Tag's Fantastic Voyage

We are now day 5 post-op and Tag is doing great!  We happened to be camped at a location that was expected to get 97 degree weather, and we were only using solar, so no AC.   We drove about 2 hours north to escape the heat and ended up in a crowded RV park so that we could use our AC for a week and keep Tag comfy.

I was worried about taking him on a car ride, but he did amazing.  I held him on my lap, in his carrier with the top open so he could see the sights.  This guy loves traveling!  He purred, looked out the window and ended up taking a nap.  I swear he had a smile on his face!

Tag’s incision looks great and I’ve been able to keep him quarantined in a larger dog kennel to restrict his movements. When I open the door in the morning, he bolts out like he never had surgery!  I have to keep a tight hold on this guy as he is just ready to get on with his life.  He doesn’t appear to be in much pain and I’ve made sure to keep him on his pain med schedule.  I extended the doses by a few hours and he really seems ok with it.  He’s napping now, so the meds must have worked!

About a year ago, I read the book “Be More Dog.”  My husband ordered the book and never actually read it.  I ended up reading it and felt an immediate connection with our lives and our 12-year old cat, Tag.   I found the little guy at a local adoption event and was able to convince my aging parents that they needed a handicapped cat in their home.  After their deaths, Tag became my responsibility and a welcome addition to our home.

My husband and I live and travel full-time in our RV with our tripawd 12-year old cat Tag, Comet our 5-year old silver tabby, Abby our 13 year-old yellow lab and Whiski our 12 year-old yorkie mix.  We’ve been living on the road for almost 2 years now and until just last month, things have been pretty good for Mr. Tag.  I read the book, “Be More Dog” just a year ago, when we began our journey on the road.  I had a tripawd who had never had amputation, but little did I know we would be heading towards surgery just a year later.

Tag was already a tripawd before we started this journey and was born without his right hind leg.   He lived these past 12 years with no problems at all, running, jumping and just being a normal cat, minus his hind foot.  He has really been a happy, self-sufficient cat until his age caught up to him.

About a month ago, Tag began having issues with a fistula forming at the base of his stump and his bone would poke through the hole when he was active.  We were 1600 miles from home and had to visit a local vet during the Covid pandemic to find out that we most likely need to amputate the leg.  We debated the surgery, not knowing if we would be causing him undue pain for the remainder of his life.  Should we amputate at his older age?? We took a few weeks to decide, and it just seemed silly not to keep this old guy happy and healthy.

The vets we spoke to seemed to think this surgery was no big deal, and that the healing process would be short.  We decided to do the amputation and found a vet a few hours away who specialized in surgeries and amputations.  Tag just had his surgery two days ago and he’s on the way to recovery, with more travels in his future!  He’s a fiesty, head strong kitty who loves to ride on my lap in the car and gaze at the open road!  I can’t wait until he is running and jumping again!

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