Stray Cat and Tarantula Both Have Delicate Leg Surgery

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By Samme

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PHOTO: MSPCA Facebook)

What do Rosemary the tarantula and Oreo the stray cat have in common? Both of them had some horrifying leg injuries that required the delicate touch of vets at the Angell Animal Medical Center in Boston.

The vets at MSPCA-Angell are miracle workers when it comes to legs of all kinds. Let’s start with Oreo, who was struck by a car. Her left front leg was mangled, and most of the skin was torn away from her right hind leg, which was also fractured, according to a post on the organization’s Facebook page and a report by ABC Channel Five.

“We probably take 20-25 cats struck by cars every year, and I can say that Oreo’s injuries are some of the worst I’ve seen,” vet Mike Keiley told Channel 5.

The veterinarians at MSPCA-Angell used a revolutionary treatment to save Oreo’s life. They fitted her with a high-tech plastic wrapping designed to wick moisture away from her wounds while drawing blood and white blood cells to the area to speed up healing. Skin will be grafted onto her right leg to help fur to regrow. Once she recovers, Oreo will be put up for adoption.

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(PHOTO: MSPCA FACEBOOK)

Rosemary Fern McCrevan the tarantula suffered severe fractures to two of her eight legs when her well-meaning caretaker flipped her over. “Rosemary was in the middle of a molt—the process all spiders undertake every year to replace their exoskeleton—when her well-meaning keeper unwittingly flipped her from her back to her belly, which caused multiple fractures to two of her legs,” according to the report by Angell Animal Medical Center.

“Tarantulas flip onto their back while molting and it’s essential that they stay there until the process is complete to avoid trauma to their limbs,” said Dr. Anne Staudenmaier of Angell Animal Medical Center’s Avian and Exotics service. “Rosemary was badly injured in the process and likely would have died had she not been treated.”

Her two injured legs had to be surgically removed. She is back in her aquarium in the third-grade classroom at the elementary school where she lives. The sand in her habitat has been replaced with paper towels to help her heal.

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