Poor little Minou

I have just read the whole thread not realising it started 3 years ago!

What a beautiful, heartwarming story.

Minou sounds just wonderful, as are you for giving him such a happy life.

An update- Minou is doing really well and is very very happy. He spends most nights outside, he has a baby mattress under the tilted solar panels, a bed with a hood in the garden house, and another bed with a hood under the car port at the back.

Something lovely has happened too. He has slowly learnt to purr like a trooper. When we got him, he never purred. He tried, many times, but would almost choke. But now he has a great voice, not the loudest- but wonderful.

The only explanation I can think about, is that he had to fend for himself since a baby, and then all the pain with his awful injury- that he never had the time or the opportunity to purr.

3 years now- he is grand

BTW I absolutely love cats- and have always had cats, since I was a baby. And yet- we had decided not to have anymore, because of the massive damage to birds, and all sorts of other wildlife, and the way they go about it (Emma is a great mouser, she finds them, kills them in 1 second- and walks away- good girl). It was a sad decision, but we were decided.

And of course, little Minou turn up in such a mess, and in such pain - and of course I could not let him suffer the slow death facing him, probably of spreading infection and starvation. I did what had to be done - and no way could I have had him put to sleep once he had won my heart- after weeks of trying.

And we hoped- surely on 3 legs, he will be safe for birds, etc...

He has turned into a mean, slow killing machine, playing with prey for hours - you have to admire him, and of course he knows not the difference between a mouse and a redstart...How he does it with a front leg missing- I have no idea. But it is what it is. We love him to bits of course-and I would never ever have an indoor cat, so ...

Mamie - I am Swiss/French/British, from the Jura region as my name says I lived in the UK 40 years- about 5 in Staffordhire, but in Newcastle-u-Lyme.

Thanks humpty- we had Minou for nearly 2 years when had had the catflap fitted in the utility window. He has a stool and chest of drawers where I feed him to Emma our adopted dog (Danish farm dog- like a Jack R but a bit longer and taller on legs) does not eat his food. And a ramp on the over side- used the ramp we used for a previous dog to get in the car...Minou took a few days to get in and out- one of us enticing him on each side with his favourite food and holding flap open. 3rd night we were sitting in lounge and we heard the flap snap closed- and now he is back and forth non stop, despite having only one front leg. He can even do that with a live mouse in his mouth ... hmmmm

jura so lovely to read about you and Minou. Can I ask you a side question? We have adopted a cat from the RSPCA and I haven't been able to persuade her to use the catflap, though she will go in and out when it is taped open. I see you had the same problem initially with Minou - how did you teach him what to do?

Bonjour granjuraet Lillie! Vous etes francaises comme moi! Dans quelle region d'angleterre etes vous? Moi j'habite pres de Lichfield en Staffordshire

Yes, I know how worrying it is to have a pet out roaming after dark. Many nights I'm out with a light calling and calling for two of ours. They always come home eventually, even though after midnight sometimes.
Little Minou must think that after surviving losing a leg he is "Supercat".
??

Ah thanks PT - well, after 1 night on my bed, he has been as if nothing has happened- how weird. Never seen a cat in such a state, apart from my neighbour's cat that was attacked by the 3 farmer's dogs, and his lung pierced. Got him to the vet immediately and he survived but was never the same again and died 6 months later. As the dogs were so aggressive and killed several cats- so many complaints were made, so he sold one dog, shot the other (yes!) and the one left, the mother, got a tumour on the leg and had to be put down (after letting her suffer for a long time- yes, b**tar*!

But up here we have foxes, badgers, stoats and martens, wild boar, and even lynx - so I wonder which gave him the fright of his life. Last night he came in at 9pm as it got properly dark, and we closed the door to his catflap.

jura2. Just read the entire thread, your adventure of adopting little Minou. He is so cute and clever to adjust to 3 legs so quickly. And cheers to you for caring for him and giving home a loving home as well as your newly adopted Emma. We have 4 adopted cats and they rule the house. We don't have anyone to care for them so we take our holidays separately. (We live in a very rural area with no close neighbors).
We have two cat doors, one to the sunroom and then one to the outside. We had to do that to keep from getting mice in the house. We can eventually catch the mice in the sunroom, but it is difficult once they are loose in the house.
I hope you are able to find a pet sitter.
I'm so happy that little Minou found his "forever home".

Pheew, he is in and safe for the night- and the utility where his catflap is now closed.

What an amazing cat he has turned out to be. But last night we thought we would lose him, He came back about 9.30 through the catflap and was in such a state- hyperventialting with his tongue out and his chest moving so fast and having minor fits - thought he had been poisoned and phoned the emergency vet. He told me poisoning unlikely but that he must have had the fright of his life- and to oberve and phone back 30 mins later if he didn't settle - he went to hide under a chair and we left him there in the dark- came back to us still in a state but a bit calmer, then went to sleep on OH's chair in the office- then came to bed with us and had a good night.

Never seen a cat in such a state- so what 'frit' him to such an extent- wild boar? Lynx? Badger? we will never know.

Today he slept all morning but now right as rain - will make sure he comes in not too late tonight!

Well I know it is nature, but I am so so furious with him. We never wanted another cat, despite really loving them- because of the bird hunting. But he turned up unexpectedly, injured, and I could not help myself. We adore him. But there I was, hoping that him missing a front leg would make him a poor hunter.

Well he has been proving us wrong recently- and I could wring his little neck. But it is what it is ...

in ... out ... in .... out he is loving his new freedom

Minou finally got the hang of the catflap we had fitted in a double glazed window- cost us a fortune, but hey ho- he is worth it. Not easy on 3 legs- so now he has worked out how to get back in by himself- but not go out yet- unless we hold the flap for him. Snow is melting and he is so happy to be able to go out and not have to use an indoor tray.

I'll throw in the use of my Toyota Yaris

Minou is still happy as Larry- apart from his runny eye that does not like the cold weather. We bathe with cooled boiled water and camomile- and from time to time have to apply ointment for a few days...

And Emma loves it here- but as long as she can be upstairs, on on the bed with us, at night. I always said 'a dog is a dog and needs to know its place' and that is never our bed ... but could not spend night after ight listening to her cry.

She went into a great kennels up in the mountains for 4 nights- so we could ski with the grandchildren over from UK - and picked her up this morning. They said that she was gorgeous and lovely but ... never again- as she cried all night every night, setting other dogs off- and hardly ate for 4 days.

Not sure what we will do- as we can't be totally beholden to her and have to choose between her and spending time with grandchildren. We need to find people who will have her at home and allow her to share the bed- or people to come here on holiday and let her be with them at night...

Anyone fancy a holiday in Swiss mountains ... with above in mind? ;)

Oh Chucky- thanks. But this little 3 legged cat is just so sweet, all the pleasure is ours.

As for Emma- her owners just got bored with the dogs, aged 12 and 10 (Emma's son) ... after of these years they said 'ah well, outgrown the dogs' - had one euthanazed and blackmailed us to adopt Emma - we had been sort of fostering both for a while. Will never ever forgive them - but she is an absolute joy. They told us they had had her son euthanazed by FB message- whilst we were on holiday last Summer. There is a word for those people ...

Just read this story for the first time. It is so heartwarming to hear how good you have been to this poor little cat and hopefully you will get many more years of devotion from him.
He must have been led to your door by instinct, or his guardian angel.
Bless you, for everything you have done for him.

Minou 3 legs and little Emma, the Danish Jack Russel type 13 year old (longer legs than Jack R) - we finally adopted this Summer after fostering for a while - have been getting along better and better all the time- often on settee or on my bed together. But tonight, for the very first time, Minou jumped on the settee where Emma was snoozing, turn around and pushed his back right into her belly, and she didn't move apart from wrapping her legs around him.

Had a sneaky little tear there. So sweet.

Ah he is brilliant. Now I would never ever advocate amputating a cat's front leg for the purpose, don't get me wrong- but the massive advantage is that although he is a brilliant mouser- he just can't jump up to the bird feeders or climb trees to catch birds.

Spring arrived today, and we opened the little window into the barn when we watched the weather forecast yesterday - and there they were this morning - the swallows. That really made my day. Waiting for the redstarts now- shouldn't be too long.

It sounds to me as if Minou is adjusting fine to life as a three-legged cat. And he certainly has a good home.

ahahah oh such fun (well not for the mouse, agreed).

But that Minou has turned out to be such a joy and delight- for us.

Such fun I was sitting quietly working last Sunday morning around 6 am when my little male cat came rushing in - I didn't think much about it at first until I realised he wasn't fazed by the diva's presence for once. He started racing from one side of the sofa to the other peering underneath it and I realised he'd brought a mouse in and done his usual trick of losing it! It's a long sofa and very heavy so the only thing to do was wait it out. I shut the diva in the conservatory who wasn't too pleased when she realised there was no food in there and hammered on the door for some time while I tried to ignore the situation hoping he wouldn't get bored and leave the building - and the mouse (I wasn't even sure it was mouse and not a rat at that point) to move on. An hour later we were still in limbo, him pacing back and forth peering underneath and occasionally rolling about on his back poking at it with his paws, me trying to keep out of the way but occasionally training a torch under there to see if I could see it which he thought was for his benefit. Enter OH in his pj's and dressing gown - took in the situation immediately, dragged the sofa out and said mouse ran out one end as Alfie pounced and ran off through the cat flap with it! I felt sorry for it too and would have caught it and put it out if I'd been able to but it wasn't to be.

Today was a first- and hilarious, so thought I'd tell you about it as som many took an interest in Minou's story.

We had about 15 cm of snow overnight, and it was very cold- and that little mouse decided it would be nice inside. Little did she know. When we came down this morning, Minou and Emma (our semi adopted Danish Jack Russel type) were sniffing under the dresser, then one going to one side at the back and the other on the opposite site. They were clearly working together as a team- and it was amazing to see. meanwhile Zimba, the male dog, was hiding in the utility!

Anyhow, we finally decided we would have to move the dresser forwards (a heavy beast full of heirlloms) - and the mouse ran across the kitchen to the shoe cupboard, which has a raised plank at the bottom. So we had to move that- and mouse ran across behind plant pot- moved that- and squeak - it was done for. Emma then presented it to Minou - by his feet. Honestly, can't stop laughing.

OH picked it up in a tissue and threw it on the back field for some crow, buzzard or redkite.

I felt sorry for her- but then - they have plenty of space outside- not in my kitchen, ta.

I didn't realise he was still so young. Glad he found you to look after him. As you say, whatever fur he wears, he wears it well.