Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello, our Australian Cattle Dog Austin came home yesterday from her surgery. She had a rear leg amputated. She is relaxing and seems to be doing okay. One concern is that we are having a hard time getting her up to move today. I know that rest is best, but know she needs to get out to go potty. We have tried supporting her belly with a towel, but she seems very tender and doesn't want us to lift her. I also don't want to put too much pressure on her belly lifting her with the towel. The vet recommended increasing her Tramadol to see if that helps relieve pain. I would be happy to hear any other suggestions for trying to get her up and moving.
Also, are there any inexpensive ideas for helping with slippery floors? This might be another reason she is not wanting to move around.
Thanks.
Welcome to Tripawds.
You might try a temporary sling made out of a reusable cloth shopping bag. Just slit or cut it down the sides and the handles are built in. The wider surface may distribute her weight a little bit and be less painful.
As for slippery floors- throw rugs or yoga mats work well. You can get some inexpensive versions and try them out. I prefer yoga mats actually, I found my pug still slipped on the rugs.
Other good ideas for traction are socks or booties. If she is not used to them then it is probably not a good time to start- she is dealing with enough already. If you want to try I found PAWZ worked very well, they are reusable but disposable and relatively inexpensive. You can sometimes find them at pet stores, or you can order them on line.
You can also trim the fur between her toes and pads.
Glad to hear the recovery is going well so far.
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
Her avatar picure is soooo cute!! Can't wait to see more pics and hear more about her!
Yes, as Karen said, the avility to get traction is so important! Get some non slip scatter rugs as soon as you can. Raised food and water bowls help also to alleviate strain.
Why was her leg amputated? Was she already limping some m prior to surgery?
This is still very, very early in reovery and she still has a lot of hospital drugs in her. Some dogs eed a liitle extra time to get the mobility figured out, especially if they have pain meds in them
My Happy Hannah did not like me trying to use a towel sling at all. She would pretty much just freeze.
Is she eating, peeing, pooping, drinking yet? She may be a bit off in t h ose categories for a few days too. Other than peeing and drinking, even if pooping and eating are delayed that isn't too big a deal.
She does need rest and she does need her pain meds. But those meds can make her alittle whacky when it comes to trying to figure out hlw to get upl and move.
Stay connected to us. Recovery is no picnic and itsw a little spooky! She'll figure things out. Keep us posted, okay? Let us know how she's doing tomorrow.
Sending lots of hugs!!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
It is still very early in Austin's recovery. Jerry's vet told us there is no need to get up and around except to eat drink and do his doody. And to let him do it on his own...when he needs to go, he'll go!
Carpet runners are best, but you'll find more recommended traction solutions in the Tripawds Gear Blog .
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for the advice. Austin is doing so well only a few short days after surgery. At this point she is getting up and moving around on her own and going potty on her own. We did set up a pathway with a carpet runner and a couple doormats which helped a lot. We will probably set up a couple permanent runners for her to be able to get around on our more slippery floor surface.
The main thing now is that she is still not eating very much, but maybe once she starts pooping a bit more her appetite will return. She has pooped a couple times, so maybe things are slowly returning to normal.
Oh boy that is great news! Sure sounds like she's getting that sparkle back. Yep, appetite follows all the other post-op achievements. You can entice her to eat with special foods like boiled chicken, baby food or even stinky liverwurst. Usually most dogs will start eating once the pain meds are reduced.
Here's to a great week of recovery accomplishments! Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Alrighty, we've got some pooping and some good mobility...a good recovery is in the process!!! YAAAAAAAAAY FOR THE AUSTIN!!
I can't remember who it was...but it was such a great line....she said that with all her scatter rugs around the hojse it looked like a clown threw up all over the floor!!
My Happy Hannah never missed a meal or any inbetween snacks. She did, however, not want to drink water for at least a week after her aml. I mixed a scoop of ice cream in with her water and that did the trick. Try a scoop of ice cream in top of her chicken...bet it hells!
Keep the gokd updates coming!!
Hugs to Austin!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
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