Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I am posting for a friend. She has a female 8 yo lab who just had her back leg amputated. She weighed 78 lbs before surgery and lost 10 pounds 2 weeks after surgery. She has gained back the weight now a month yesterday. The dogs name is Lucy and she fell yesterday and hurt her back leg. Lucys diet consists of about 3 cups of Pedigree dry dog food a day and green beans and carrots for a snack. Lucy will not walk much and sits or lays down if they try to walk her but she did take off running after a ground squirrel yesterday and hurt her back leg. My friends vet does not seem to supply her with much information on the process of a tripod.
My friends questions are What should she do about her I hired back leg? Ice it? heat it? Keep Lucys off of it?
Is she feeding her too much? Not the right foods?
How often and how far should she walk her?
My friend has no info on taking care of a tripod and she has limited internet access to research it. Any info would be sooo appreciated!
Oh what a good friend you are! Thanks for coming here and asking for help, Lucy is so lucky to have you in her life.
As you can see, weight plays a big role in a Tripawd's ability to get around. Being a Lab, Lucy has the extra challenge of that incredible Lab appetite!
My first question is, why did she lose her leg?
My second question is, why did she gain the weight back? Has Lucy's vet run any tests to make sure there isn't a health situation going on?
It sounds like your friend is really trying to help her lose weight with the green beans and carrots for a snack, so that's good. But when it comes down to it, it's the human who controls what the dog eats, not the other way around. It's hard to say how much food to give Lucy because every dog is different, but if she's not getting enough activity and she's still gaining weight, some cutting back needs to happen.
As for her injured leg: cutting back on her activity to allow it to heal is key. Lucy should only be going on leashed potty walks until she isn't favoring it.
Your friend can cut back on the food and add steamed veggies in its place. That should help. Our Tripawds Nutrition blog has many diet tips. Search for "Diet" and you'll find dozens of articles you can print for her.
Exercise is critical, but the right kind, not squirrel chasing. We have a ton of information in the Tripawds Gear blog and our e-book, Loving Life On Three Legs . Although it's only available in electronic format, your friend can print it.
Here are some other links you can print out:
Best of Tripawds Gear and Fitness Tips for Three Legged Dogs
Finally, I strongly recommend your friend finds a vet who is more communicative about helping Lucy with proper diet and exercise. Here's a blog post about finding a good vet:
Dr. Kay’s 12 Things to Expect from Your Vet
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Lucy is using a lot of muscles that she didn't use to use, plus in a different way. She walks differently than she used to. Murphy had a front leg removed, but one of the things we've found that he loves is to massage his back & hips. At least once a day, sometimes a couple times a day, when he's laying on his side, we start massaging from his head all the way down his back, along his hips & down his back legs. He really loves it! He will arch his back & moan 
It seems to help loosen up the muscles and ease some of the stiffness for 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
Your friend should talk to her vet about portion sizes. They can calculate based on the specific food you feed. My 70 pound Tess get 2/3 cup kibble twice a day, and Otis, at 100 pounds, gets 1 cup twice a day. It does depend on the brand of food, but it sounds like too much kibble. Otis has lost 1 1/2 pounds since his amp, and Tess' weight has stayed constant.
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.
Dog food like pal can create weight issues as it is highly processed and cereal based giving the dog a lot of carbs so with out burning that excess carbs off they will gain weight I'm not sure on where you are or what food is available but if your friend was to get a heavier more nutritious feed she would be able to feed less and still give the dog the right amount of goodness needed and by cutting the dogs food back and feeding a portion of dinner for breakfast it will help keep the dogs metabolism burning through out the day.There is a free Advance online nutrition course your friend could read through or do its really helpful I have done it with the clinical nutrition module and it is a really good read with plenty of nutritional advice.
tankman said
There is a free Advance online nutrition course your friend could read through or do its really helpful I have done it with the clinical nutrition module and it is a really good read with plenty of nutritional advice.
Is this for humans or dogs? Do you happen to have a link for it? Sounds interesting.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Yeah Jerry it's an canine course with some cat stuff too it's an interesting read the website is nutrition.advancepet.com.au that will get you online to it you can just register and start it is a Mars pet food company funded course so there is a bit of self campaigning in it too.
Oh this is interesting, here's a link:
http://nutritio.....et.com.au/
I may sign up and take it to see what it's all about. Thanks for letting us know!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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