Hello all,

Last week, my wife and I found a kitten that had been run over by a vehicle,
laying on the center line of a busy highway, alive. (We are in the south,
and it was in the afternoon, with temperature around 80F, so hypothermia was
not an issue.) In my rush to get the kitten out of the road, I picked it up,
and quickly brought it back to our car. That was when we realized that the
kitten's right rear leg was still on the road; it had been completely
amputated at the far (distal) end of the thigh bone. The kitten was alert,
and there was almost no bleeding from her leg. It licked my hand, then bit
me, but didn't really try too hard, while not playing, either. We rushed to
the Veterinary Hospital, not too far away.

"Cat's name?" "I don't know, we just found it."
"Male or Female?" "Good question."
"Age?" "No idea."
"Is ths your cat?" "It is now!"

So we registered "NoName" and found out it was a "She." I forgot to ask them
how old she looked, but I'd say 6-8 weeks. (?) They kept her overnight, gave
her antibiotics and pain meds. The next morning the vet completely amputated
her right leg at the hip, so there is a smooth line all the way down the
right side of her torso; she looks a little like a bean when viewed from the
right side. (We are also trying to think of a name for her.) She had fleas,
too.

We picked up the kitten the next morning after her surgery. I was afraid she
might be "wild," but she is incredibly (well, I guess not for a kitten)
loving and trusting. The vet techs said she was even "baking bread" while
they held her in the hospital. She was dribbling urine when I picked her up,
the techs said that might be because of the shock she endured, and should
stop soon.

Well, we've had (we're leaning towards calling her) "Scooter" at home now
for 4 days, and she still has no control of her bladder or stool. She's
learning to walk again, heartbreaking as it is to watch when she falls /
rolls over when she tries to sit up. She shows no sign of paralysis in her
left leg, and each day she walks / drags her rear a little better. I'm
encouraged from the posts I've read about her regaining her abilty to walk,
so that's not the problem. Also, her fleas are gone. She will be an indoor
cat.

I think she is familiar with a litter box. We have a baking pan for her to
use like they had in the vets office, and she can get into and out of it
easily. She has dug around in it and used it a few times, but 99% of the
time, she dribbles urine whenever she walks, or is picked up, or even when
she is sleeping. She seems to have complete emptying of her bladder when she
is asleep. I have found her laying on towels I put out for her, drenched
with urine. It does not seem to bother her (as much as it does me) to lay in
the urine. When her bed is made fresh, it will be urine soaked usually
within 15 minutes.

She eats and drinks very well. Her stool appears normal, not loose, but it
just comes out of her at any time. There was half a normal stool in the
litter pan this morning, and the other half on the floor, close to, (but not
next to) the litter pan.

Does anyone else have any experience with anything like this? I couldn't
find anything online about this. As far as I can tell, her tail does not
appear to be paralyzed either.

Thank you all . . . Ned