Several months ago, Jujube started to favor one of his front paws. As the weeks passed, he started to limp and shake the paw. When a lump formed on the top of the paw, we realized that he might have a serious issue.

Sure enough, the vet took multiple x-rays and determined that Jujube had a growth on his foot that could be bone cancer. Amazingly, one of the vets where we take our cats is considered an expert on such an ailment. He wanted to immediately amputate two of Jujube’s toes! The cost? Don’t ask!

Rich and I were torn as to what to do. In the end, we decided to go ahead with the surgery since Jujube is only five years old and the vet assured us that the growth was only on his fourth toe. They planned to remove his “pinkie” toe too to ensure that they got the entire growth.

If you’ve ever seen an x-ray or skeleton of a cat’s foot, you’ll know that only the last knuckle of the toe is separate from the main foot. The rest of the toe extends up to the ankle. Humans, in comparisons, have longer “fingers” with two knuckles and three sections of bone that join the palm.

When you remove a cat’s toes, you remove 1.5 to 2 inches of bone. In Jujube’s case, half of his front foot was removed!

Happily, we made the right decision!

The biopsy indicated that a growth was “eating” the bone and would undoubtedly, spread up the foot.

Since his surgery, Jujube has learned how to walk on half a foot. He certainly has enough energy to chase the female cats around the house and strike a macho pose on our deck!