In August 2018 a young and under-nourished kitten appeared at our centre. She had been brought to KAT by a lady and her partner who were living in Bhaktapur and had found the kitten in their community, suffering from weakness and inability to walk properly.
They kindly took the kitten to a local vet who noted that the front right leg had been broken at the shoulder and as a result part of the bone was protruding (as seen by the small spot of white visible in the photo). The vet determined that the break was several weeks old and that because of the way that it had healed, there was a danger that the bone could become infected – in which case the kitten was in danger of losing her life. The vet told the couple that it was necessary to amputate her leg and quoted a cost of 10,000 Nepali Rupees for the procedure (around $90, and a considerable sum in Nepal) – due to the difficulty in paying for this treatment they brought her to KAT Centre instead where we were happy to take her.
Following this report, the wound was again assessed, this time by our specialists, who agreed that it was necessary to amputate her leg. We performed the procedure for free with no complications.
She was always a very friendly and affectionate kitten and enjoyed spending time in our office where we kept a close eye on her. As always with animals rescued from the streets, we were surprised by how open she was to the love and care of humans, and how willing she was to trust us.
Due to her age she even occasionally tried to suckle our staff and volunteers! One of our volunteers, seeing how cute and loving she was, told a friend of his about her and within a week or two of arriving at our centre she was able to go to her new home.
Her new owner named her Tripod due to her three legs, and within a couple of months she grew into a healthy adult cat and is now almost unrecognizable!