\”Hello?\” a careful voice, tentative… \”Are you the vet who comes to our home?\”
\”I am!\” I said. \”How can I help you?\”
\”We\’d love to have you come around and give us a second opinion, about our kitten… Would that be possible?\”
\”Of course I can,\” I told her, with a smile – and then collected all the necessary details.
Two days later I rolled up to their door on a crisp, clear autumn tropical day. Just cool enough to be comfortable, and a glorious blue sky above. I was happy, in a good mood, life was just as it should be. I knocked on the door, and was ushered in. We all sat around a table on the back deck. Their mood was heavy, serious, so I sat and breathed for a moment, adjusting myself to the vibe.
\”What\’s the problem then?\” I asked, after the usual round of introductions.
They all looked at each other, then their Mum spoke up, all in a rush.
\”Well, we got this new kitten given to us, and he has a funny front leg – it\’s deformed, twisted up, and he can\’t really use it very well. So we took they little guy to the vet last week to have his vaccination and a check over….\” Her face suddenly tightened up, and a few tears pushed their way out. She dashed them away with an angry hand, and pressed on. \”The vet told us that we have to amputate the bad leg, and that if we don\’t amputate it, then we should put him to sleep! We really don\’t want to do that, and at the same time, we simply don\’t have the $700 they\’ve told us it will cost to do the operation. So we\’ve all been very sad and angry this last week, and we wanted your opinion, to see if there\’s any other options?\” The whole family looked at me, hopefully.
\”Where is the little fella?\” I asked.
\”Oh – we popped him in the bathroom, so we\’d know where he was…\”
One of the kids scurried off, and soon returned with a little white kitten. She handed him to me, and I examined him carefully. He was perfectly healthy, and at the same time, his right front leg was about half as long as the left one, and twisted, deformed. It wasn\’t in the slightest bit painful, and when I put him on the table and wiggled my fingers, he pounced on my hand and started play-killing it with his hind legs. I watched him for a little while, as he bounced, ran, jumped, and played. Then I turned back to the family, who were watching me intensely.
\”You know what?\” I asked.
They looked at me, confused.
\”Cats are born with a spare leg – so if they do have to have an amputation, the hardly seem to notice that it\’s gone. And this little guy is as healthy and as lively as any kitten I\’ve seen, in all my years of being a vet. He\’s coping just fine with his funny little leg. And I\’ve seen quite a few humans with a funny, short, deformed arm that hasn\’t been chopped off, and they seem to do just fine as well. There\’s no medical reason that his deformed leg has to be removed, and absolutely no need to euthanize him just because he has a deformed leg!\”
The mood of the room lifted like a rocket taking off. The family smiled as one, the gloom and sadness was banished utterly, and they all started talking at once.
\”Really?\” You mean we can keep him?\” \”He\’ll be ok?\” We don\’t have to kill him?\”
\”Yes,\” I told them. \”He will be a perfectly happy, active cat. He might look a bit unusual, and not walk like other cats, but he\’s perfectly wonderful just how he is – I mean- look at him!\”
The kitten had jumped off the table, and was stalking a very dangerous leaf. He pounced on it as we watched, and batted it all around the place with his paws, before tearing it to pieces. I wiggled my fingers, and he sashayed over sideways, tail all fluffed up before leaping on my hand with soft patty paws… I picked him up and stroked him, and a purr echoed across the table.
\”Thanks so much,\” The mum of the family said to me. The Dad was silent, struggling with his feelings, eyes suspiciously bright, and the kids were down on the floor, playing with their friend. \”We love this little guy, and it was tearing us apart considering putting him to sleep.\”
I left them to it, and drove off, wondering at the advice the other vet had given them. Such a lack of common sense!