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.
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I am very new to the Tripod family. I just adopted an amazing 2 year old catahoula mix from a local shelter. She had lost her front right leg just 16 days before I found an adopted her. She is very over weight so I definitely need some tips on slimming her down. She is one of the most happiest dogs I have ever met. She certainly does not let her leg stop her in anyway at all. I have only had her for 3 days now an the only thing she struggles with is getting down from the bed, couch, car, etc. She is hardheaded though an only wants to do things on her own. If I try to help she will back up an sit until I back off an let her do it on her own. Any helpful tips for this new mommy would be amazing.
Hi and welcome! I hope you don't mind but I moved your post to this forum, it's a great spot for non-cancer related Tripawd stories. What a lucky dog for finding you! And you're a pawesome human for adopting her.
So from what I understand, Catahoulas can be a handful and incredibly active dogs. This is just a guess, but was she found wandering somewhere, as if she had ran away? If so, that's a good indicator that she wasn't getting the attention, mental and physical exercise a breed like that requires (it's the same story for Shepherds, Huskies, etc.).
Now that you've adopted her, you are making a huge step by asking about things like this. My best suggestion is to find a very good trainer who is familiar with the breed and can guide you with basic obedience. Look up Catahoula rescue groups and ask them for some trainer tips. The average pet store trainer will not know the best ways to handle that breed's capabilities and thought process.
I'm glad you recognize she's overweight. That's a lot of the reason why she's having trouble with mobility (not that she should be jumping off furniture, out of cars, etc., but we'll get to that). Talk to your vet about helping to find the ideal weight for her and discuss ways to drop those pounds. A Tripawd should be slimmer than most dogs of the same breed. Every extra pound is very detrimental to her joints, and especially for a front-leg Tripawd which has extra challenges. Lose the weight so she can have a healthier, pain-free life. Our Tripawds Nutrition blog has lots of tips too, just search for "weight loss" "diet" etc.
A harness like the Ruffwear Webmaster will help you help her in a big way. My guess is that the reason she won't let you help her is she doesn't trust you yet. With obedience training she will learn to trust you more so that you can assist her with the handle. Get started on obedience asap and you'll see a huge difference.
Our Tripawds Gear blog has lots of tips about staying fit on three legs, as does our e-book, Loving Life On Three Legs . I highly recommend checking both out for lots of insight.
Congratulations on the new addition to your family. Oh, what's her name?? We'd love to see photos, here are steps for adding images to the Forums.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi and welcome! Congratulations on your new family member, she sounds like a catch! Do you know what happened to her leg?
Jumping down from high places can be tricky with front leg amps. I use pet stairs and a footstool to help my dog get down from the couch and other high places she like to sleep. It took a bit of work to train her to use the stairs, but now she won't jump off anything without them there.
How do you feed your girl? If you don't use set amounts and meal times, that might be a good place to start. If you are already doing that and she's asking for food outside of meal times, you could try adding vegetables to keep her full. I use carrots, but I've heard steamed green beans are also good for keeping them full.
Not just steamed green beans...Murphy loved them raw. In fact, he picked our entire bean patch clean one year! We had to put up a fence to keep him out of it.
Congratulations on your new family member. You will begin to look at the world in a whole new way as you two grow together. BTW, evaluation by a certified rehab vet might also give you some great insight on helping her become physically fit. I am a huge believer in physical therapy after seeing how well Murphy did with it. He was a Tripawd who also had a total hip replacement.
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the Labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Hello and welcome!
How big is your girl? Not her weight but her size? I get the overweight part- I've had pugs for 16 years and it takes constant effort to keep their weight down. Of course they are not the most active dogs... I bet when your girl gets more active it will be a bit easier to keep her slim. I've had great luck with green beans. I buy the no salt added canned kind and use them to substitute for parts of meals and for treats. The other thing I've done is take kibble out as the main food source, I use a dehydrated base and add my own protein. I do keep kibble for training and for some food games, but I can give the dogs much more food and they are more satisfied. It is easier and cheaper for small dogs, but it's something to think about. Even a couple a meals a week could cut down some calories.
That being said my newest addition and current Tripawd Elly, a small rear amp pug mix, will not eat green beans and would rather eat kibble than the mix I use 
Trust was/is a big issue with Elly, she joined my little pack 6 months ago at the age of 10 months. In her first 10 months she had been hit by a car, lost her leg and had both eyes surgically repaired (cherry eye). I was her fourth home (breeder, original family, rescue/foster family, me). Do you know any of your girl's history?
We have taken two classes so far, with another starting Friday. One was a basic obedience class and the second was a strength, balance and body awareness class. Both have helped tremendously with her confidence and I have always found that taking classes, and the resulting skills to practice build quite a bond. Core strength is also important for dogs and especially tripawds. I work with Elly every day on core strength through play, exercises and food games. Since we spend so much time on training and food games I am careful with the size of her meals.
Can't wait to see pictures!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
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