By Lori Carlson

Editor

 Tréssie has lived her often-difficult life in threes.

The 2-year-old cat got her name (pronounced “Tracy”) after a Rainbow Animal Rescue volunteer found her in a New Prague barn in October.

The name – taken from the Spanish word, “tres,” meaning three – was fitting. Tréssie not only had three 3-day-old babies – she also had three legs.

Shortly after the discovery, Rainbow Rescue volunteers took the cat to Dr. Stephen Skilling at Burnsville Animal Clinic. Skilling determined that Tréssie might have gotten her leg caught in an animal trap and possibly had chewed off the limb to escape. But Skilling said it’s also likely she lost the limb in a farm-equipment accident.

Tréssie was left with a stump where her left leg had been – and problems with her canine teeth.

“She had one canine tooth missing,” Skilling said. “I don’t think her chewing off her leg would’ve broken the tooth off, so my gut feeling was it was some kind of accident.”

When the volunteer found Tréssie, the end of her leg “was still an open wound full of dirt, cockleburs and infection,” said Sue Larsen, who leads Rainbow Rescue in Prior Lake.

“She kept trying to use [the stump], so the wound kept busting open,” Larsen said.

The vet decided Tréssie’s leg would have to be amputated. But surgery wouldn’t come right away.

First, the young feline mom had to nurse her three kittens.

Enter Joe and Carly McWilliams. The couple opened their home to Tréssie and her babies, as they have for about 18 other cats since July. As Tréssie raised her kittens, the couple tended to her bandage, gave her medication for an infection and made sure she was comfortable.

With the babies adopted shortly after eight weeks of age, Tréssie took another visit to the vet’s office and came back with her stump – and her entire shoulder – removed.

“It’s a balance thing,” Skilling explained of the shoulder removal. “If you leave it on, it just tends to cause more problems for the cat than just having the shoulder blade removed.”

Because Tréssie had already learned to walk with three legs and a small part of the fourth, her recovery after the amputation was a bit quicker, Skilling said.

“She was just happy as could be – she ate right away,” he said. “How many people could have a limb amputation and be in good spirits like that?”

Tréssie indeed has maintained an iron spirit, Larsen and McWilliams agreed. “She has literally purred since we found her,” Larsen said.

 “She’s helping the other cats get used to people,” McWilliams said as another young cat named Caramel sat next to Tréssie.

After Tréssie has her stitches removed and is spayed, she will be ready for adoption, McWilliams said.

“We know she’ll find a good home,” he said.

The number of adoptions from Rainbow Rescue has tapered a bit since Christmas, but Larsen said the rescue group still finds a lot of cats – especially adults – out in the cold. Rainbow Rescue currently has about 60 cats and 30 kittens available for adoption.

Cats and cold weather can be a dangerous combination, not only because of the freezing temperatures, Skilling said. The animals sometimes search for warmth under the hood of a car, causing injury or death to the cat when a driver starts the engine.

Though it’s tough to see the animals leave, McWilliams said, cats like Tréssie are hard to forget. “She’s a special one, that’s for sure,” he said.

Still, there’s no shortage of cats to love, he said: “We always know more are coming.”

 Lori Carlson can be reached at (952) 345-6378 or editor@plamerican.com.