Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat. Explore 17+ years of forum archives for stories and answers to questions about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery. Enjoy fresh discussion and connect with members in the new Tripawds Support Circle.
Join The Tripawds Community
Register your free account to join the Tripawds Support Circle. Connecting with members and getting the support you need is now easier than ever with the Circle app!
✅ Easy Photo Upload
✅ Direct Messaging
✅ Subscribe to Topics.
✅ Live Chat and much more!
Forums Locked: Search archives for answers & join Tripawds Support Circle to keep discussion going!
Log In
Members
We are now one week plus 2 days post amputation and Fuzz is doing so much better than I expected. He has had a voracious appetite apparently since right after surgery and eats for me every time I feed him ( 3 times per day), however, he is going to be super spoiled and now only eat wet/moist food as he snubs his nose at the dry food I have out for him at all times! He is actually eating 2-3 small cans upwards of 2 large cans of moist food per day. I have started him on gabapentin at only 2x per day now.. they actually said stop after 5 days of 3x per day but from what I know and even in humans it is better to gradually ween down so we are trying that for a couple more days until he goes back to his 2 week post operative follow up/staple remove. He is active in that he meets me at bathroom door most mornings for breakfast and then proceeds to love and purr and rub on me for as long as he feels ( he is a cat lol) yesterday he crawled up on my chest and laid and purred and gave me kitty kisses for the better part of 30 minutes until he felt like eating more and slid off back to his food. He is still using letterbox like a champ. He is hesitant to come out of the very small recovery room I have him in. He has went in to the larger part of bathroom but will hurry back to his bed in corner. I still am reserved about him tackling my very large house that he once had free roam over and will be a bit shy when I get the all clear to give him free reign again. Murphey _ my 95 lb black lab aka his best buddy_ has been popping in bathroom to say hi lately and that he misses sleeping with Fuzz every night ( they cuddled together every single night). I have included some pictures 2 are from yesterday when he climbed on me and was loving me and the other is his incision at day 6. In my opinion his incision has looked great, never any seeping or real puffiness, no redness or even bruising. He has left it alone so I have not had to use a collar or a t-shirt to keep him from bothering his incision. I can't wait to just have him back out in the house and figure out then what I need to do to adapt things for him- he was all over my 3 story large house. I already have scatter rugs on floors ( for dogs) and I am just unsure about him tackling steps up and down where food/litterboxes and he liked to hang out I have letterboxes on all floors but his preference was always in basement and up on top floor ones. Food was upstairs too because of Murphey! I had some great video of Fuzz moving around and purring loudly from yesterday but I don't know how to attach video.. it took me a bit for pics! Thanks for all the love and support, Fuzz and Melissa
[Image Can Not Be Found] cuddling with mom in morning on 9/28
[Image Can Not Be Found]-incision at around 6 days post operation/removal of fentanyl patch under the neck bandage
[Image Can Not Be Found]cuddling with mom first thing in morning on 9/28
I am not sure what happened to pictures.. this site seems to drag and have major delays no matter what system or type of internet I am on... kinda frustrating to post and look things up.. the pictures were there and now gone.. not sure what happened...I am trying to get back in my blog where they are but again it just says "waiting".... this is such a frequent occurrence on this site...if I can ever get the site to open I will try to post them again..
8:15 am
5 April 2019
Offline
Your kitty is adorable. I k ow to post pictures and videos you have to post them online somewhere first. For videos I use you tube. Then you copy the link. Then in your post you select insert link and paste. But you can start a free blog and upload video and pictures from your computer. That is much easier.
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
8:17 am
5 April 2019
Offline
Oh I'm sorry. You already have a blog. The admin guy will be able to help you.
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
I give up... the images are in my blog in the library.. it has taken over 25 minutes of wait and delay for this site to open/post/so not sure what is happening..
9:39 am
5 April 2019
Offline
From the blog I just copy and paste, of I remember correctly. I don't know what kind of device you are using, but I heard it's difficult from a phone. I believe there is a forum for technical issues. You will get an answer within a day if not sooner, or go to the chat and describe what is happening. Sorry, I'm not very technical.....
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
9:44 am
5 April 2019
Offline
Yes, there is a forum named "technical support"
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
10:32 am
Team Tripawds
Administrators
25 September 2009
Offline
We sincerely apologize about the delays and feel your pain. Our server has been having technical issues lately that cause a delay and we're working hard to figure out what's going on. Thank you for your patience while we try to figure this out.
If you ever have problems you can always message us and we will respond immediately.
But meanwhile, here are a couple of your photos from Fuzz's blog.
As for attaching photos....you need to:
- Go to the image where it is hosted on your blog
- Copy the image
- Return to your forum post
- Paste the image
When it comes to video, because of the huge file size it's best to upload directly to YouTube then come here to paste the video URL into your Forum post.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
10:41 am
Team Tripawds
Administrators
25 September 2009
Offline
For more specific questions please post in Technical Support as Brownie's mom recommended. Thanks.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
10:44 am
5 April 2019
Offline
What adorable photos of Fuzz! I have to know, did you put him on the tree, or did he climb in?
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
11:18 am
Bucketeers
27 July 2014
Offline
That's great news that Fuzz is doing so well.
Fuzz will adapt to new systems that will work better for a tripawd. Mona continued to jump up to my high bed (a bit over 3 ft high) and took flying leaps off. After a few of these leaps I showed her how to use the cardboard banker's box to the chair to the bed. After that, she always used the chair and box to get to the floor. Mona has boxes all around the house to access the couch and chairs. Some people put upstairs but Mona seemed to prefer the boxes with more depth.
Mona continues to use the stairs - she runs up and goes down slowly.
Life will be so much easier when the staples are out. Mona didn't wear a collar either but I think she wanted to lick the area when her fur started to grow in. It probably got itchy so I would sooth the area with a cool damp facecloth and distract her by brushing her.
Fuzz will be your guide and let you know what he wants. Mona moved easily from the wet food to the dry food by me giving her less and less wet food each day. I still give her a tablespoon of wet food daily and she's happy to eat her dry food.
The system seems slow for all of us accessing the blogs. I believe Admin is working on it.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
Oh my CAT!! How totally adorable!! Videos are easy, upload to youtube. Once it is complete, take the link and copy/paste it here or in your blog. It doesn't take your space too so it's a double win.
The site is having technical difficulties, so sorry. I know it is frustrating but they will work it out, always do. In the meantime, it is going to take a while to load but it will load eventually.
Fuzz is gorgeous!!! He looks a little like my Andy but with more stripes. Andy is like the Sta Puffed Marshmallow Man, mostly white, lol.
As far as the house goes... it sounds like little by little he is adjusting. I am tickled that he is going back to his "safe spot". That will work itself out, really it will. I did not give Huckleberry free reign of the house until a couple weeks after staple removal. Fuzz is still very early in recovery so keeping his activity level real low key is still the best for him.
I waited on Huck for several reasons. One - he was feral, Two - he was early in recovery, Three - we have stairs and I wanted him as recovered as possible before he started using the stairs.
You are doing all the right things... you really are 
Huckleberry was not weaned off of his meds until 3 weeks post op. This is the time that phantom pain
can really kick in so don't be too quick to lower the dose. Nice and gradual .. watch how he does as the med levels drop in his system.
So.. one thing I learned from somebody in here, a super duper cat person! Wet food is actually really good for cats. You want to make sure he isn't eating so much that he is going to gain weight, but cats are obligate carnivores. Dry food and grains are what can cause feline blockages. I feed all three of my boys twice a day, dry in the morning and wet at night. Grain free. I am thrilled that Fuzz has not given you any appetite problems, I really had to spoil Huck there for a while right around this part of his recovery. Andy blocked twice on me since we adopted him. It was really bad. Dehydration can be key to them blocking. Wet food is about 80% water so with them eating the wet food they are also getting the hydration that they need to keep their urine from becoming too concentrated. It helps keep them flushed so that even if they have some crystals they can pass them. I took Andy off the prescription diet and since I have gone grain free and make sure they always have canned at night and plenty of fresh water he has been wonderful! I know this has nothing to do with the amputation, but I thought I would throw it out there for you. Here is a wonderful site on feline health and diet. I was amazed by what I learned here.
https://catinfo.....-diseases/
You are doing great!! Huckleberry races the stairs now with no problems. He was a little slow at first, but he got it in no time flat. Of course the first bunch of times I was a nervous wreck, but he has no problems with the stairs, his cat tree, couch, desk... we just started slow and I really let him go his own pace once I gave him free reign. I do have cat stairs for my desk and bed. I got nice sturdy stairs that are carpeted from Amazon and he uses them regularly. We put runners on the stairs, and I have washable throw rugs all over the house. I will see if I can find the stairs that I got and send you a link.
<a href="