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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Hi, wanted to know if you can do a to do list, shopping list in preparing for the amputation and return home. I want to make sure I have everything before the D day or the A day 😉 I have over a month to prepare myself, my house, etc... And, I started to explain to my stepdaughter what will be happening with Novak, showing her picture of what the sutures will look like(it can be scary, looks like frankenstein for a kid) or videos of tripawd, she is very interested and confident about it all.
For now, I tough about getting a harness, new orthopedic bed , elevated feeding bowl. I already have a gate for downstairs, so Novak wont be able to go up and down without me knowing it. My house is a bungalow. Do I need to make a ramp for the stairs at first?
THanks!
Sounds like you have the basics covered but I don't see floor runners. Do you have slippery floors in your home? If so, they need traction (see link).
Have you hopped over to the Tripawds Gear blog ? Lots of great ideas there!
If Novak is used to ramps, they can be helpful. If he isn't, they could be a headache. Many dogs don't adjust to ramps because they have difficulty judging depth. Look up "Visual cliff in dogs" and you'll see an explanation.
Most dogs will do stairs just fine with our assistance, after they're over recovery. The Webmaster harness is invaluable for aiding them on staircases.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Oh yes, my floors are slippery, great idea to look for something to make sure he doesn't slip. Yes I look at the gear page,, thats where I saw to get a harness, bed, etc...
Big fan of the Ruffwear Webmaster Plus harness in the gear blog.
Get some industrial floor mats or other nonslip mats at places like Target or Home Depot to make a path on tile and hardwood floors. Yoga mats also work great, but you can't really vacuum them.
If you only have a few stairs to get in the house, I would pass on the ramp, especially as Jerry notes, if Novak hasn't used one before. We have bedrooms upstairs, so I moved my mattress downstairs until Otis was ready to go up and down. Sleeping arrangements post amp are pretty key, especially if he is used to sleeping with you in bed.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Everything can be done on the main floor, he sleep in my bedroom, but on the floor beside, rarely he stay in the bed, he doesn't like it, he cuddle a bit and then he goes down to sleep. I will put his bed on the floor beside my bed, I think its the best place. I have maybe 5 steps in the front and 5 steps to go to the backyard. I have another door that goes in the backyard, its the side door and there 2 steps down to the door and then 2 steps to outside. I will definetly buy the harness I saw here.
Hi and welcome to the club nobody wanted to join! Is Novak a Belgian Tervuren? He is beautiful! It sounds like you are doing everything you can to be prepared for life on 3 and I can't think of much to add that you have not already thought of. We have three tripawd GSDs and have both the regular webmaster and the Ruffwear Webmaster Plus. We agree with otisandtess, the Plus model is great for larger dogs! We use it on our largest dog and use the regular harness on the others.
Is Novak losing a front or rear leg? All our dogs are rear-leg amps and we personally do not used raised feeders because GSDs and other deep chested dogs are prone to bloat. That said, front-leg amputees really benefit from raised feeders. And the entire subject is not without controversy, just wanted to put it out there if you were not already aware of the issue.
You obviously love Novak very much! We are here to answer what ever questions you might have so don't hesitate to ask!
Martha, Codie Rae, and the Oaktown Pack
Woohoo! Tripawds Rule!
Regulator of the Oaktown Pack, Sheriff of the Oaktown Pawsse, Founding member and President of the Tripawd Girldogs With 2 Names ROCK Club, and ... Tripawd Girldog Extraordinaire!
Yes he is a belgian tervuen! Its the rear left that will go. Usually I hear the opposite, elevated bowls for large dog, cause of the bloat risk, but yep I think I heard some debate on that. But for me, I was more worry about the comfort, thats it. Belgian are small, not a great risk of bloat anyway.
We have talked to vets about the bloat risk and issues with elevated feeders, and so far the jury is still out:
Although there has been some debate about raised feeders and whether or not they can cause bloat in dogs, one of our favorite celebrity vets, Dr. Patty Khuly gave us her perspective about raised feeders for Tripawds:
For feeding dogs working hard to battle another condition, I would not alter my stance one bit. Feed from a raised bowl. This goes for dogs who have neck pain, orthopedic creakiness, megaesophagus, etc.
See:
Elevated Feeding Bowls Help Tripawd Posture
Our Wyatt Ray is a right rear leg GSD amputee, we use elevated bowls for him.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
For elevated bowls, it was pointed out to me that you're balancing a possible increase risk for bloat, vs. certain increased issues with posture. Sadie, as a doberman, is at risk for bloat, but the majority of dobermans never get it, so even with a possible increase, I don't especially worry, I just keep an eye out of anything of concern.
Online
Geez, fhe things we learn here! Having been owned by so many big dogs, I never even knew there was "debate" over raised food bowls. I didn't even raise mine until Happy Hannah (Bull Mastiff) became a tripawd. I now raise them for Merry Myrtle (Bull Mastiff quad paw...knocking on wood it stays that way!). Frankie front leg Tripawd prefers to eat laying down.
Anyway...back to yiur preparation list. Get chocolate, lots and lots of chocolate! It helps soothe your nerves. Even if it doesn't, it tastes delightful!
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Hi there !
I am a bit late joining this discussion and just wanted to say all vets, giant breed owners and breeders that I know (in the UK and other countries in Europe) are totally in agreement giant breeds MUST be fed from a raised bowl to avoid bloat.
Sadly I know quite a few people who lost Danes to bloat and quite a few who managed to save them by getting them operated immediately.
Two of the Danes that were saved belonged to Eurydice's breeders and one belonged to Kinky's breeder.
Bloat is very serious and it happens more often than one thinks.
I would never consider feeding my Danes otherwise.
Sending you all a big hug and cuddles to your fluffies 
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
eurydice said
I am a bit late joining this discussion and just wanted to say all vets, giant breed owners and breeders that I know (in the UK and other countries in Europe) are totally in agreement giant breeds MUST be fed from a raised bowl to avoid bloat
Oh my gosh and here in the States, the general thinking used to be that raised feeders cause bloat. Crazy. Either way, Dr. Khuly and other vets we've talked to at Colorado State both said that it's just such an unscientific debate that it's not worth debating. So that's the thinking here. I love how we learn from each other!
Yep, bloat is horrible. We had our Wyatt Ray tacked ("gastropexy") to avoid the torsion, but it still won't avoid bloat. The good thing is that bloat isn't lethal the way torsion is.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
CUTENESS warning
The great danes at the Service Dog Project, where they have bred, raised and trained hundreds of service danes, always feed standing up. Their breeding stock originated in Europe so maybe that is where the idea came from. I believe they had only one case of bloat that, thankfully, the young interns caught quickly. Here are photos of the different stages of feeding:
Cute the photos of the danes! I will feed him elevated before the surgery to see if he's comfortable that way, for my dog, its mainly for his comfort and posture, Im not stress about bloat issues. So my list is going great, just ordered the bed from work, so I have it at cost price YAY. But sadly, the harness, will have to pay full price... but thats ok. And for the feeder, will try to do it myself with wood...will see if it will come out cute or a mess LOL
Oh Keren! These photos are adorable AND I formative! It certainly shows different versions of "raised feeding bowls"!
Can't wait to see Novak's version!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
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