Affordable, quality veterinary care for your pet.

Our good friend Mona from Colony Cats called us one day and told us there was a kitty who needed her leg amputated that she was bringing in. "No problem" we said, as we had done many successful amputations in the past.

When this kitty came to our office, she was semi-feral with a leg encased in dead tissue, a sure sign of frostbite. The only thing was that at the end of her gnarly leg there were four little toes that were healthy as can be wiggling around. Obviously there was some life still left in that leg! Maybe she didn't have to lose it.

Weeks went by and Olive enjoyed her extended reservation at Châteaux RASCAL. Daily antibiotics, a good, healthy diet, and positive interaction brought Olive around to trust us. The dead tissue was peeling away and eventually her leg was showing signs of healing. Soon, Dr. Gonzalez declared it was time for Olive to have a skin graft.

A skin graft on a semi- feral? Yes, although sweet Olive was learning to love.

(graphic surgery pictures below)

A large chunk of skin was taken from her side and grafted onto her leg. A technician and assistant were required to help and multiple surgery packs needed to be opened. The large incisions were closed with multiple skin staples and the graft required delicate suturing. The procedure took nearly 3 hours to complete. Finally, the leg was wrapped and Olive was tucked away for the night.

3 weeks after the surgery Olive is still recovering at the RASCAL office. She allows us to do bandage changes every few days without sedation and sometimes we even catch her purring! The incisions on her side have completely healed and her skin graft is well on it's way to generating healthy tissue. Olive is one lucky girl to have found caring rescuers and talented medical staff to nurse her back to health. Soon she will be spayed and placed into her permanent home, and hopefully the memory of this rough time will disappear.