Poor kitty! I can definitely sympathize as I was in your situation about 8 years ago. My cat came home from his explorations outside at 1 year old and his lower leg was no longer attached as he had been shot at. We decided to amputate rather than put him down. A whopping $1300.00 and 9 years later, he is still with us. My childhood cat lived to be 29. If cats are fed a high quality food, they can live a mighty long time. You will not regret your decision. Your pocketbook will recover, eventually.