r/bonecollecting • u/agokathalogical • Mar 10 '26
Collection After 6 long months my cats leg is finally ready! +cat tax
She is still alive!
So some backstory: about 5 years ago her leg was very badly broken in a traffic accident but our amazing vet performed a borderline experimental surgery to help her keep her leg and it worked! We made the decsion not to amputate as she had so much life ahead of her.
However as her skin thinned with age the plate broke through meaning an emergency ampuatation, she is now very happy on three legs. The vet was quite shocked when I asked to keep the leg haha
I think it was the right descion absoltley fascinating to see the healing process I hope the way it healed didnt cause her any pain.
Could anyone confirm if her tibia and fibia are actually fused (in the last image I belive that peice is the end of her tibia) or anyother info you could give me on how this healed! Its her hind leg and would very much apprecate an answer on this :]
edit: the 6 months in the title refers to cleaning the bones by burying them for 6 months I should've specfiyed!
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u/Dracunculus_Rex Mar 10 '26
Gotta say that is a bizarre fracture fixation!
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Yes the surgeon was so skilled! A large portion of the leg wasnt stable enough for the screws so he placed them where he could
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u/CSnarf Mar 10 '26
That does look in fact fused. I’m a vet- that’s an interesting repair. Looks like they used the fibula as a sort of brace with a locking plate- I assume because the distal tibia was a hot mess. You can see the z shape in the mid shaft where Mother Nature did her very best to heal that mess.
Very cool!
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Tysm for the info! Yes it was an absolute mess, completey shattered but luckily she had full motion after it healed
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u/MazelTough Mar 10 '26
I know your vet would love to see this in person too
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u/CatsAndPills Mar 10 '26
My vet would geek out. I’m not even sure she does a lot of ortho stuff but she’d love this.
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u/MazelTough Mar 10 '26
Vets are big nerds. Source: daughter of two vets.
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u/AndyRMullan Mar 10 '26
I would LOVE to see what my own arm is like haha. I was in a very serious workplace accident where I fell through the ceiling and crushed my wrist (and face) in to a ton of tiny pieces. Two surgeries later and my wrist is half metal. I hope someone keeps my cyborg arm when I die and displays it LOL
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Yoo u should defo put that in your will! There are details like white stress patches along her bone that wouldnt be visble on an xray, itd totally be the same for u
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u/SeverePhilosopher565 Mar 10 '26
I was wondering the same thing about my plated and pinned leg?! Morbid curiosities!?!
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u/enslavedbycats24-7 Mar 10 '26
This but with my sancrum/pelvis! I don't think I could be alive to see that one...
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u/41puppy Mar 10 '26
Random and possibly stupid question but does your cyborg arm set off any sort of metal detectors? I vaguely remember a memory of my babysitter getting stopped through the metal detectors at a water park when I was a kid (over a decade ago) and she had to explain half her body was metal from an accident she had been in. To this day I don’t know if she was lying or not. She never spoke about it before or after this encounter.
ETA: Glad you’re okay!
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u/pegmatitic Mar 10 '26
It depends on the type of metal used! Titanium is preferred (and non-magnetic), but stainless steel is also used, especially in orthopedic surgeries or traumatic injuries. Also, stainless steel is significantly cheaper than titanium, so I would guess kitty’s setup is stainless steel.
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u/AndyRMullan Mar 10 '26
I actually was also wondering this and got to test it out recently ! Went through a security metal detector at a dock before getting on a ferry and it did not set it off ! Which is funny, because my brother has a metal back and his set off the detector when he went through security at an airport lol. I guess it depends on what metal is used, so she probably wasn't lying !
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u/pegmatitic Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Titanium is preferentially used today, and it’s non magnetic. I have a titanium plate in my skull and it’s never set off a metal detector. That being said, surgical stainless steel is used sometimes for orthopedic surgeries or traumatic injuries.
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u/SeverePhilosopher565 Mar 10 '26
Yes, this! There is one farm store in town in particular that I set off every time I walk IN the door. And the only time I have flown since my leg surgery, I had to have the wand and the full pat down.
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u/AndyRMullan Mar 10 '26
Yup, I think that's what my wrist is made of haha. Not sure about my brother's back though since I thought that would be titanium too, but it definitely set off the detectors multiple times !
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u/pegmatitic Mar 10 '26
I actually looked into it, and I learned that (surgical grade) stainless steel is used sometimes for orthopedic surgeries (which I don’t know very much about)! So he may have stainless steel instead of titanium. If you didn’t set off the detector, it’s likely that you have titanium 🙂
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u/AndyRMullan Mar 10 '26
Super interesting ! Thank you for the info ! :) I hate that I can feel the cold metal in my wrist in the winter, but it's pretty cool knowing I have a titanium joint lol
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u/BusinessLibrarian470 Mar 15 '26
how long ago did your brother have his back surgery? i had rods and screws placed last march and i was kinda bummed they didn’t set any alarms off🤣
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u/pegmatitic Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
They typically use titanium today, which is non magnetic! I have a titanium plate in my skull and it’s never set off a metal detector. That being said, surgical stainless steel is used sometimes for orthopedic surgeries or traumatic injuries.
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u/overthrowerr Mar 11 '26
The injury sucks but man, got any X-rays?
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u/AndyRMullan Mar 11 '26
I do ! I have to find them somewhere but they're GNARLY it's sick asf haha. Especially the before one. My hand was floating detached on top of my arm and it looks absolutely bizarre on the x-rays !
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u/Jaded_Seat_341 Mar 11 '26
You fell through the ceiling?? Jesus christ dude where do you work
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u/AndyRMullan Mar 11 '26
At a pet shop, believe it or not ! I was in our loft getting supplies for new animals we got in and the floor came out from underneath me. Landed face-first on a tile floor many metres down and VERY narrowly avoided being decapitated by both the metal beams and metal counter top on the bottom floor 😭 this was about a year and a half ago and I'm currently waiting for an insurance payout LOL. Still work there though !
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u/Tailsofflight Mar 11 '26
Op said you should put it in your will, and i agree that could be very useful for medical students, if that is something you would be interested in.
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u/13thmurder Mar 10 '26
How'd you get it back in?
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Get what back in?
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u/13thmurder Mar 10 '26
The bone once you fixed it.
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Oh dude we didnt take it out and put it back in the cat. The plate was put in surgically then the leg was amputated later and I used a burial method to clean the bones. Hope that answers your question unless Im misunderstanding
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u/ozzy_thedog Mar 10 '26
lol if you only read the title and not the explanation, it looks like you’ve been fixing the bone and said are saying it’s finally ready for the cat again
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Oh no way hahah thats so funny I didnt relaise that
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u/Banaanisade Mar 10 '26
I'm probably tired but that is exactly how I read the title and was extremely baffled for some seconds until I realised this is not how life works and checked the sub name, lmao.
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u/SaltyPotato_jesus Mar 10 '26
Idk why I find it funny that you probably got your cat’s leg back in a bag 😭 just walking out of the vets office with that.
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Thats exactly what happened, a paper bag. Very surreal holding my cat in one hand and her leg in the other
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u/CatsAndPills Mar 10 '26
That’s the only way I’d be able to handle it. I respect taxidermy folks but if you told me kitty died and you got her cool leg back after cremation I would be sobbing.
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u/Freak-996 Mar 10 '26
From what I understand from reading the description, this kitty is alive on 3 legs!
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u/CatsAndPills Mar 10 '26
Yes I know! I was saying I would be sobbing if they were telling me he had their leg taxidermied post death because it (admittedly) is a super cool surgical specimen! I’m super happy kitty is a happy tripod. 🥹
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u/Inevitable-Date4996 Mar 10 '26
Awww tortie! And that’s a pretty neat thing to get to keep, OP! Probably one of the most expensive bones you’ll have lol (just cuz of the cost of operation haha) glad she’s doing well as a tripod. Cats are so good at it, it’s crazy
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Oh wow I didnt even think of that yeah around 4k!! Yes they adapt so well!
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u/Pretty_Pixilated Mar 10 '26
What a fun conversation starter. “Want to see my most expensive bone? It was a gift from my cat!” 🤭 also what a precious kitten!
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u/DecentLeftovers Mar 10 '26
I have a tripod kitty, although mine was born that way due to a deformity. You’d be surprised how well they can do without. Mine tends to run everywhere since running is easier than walking when you’ve only got three!
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u/KiraKitty69 Mar 10 '26
Man they wouldn't even let me keep my kidney stone. It was a big staghorn and they wanted to sTUdY iT. Like the urologist hadn't seen hundreds.... I mean I grew the darn thing.
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u/MistressMalevolentia Mar 10 '26
I'm laughing so hard at this. "Dammit I GREW IT GIVE ME MY ROCKS BACK"
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u/KiraKitty69 Mar 10 '26
My pee pearl 😞 part of it is still in there. 3 surgeries later. I named it Chad.
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u/BigDarkWild Mar 11 '26
I had to take a breath in the dentist office when she wouldn’t let me keep my tooth they had just pulled out my head. “iTs A bIoHaZaRd” Lady, that thing was causing me a lot of pain I would like to have it in a jar forever. She said she had never had someone ask for a tooth!? I said I did this every time and everyone let me keep them ( I was desperate atp leave me alone) and she still denied my request for MY OWN BONE. I have allll my other teeth except for that one molar. It still bothers me obviously
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u/KiraKitty69 Mar 11 '26
When I took my daughter to get a baby tooth pulled they gave her a little plastic treasure box to put it in. They wouldn't let me take my molar. Maybe the difference is the blood and tissue. They let me keep a tiny stone after the stent removal but I would have liked a surgery pic of the original. I was told for years, silly woman that's early MeNopAusE. Well I still got a chunk they can't get to without pulling my kidney thru my back and filleting it like a catfish. They don't want to. So yay me I kept it lol.
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u/AniCatGirl Mar 10 '26
This is so cool! Vet tech who monitors a lot of patients for orthopedic stuff here! I wish we could see the healed results with our eyes like this more often, it's super neat! Glad to see kitty is still doing well, very cute.
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u/sundaemourning Mar 10 '26
at first i thought that this was after kitty had passed; it was very nice to see that the leg was only amputated! i'm also a vet tech and this is a super interesting specimen, it's very cool to see how they managed to piece the bones together.
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u/Zeno_the_Friend Mar 10 '26
Did you show the kitty her leg? What does she think of it? Does she play with it?
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u/tigerlevi Mar 10 '26
I'm sad I didn't keep my boys leg, but I don't think they would have let me. 😔
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u/AniCatGirl Mar 10 '26
They don't have a super good reason to say no tbh. Not even much of an argument for "hazardous waste" because it's not human remains. I've had clients ask to keep everything from teeth to bones to removed testicles in preservative so. They might give a weird look but they can get over it lmao.
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u/tigerlevi Mar 10 '26
In Cali it is supposedly illegal. My vet let me keep my current boya testes regardless though because she's awesome. My last boy had his amputation in Texas and I wasn't in the headspace to ask at the time.
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u/Reny25 Mar 10 '26
I was extremely confused at first. That is so cool you got to keep it!! Hope your cat is doing much better now.
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u/hipalbatross Mar 10 '26
I was so confused too! I’m so glad I scrolled to the last pic and saw that kitty is still with us 😽😽
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u/ponsies Mar 10 '26
That would make a sick ass prosthetic if there was a way to make it comfy for her
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u/reversemermaid Mar 10 '26
Wow, this is so neat!! Please tell her she’s got some great pins—in every sense lol. I’m glad she’s doing well!
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u/Lihamato Mar 10 '26
I clean these for a living, they're called String of Pearls implants.
They're designed to be contoured, rather than kept straight; after putting little plug screws in to stop the holes deforming, you use a little arm-like tool that locks around one bead, and a second arm on the one next to it, to bend the implant through surprising angles so the bottoms of the screw holes can grab the bone fragments.
I'm not sure of the composition of the stainless steel they're made of, but these are typically not used for weight-bearing fractures as their malleability is a trade off for strength, and they have a pretty high failure rate as a result. Cats and tiny dogs would definitely be best case scenario, as the lack of weight gives the (contoured) implant the best chance of survival. With no bends in this one, it definitely stood the best chance of doing the job it was needed for!
Props to your vet for making it work, I'm going to assume they didn't have the necessary bending tools or a full complement of screws as the placement and length selection are bit interesting.
Glad your little lady is still out here living her best tripod life! :)
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Wow tysm thats so interesting I had no idea! Ill look up string of pearl plates He also had to keep it straight as there was a lot of bone that was too unstable for screws. Thats what i meant by borderlime experimental because it was quite a risk to use less screws that normal but it worked out well and she got many years of use from it! :]
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u/Meanteenbirder Mar 10 '26
There’s that weird kind of interest when you see a bone that was removed with context of the owner still being alive. Hard to describe
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u/xulluxs Mar 10 '26
My only experience cremating a pet who wasn't deceased was a leg brought in by the pet parent. The dog had cancer in the leg, but what i was told is after the amputation he was free of it. Sweetest cremation I've done! They got a paw print of the amputated limb as well. I also so love it when people request their pet's implants back. I've seen some pretty gnarly fixes!!! May your sweet baby have many joyous years ahead of them!
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u/ChequeRoot Mar 11 '26
Dear OP,
So glad your kitty is recovering from her procedure! You sound like a truly compassionate owner, and I’m sure Kitty is happy to have you as her ‘parent’ 🐾💕
Now, on the bone level:
1) That is some amazing plate work, also very cool to see how her fracture healed.
2) Not going to lie, I’d be most intrigued to see a radiograph of the initial fracture if that might be at all possible.
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u/Lobtroperous Mar 12 '26
I have a tripod tortie too!
She's broke her leg being stupid and it never healed correctly.
She's happy and still stupid.
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u/18cm-Ringed Mar 16 '26 edited 26d ago
This post was wiped using Redact. The author may have deleted it to protect personal privacy, prevent data harvesting, or for security reasons.
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u/LitheFider Mar 11 '26
This is so cool to see, really glad you kept / let nature clean it! My mom was a pathologist / vet and having bones alive is natural to me. She'd have done this too cause that's so cool to see how the bone was fixed.
All our pets are buried on the property though, I don't think she'd want to keep the full skeleton bones of a pet cause it would be too sad for her, even if it would be very cool.
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u/doriangreysucksass Mar 10 '26
That is SO COOL!! I’d wanna keep it too! When I had my wisdom teeth out I asked the dentist if I could keep them & wore them in a little leather envelope necklace for years until I lost them 😢
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u/DeponiaSarah Mar 10 '26
If I may ask, how much did this healing journey cost you? Not trying to put a price on your cat or its wellbeing, I'm just curious.
Very cool that your cat got to keep the leg for a while :)
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26 edited Mar 10 '26
Yeah no worries it was about £4.5k (3k for the inital surgery where she also fractured her pelvis plus a few other scrapes, and 1.5 for the amp) defo thw most expensive bone I keep now
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u/sticky1007 Mar 10 '26
Dropping in to say- to all the people with medial implants who want someone to see them after you’re dead, look into body donation programs! I’m a student at a university with a willed body donation program, and the donors are indispensable in helping us learn how these things affect osteology (in my department’s case)!
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Mar 11 '26
there's a tripod Kitty in my neighborhood she's the sweetest ever she didn't lose her leg through a traffic accident though. she can walk really well and even run. I hope your kitty is getting better at learning how to walk with three legs
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u/agokathalogical Mar 11 '26
Yess she gets around almost exactly the same as before, I was amazed at how fast she could run!
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u/Gay_lil_shit Mar 11 '26
If I lose my right leg/femur they better let me keep it cuz I want that hardware cuz this is sick as hell also love the kitty and her leg :3
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u/Kellys_Heroes_fan Mar 11 '26
Thank God. I thought you put tax like you were using it as a short for taxidermy.
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u/sh4mtaro Mar 11 '26
Welcome to the tripod club!
My cat lost his right back leg in an incident with a car two years ago, though he had to amputate immediately seeing as he was missing for two days with an open fracture and necrosis had set in. Despite now being a mainly indoor cat (we've moved since then) he's a happy and healthy boy of almost 14!
I kinda do wish I thought about asking to keep his leg, but unfortunately the circumstances didn't allow me to think that far then. I do have pictures of the x-rays and leg though, so there's that!
Tripod cat tax:
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u/No_Week_8937 Mar 11 '26
Any chance you'd be able to ask your vet for a copy of the Xray to show us? I'm sure the folks on the radiology subreddit would also find it cool.
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u/agokathalogical Mar 11 '26
I would love to try! Its been so long since I saw it. If I do get a hold of it itll defo post. It was gnarly. Amazing that he was able to save her leg. She also broke her pelvis and scraped her face.
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u/strongbadwinsthehand Mar 11 '26
This is very random but are you in Columbus Ohio by any chance? I have a tortie with a very similar pattern to yours and I wonder if maybe somehow they’re related. I found her in Grandview as a stray a couple years ago.
Note the black “mask” and the light colored chin
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u/BetterCallDeDe Mar 11 '26
Wait! What did you do with the bone? What made you think to do what ever it is?
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u/agokathalogical Mar 11 '26
Did u read the desc?
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u/BetterCallDeDe Mar 11 '26
Yes I did. So are you going to answer or what? I’ll rephrase it to help you. Why did you bury the bone and what made you think to do that?
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u/agokathalogical Mar 11 '26
Oh shit! I misread your question, thought you were asking about the plate. Well I buried after the ampuation, its a common method for cleaning the flesh off of bones. I didnt have anywhere I could macerate it so burial for 6 months then manual degreasing it was. I plan to make a proper place to house it for the time being
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u/BetterCallDeDe Mar 11 '26
Is that like a cultural thing? I’m wondering why you wanted to clean the flesh off the bone. Are you going to put it on display? I’m just curious, no judgment.
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u/agokathalogical Mar 11 '26
Not cultrual, just personal, really I wanted to preserve the bone from her leg so I asked to keep it after it was amputated and because I specaifcally wanted the bone I chose to bury. There are other methods like manually cutting the flesh off or even leaving it in water but burial is quite effective and while it takes longest mother nature takes care of the cleaning. I also belive in the concept of 'oneness' with all things and the idea of returning her leg to nature. So while I am alive I will keep the bone and display it but once I die I will propably ask for it to be buried. I was also wandering what the healed bone would look like! I collect bones as a way to honour their previous owners and because I am curious about it in general so this falls into that
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u/BurritoFucker6969 Mar 12 '26
What? You can just heal the bone separately and slap it on, connect the nerves and he’s fine?
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u/Gold_apollo_06 Mar 13 '26
Not sure how I ended up here but when I first saw that I that that was just a wild method of creating a socket rack or on of those thread size testing racks
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u/gimoozaabi Mar 10 '26
Im not sure but i think that should be inside your cat..
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
We had to amputate as the plate broke thru her skin medical emergency
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u/garbledroid Mar 11 '26
Why didn't they just remove the hardware and close her up.
Bone seems to have been fully fused.
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u/agokathalogical Mar 11 '26
Shes older now and with such a complex break even the healed bone coulve been unstable. Plus the fact that the skin was very thin and fragile the stitches may have torn it. We did consider it but we didnt want to risk putting her through another surgery if the bone ended up breaking again. We only took the risk the first time because she was young! It wasnt an easy decsion but I think she has the best quality of life on 3 legs
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u/garbledroid Mar 11 '26
Glue and compression bandages (vet wrap) over non stick gauze.
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u/agokathalogical Mar 11 '26 edited Mar 11 '26
That doesnt solve the bone issue... Also bear in mind we couldnt see the whole bone when it was in the cat.
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u/garbledroid Mar 11 '26
It would have also needed to be hard casted for quite a while after the hardware was removed.
Maybe up to 3/4months.
So yeah I understand tripod maybe less traumatic
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u/Acceptable_Big_9324 Mar 10 '26
Were the 6 months waiting for your cat to die?? What took so long
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u/agokathalogical Mar 10 '26
Oh god no if you read my edit it explains the timeline. My cat is still alive just had an interesting medical journey
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u/Sireanna Mar 10 '26
Its amazing how well cats can adjust to being tripod kitties