Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Well I'm a little late to this conversation but I can tell you our story .I am a single person and I lost my best friend, Shelby almost 2 years ago. The pain was unreal. The silence in the home - unbearable. So two months later, I got a dog. A rescue. With tremendous issues. It took a while but now I love her SO much. I firmly believe with all my heart and soul that Shelby sent me this little sidekick to heal my heart, make me laugh and help me learn to love again.
I still miss Shelby every day but I can say, almost 2 years later, the pain is finally a little less. I don't cry as often... the memories are there but they are the happy ones ... not the sad cancer ones.
So it is very personal when you make that decision but you will know ... you just will!!!
Hugs and love always!!!
alison with spirit shelby in her heart (and little jasper too)
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Thanks, you guys! I love your stories and all your bright outlooks! I did indeed bring my new puppy home on Sunday, and I'm already totally smitten. He's ridiculously adorable! What a character--super confident, curious, sweet, interactive, playful, affectionate, friendly--just charging right through all the second-guessing and doubts and making it known this will be a whole new, wonderful adventure.
I'm naming him Leo, in honor of Max's lion heart.
YAAAAYYYY!!!!! We want pictures! Can you make them Scratch N Sniff so we can smell his puppy breath?
Congrats! Lucky Leo is going to have a great life.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm sure I speak for many when I ask (make that demand!) a puppy picture of Leo.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
Online
LOVE the name! Leo is a lucky boy- I bet Max found a winner for you!
I didn't get a chance to share my story before- but I adopted Obie just 5 weeks after Tri-Pug Maggie crossed. I knew our time was getting short and I was worried about my other pug Tani who had never in her 10 years of life been an only pug.
I never thought I was replacing, or even trying to replace Maggie. I did go though the comparison phase with Obie...'gee, Maggie never did that...Maggie sure learned how to do that faster...". I really bonded with Obie when I took him to an obedience class and spent lots of time working with him to try and get him past the baggage he brought with him (he was 4 years old and had not been socialized properly and had been neglected and abused).
We are dog (and/or cat) people. Maggie was my heart dog for so many reasons, but that doesn't mean I haven't loved all the dogs in my life. My relationship with each is different, and that is OK.
Can't wait to see Leo!
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
OHHHHHH. YAAAAAAAAAY!! WELCOME TO THE BEST FUREVER HOME A DOGGY COOULD EVER HAVE!!!
You darn right, we are DEMANDING PICTURES!!! Cannot even believe you made thisnppst without a photo of LEO!!! LEO! Love how you came about the name! Great shout out to Max! We are all in love you you already...even without a picture or being able to smell puppy breath or rub yojr fat little puppy belly!!
"Statch & Sniff"...great Rene!!! LOL!
Soooo happy for you! I know it just feels wonderful to have that little bundle of joy running aroundmfilling your heart with laughter again! Good job Max! I KNOW younlpve seeing your mom smile again...and clean up puppy poop!!
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!
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
CONGRATS!!!!! and yes .... photos!!! Welcome Leo!!!
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Oh, I'm really late on this thread!
It's funny, I was having a conversation with myself this morning on the way into work. I said, Self, do you think you replaced Harmony with Meesha? And I said, No, if I did I wouldn't find myself consumed with grief, missing Harmony while snuggling Meesha.
So then I asked, Self, you know you'd have a crap load of fur-babies if you could afford them, wouldn't you?
I answered, doG yes.
I'm so happy for you. You've made Max's tail wag just a little bit harder. It's probably knocking the color right out of the flowers at the Bridge.
xoxoxo
ps - Alison, I thought of you first thing this morning. {{{hugs}}}
Harmony became a Tripawd on 10/21/14 (MCT). She left us way too soon on 11/1/14.
"We miss you so much; our love, our heart, our Harmony."
- Pam, Ron and Melody, Meesha, Doublestuff and Mariah Carey
harmony said
ps - Alison, I thought of you first thing this morning. {{{hugs}}}
Thank you sweet Pam!!!! LOVE !!!!
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Congratulations! You are in no way " replacing" Max. He helped with this you know. A litter of puppies at just the right time and place. He is grinning from ear to ear. No 2 are the same. Was just thinking this recently. I have not had to put my shoes up for 2 years now. 😒 makes me sad. I was always greeted with a shoe. Today I was greeted with a small memory foam pillow. Did my new pup replace Ty? Not for a moment, he just helped heal my heart. Enjoy him! Lori, Ty and gang
TY GUY, Best Black Lab ever! Diagnosed and had amp in January, 2014. Kicked MRSA's butt. Earned his angel wings on April 16, 2014. Run Free my boy and don't forget a shoe. Ty is a proud member of the " April Angels". Ty sent us Daryl, a Tripawd rescue in Sept. of 2016. Daryl is 5 +or -. We are also Pawrents to Chandler, a Border Collie mix who is 15 and 1/2, Lucy, a Corgi who is 7, 2 minis, 2 horses, and a feisty cat named Zoe. Zoe had a non skeletal Osteosarcoma removed in July 2015. No Chemo, she was at least 16. She is going strong although she is now completely blind. She is now close to 20 and her hobbies are eating and sleeping in front of her personal heater.
Came in here looking for this exact thread - seek and you shall find.
Sally, I love what you had to say. It is exactly right and just what I needed to hear.
After Isa went to the Bridge, I elected to distract myself with remodeling my bathroom. I can only plead grief-induced insanity. But the timing made sense: I was already sleeping downstairs (still am, thank you very much), no dog to stress out, nothing much to occupy myself given the gaping void where once there was a health-compromised furbaby to be cared for.So I determined, whatever else I thought, no new furbabies in the house until the remodel is done. no sense adding stress to stress to stress.
I've been lurking on Petfinder and other shelter sites for a while now. If nothing else, looking at those furry faces can ease some of the tautness of my soul and put a smile on my face. Not to mention spaghetti eating contests and the antics of Roobie Roo and the Megastar.
Inchallah, the contractor will be done next week. Additionally, next Friday is my birthday. I told the contractor all I wanted for my birthday was a shower (it's been a long few weeks in that department). But the truth is there might just be something more/else I want.
As I was getting ready to leave for work this morning, I stopped moving for a moment (shocking!) and had a felt memory of "a" dog leaning against my leg. Not to mention an interloper cat in the yard at 2:30 am last night that required Wallee to literally throw a hissy fit until I chased said cat off.
And maybe another sign? I went to the park for lunch today and on the way met a (huge, gorgeous) yellow lab. He watched me walk for about a half a block and of course I was talking to him in my head during that half-block. He had to work to get around his dad to say hello to me. And he gave me kisses! This boy was 125 lbs! A Gator stand in?
Aside from Sally's earlier advice, my question is how do you know when it is right? How do you know when your Angel is instrumental in sending a new furbaby? With Isa, the second I saw her picture on the shelter's website, I knew without a single doubt that we were meant to be together. I want to believe that she's working from the Bridge looking for a newbie for me but mostly she's been very quiet about sending me signs. How do you pick from the thousands of dogs that need homes? For that matter, any suggestions for a good mantra/calming technique when guilt raises it's ugly head?
Alison, I know you said I/you will know when the time is right. In some ways I do know and in others, well I guess I don't trust myself all that much. At least not that way, on this subject.
Throwing it out there to the masses, my crumbling, fraying edges.
peace all
Right rear leg amp 7/12/16 due to OSA. Metastatic lesion on her right front leg, January 2017. Joined the Winter Warriors January 19, 2017. Run free my sweet girl.
It does sound like a friend or relative of Mr. Gator! Somehow, I missed this thread too, and I truly appreciate all of the thoughts expressed. There are times I wish Gator would sit on the steps like Otis used to, or act in some way that Otis used to. But it reminds me that the story with Gator is 100% new. I still miss Otis and Tess, but if Gator wants to sit on the patio pavers instead of the steps, that can be his place.
And of course, Be More Dog comes in here somewhere too. When I got Otis and then Tess, I never ever, not even once, sat there analyzing my bond with them. I probably would have thought myself silly if I did.
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.
Teri I think whichever lucky dog you end up picking or they picking you it will be the "right" one. I think most of us if not all of us on this site need our dogs and kitties to make our lives happier and complete. We know and need that joy they bring to us. It's who we are. And sometimes it doesn't just smack us in the face and say this is the one. Remind me to tell you my Jake#1 and Jake #2 story in Virginia. Sometimes we just need to take a leap of faith. Keep doing what you're doing. Maybe go visit a shelter and see if there's one you just can't leave there. Isa will be guiding you. Reading your post the first dog that came to my mind was the formally " uncontrollable Ollie". As their two at the bridge were ROFL at what they sent to Ollies Mom & Dad. Like I said sometimes it's just a leap of faith my friend. Hugs!
How do we find them or they find us?
I had always only had 1 dog at a time, never more than that. We were living in a mobile home and had our dog Taz who was very sweet, loved everyone, well-behaved, not neurotic. lol He was 10 years old and all of a sudden I felt like we needed a puppy in the house. I kept telling my husband that Taz needed a baby to play with, to help keep him young. I searched around Petfinder for a little while and found this litter of puppies ... there were 5 boys/1 girl and I wanted to meet a couple of the boys, so we took Taz to their adoption event to meet them. Taz made the rounds greeting all the dogs & cats there, and when the litter of puppies came in, this 1 head popped up - it was Cassie. The funny thing was, Taz wouldn't look at her or hardly interacted with her at all! A week later they were playing together and great friends. 10 months later we lost Taz - it was very sudden and unexpected.
A year later we decided that Cassie needed a playmate and I once again started looking on Petfinder. A few of the rescue groups that I enquired at wouldn't approve us - we lived in a mobile home & already had 1 dog; they called our vet & hadn't gotten Cassie Heartguard in over a year (well, duh, because her & Taz were on the same dose & I had bought a year's supply for both of them just before he died, but don't bother asking!! ugh); or the puppy we were interested in already got adopted.... until we found Murphy. Cassie & Murphy fell into love with each other the moment that they met! Somehow or another, the right one will find you (or you him!)
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
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