’t until April 21st, 2014 of when I allowed Grace to go outside again.  Even at that point I was afraid of what would happen even though I knew most likely she was only going to be able to be in the backyard unless I picked her up and took her elsewhere.  Boy was I wrong!  This cat is relentless!  Despite the fact she is 3-legged and declawed in the front, she can STILL jump over a 6 foot fence.  I just don’t understand how she manages but she does.

Though I will always worry about my Gracie baby, I do let her out almost daily these days.  Worrying is one of the main reasons why I have a GPS tracker on her collar she wears.  (You can read about the GPS tracker in one of my previous posts here.)  My Gracie baby is 12 years old (human years) this month.  She is definitely getting old in cat years but I know she has many years ahead of her.  This is certainly not my last post on her.  I truly hope you enjoyed my experience of having to go through a life changing event with my cat.  She is my ‘fur’ tripawd baby and my only baby at this time.

Thanks for visiting.  Hope to see you back here again.  If you have any questions or comments feel free to contact me and I will try to answer as quickly as possible.

Please be sure to check out my other posts for each day of the week if you have not done so yet.  Be sure to sign up for my e-mails at the bottom of this page.

Have a great day!!

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Thank you!!

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