Animals – Robbie’s recovery

Robbie the cat presented to us at the start of June because he had a nasty growth on the inside of his leg. The lump was making it difficult for him to walk, and even more difficult for him to go to the toilet.

Following some biopsies, we discovered that the growth was a locally invasive tumour, called a soft tissue sarcoma. When we x-rayed Robbie, we got a nasty surprise and discovered that the tumour was pressing up against his pelvis. So much so, that it had caused part of it to fracture.
In most instances, for a lump of this type and in this location, we would remove the lump and amputate the leg at the same time. This drastic action is taken to try and stop the cancer from spreading to other parts of his body.

Because of the proximity of the lump to Robbie’s pelvis, it was decided that for the surgery to be successful, we would need to do the extra step of removing part of Robbie’s pelvis, as well as the lump and his back leg.

Robbie came into the Wellsford clinic a couple of days later and spent the morning in surgery where we carefully dissected out the tumour. By the evening, heavily medicated on pain killers, he was purring and smooching around us like nothing had ever happened.

The next morning Robbie was running around his cage, desperate to get back to his owner who was missing him dearly. We sent him home with strict instructions to rest up and take his medicines to allow his body to heal.

We’re unsure if or when Robbie’s cancer will come back, but he currently has a new lease on life and being three-legged hasn’t slowed him down much at all. His biggest challenge has been teaching himself to balance when toileting on three legs.

At our latest check in, Robbie’s owner reported he was back to normal around the house, jumping on furniture and playing with the other cats in the house.