TRIPAWDS: Home to 22969 Members and 2152 Blogs.
HOME » NEWS » BLOGS » FORUMS » CHAT » YOUR PRIVACY » RANDOM BLOG

Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.

JUMP TO FORUMS

Join The Tripawds Community

Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:

Instant post approval.

Private messages to members.

Subscribe to favorite topics.

Live Chat and much more!

Please consider registering
Guest
Search
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Minimum search word length is 3 characters - maximum search word length is 84 characters
Register Lost password?
sp_Feed sp_PrintTopic sp_TopicIcon-c
Buddy- 60 lbs of puppy - a terrible patient.
sp_NewTopic Add Topic
Member Since:
9 January 2014
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
1
18 January 2014 - 5:42 pm
sp_Permalink sp_Print sp_QuotePost

A lost and homeless dog, Buddy had his left foreleg  amputated after having been caught in an animal trap on Dec 21.  We adopted him January 8.  At the time we were told our guy was 3 years old, but our vet is sure that he's closer to being 1 year old - not much more than a puppy, certainly just an adolescent. 

While the rescue societies and foster homes that took care of him  did it well, it was still no substitute for our forever home.  When we got him he was "mellow", covered in dandruff, thinning fur,  his surgical wound was crusty, and he had gunky infected ears.  He was quiet, sweet,  and obedient.

 

Fast forward two weeks.  We have been washing and conditioning him a couple of times a week and supplying salmon oil supplements so the thin fur spots are not noticeable and his fur is already becoming thick and soft.  His surgical wound is clean and barely noticeable, it looks almost healed but he's still on a course of antibiotics, both internal and topical. I massage his shoulders with lavender oil to help ease his muscle soreness.  His ears are finally clean because I have been rinsing cleaning and putting ointment in daily.  As for "mellow", well, I think he was mellow because he was traumatized because right now he dances around our house like a puppy. He is obedient ----for the most part. I almost never see his sad face anymore, except when he's trying to get a treat. whatever He is a smiling happy dog.

 

My husband,  our cat and Buddy all play fetch everyday, in an out of the house.  We are conscious that his puppy energy doesn't match what his newly tripawd physique can do, so I take him on short walks, 10 minutes several times a day.

We have two problems, his boundless puppy energy combined with a smart mind--- how do I keep him occupied while he's still healing?

and  His fear aggression in the car?  He becomes Cujo.  I've located a trainer who specializes in rescues.  The trainer whats Buddy to be comfortable in his new home before he comes.  Buddy will be evaluated by him next week.

However, if anyone has had a puppy convalesce and knows how any energy burning ideas and or knows about fear aggression in cars with a rescue, please let me know.

Livermore, CA




Member Since:
18 October 2009
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
2
18 January 2014 - 10:51 pm
sp_Permalink sp_Print sp_QuotePost

Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
Bless you for adopting Buddy- you will be rewarded many times over!
We have several members here who have experience with young Tripawds. Hurricane Rosie is a Mastiff: http://hurrican.....pawds.com/. And Spirit Brendol's mom Karma has a young husky Tripawd, I'm sure you will hear from them soon.

How about food puzzles? There are lots of kinds out there, I'm sure you can find one that would challenge Buddy. My quad pug Obie has lots of issues from his past and puzzle games really help burn energy. Also- it is really important for Tripawds to build strength, not just endurance. There are great exercise idea in the gear blog:
http://gear.tripawds.com/. Look around there, you can turn the exercises into games and training opportunities. I have found these types of activities have really helped Obie bond with me and give him some confidence.

Obie doesn't have fear aggression, but has OCD type behaviors and lots of fear of, well, everything. He was abused and neglected by his original owner. I adopted him at 4 years old. We've been together for 3.5 years now, it's been slow going but with consistency and patience and lots of work together he is making progress!

Karen and Spirit Maggie

Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.

1999 to 2010

 

              Maggie's Story                  Amputation and Chemo

On The Road


Member Since:
24 September 2009
sp_UserOfflineSmall Offline
3
20 January 2014 - 8:25 pm
sp_Permalink sp_Print sp_EditHistory sp_QuotePost

Hi Beth, welcome! Forgive me for welcoming you so late, I just saw your post. Hope you don't mind but I moved it here to "Beyond Cancer" 'cause this is a great place for Tripawd pawrents of dogs and cats who don't have cancer to come and learn from others. As you've discovered, Tripawd puppies have their own challenges.

Yay for rescuing him and giving him a great home. You are obviously very up on caring for him in all aspects, that's awesome!

I like that you're limiting his walking too. As we always say here, walking won't build strength, but core muscle exercises do. We explain all of this in our Gear blog and our ebook, Loving Life on Three Legs. In the meantime here are some activities that can help you keep him mentally exhausted, which is far better than physically exhausted.

Why Longer Walks Won’t Strengthen a Tripawd’s Leg Muscles

Best of Tripawds Gear and Fitness Tips for Three Legged Dogs

As for his car rides. Oh boy we can relate to that one. Tripawds Spokedog Wyatt Ray is also a rescue from a bad situation and he does the exact same thing in the car. It's great you're working with a trainer. I also highly recommend a Calming Cap. This thing is a miracle for our Wyatt. Yes, he can still see with it, but more like in black and white instead of in color. He turns into butter when we put it on him in the car. He looks ridiculous and it's not an end-all solution but it makes for less stressful adventures:

20091025w_calmingcap01.jpgImage Enlarger

The best part about bringing Buddy into your life is you can do all sorts of activities with him to keep him occupied while  showing him how to be the best dog he can be. Our friend/dog behaviorist Sarah Wilson helped us make TONS of progress with Wyatt, all with a variety of different training games. He's still not perfect but he's come a long way. Here are some posts about Sarah's work:

Recommended Dog Training and Behavior Books by Sarah Wilson

I hope this helps! We're so glad you joined us and look forward to getting to know you both.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

Forum Timezone: America/Denver
Most Users Ever Online: 946
Currently Online: benny55
Guest(s) 184
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 1268
Members: 17731
Moderators: 6
Admins: 3
Forum Stats:
Groups: 4
Forums: 24
Topics: 18610
Posts: 256797
Administrators: admin, jerry, Tripawds
Tripawds is brought to you by Tripawds.
HOME » NEWS » BLOGS » FORUMS » CHAT » YOUR PRIVACY » RANDOM BLOG