Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Alright guys, you know how rear amps 'air scratch' their ears/chin/face etc on the side of the amputation (left for meg), i.e. turn their heads towards where their leg once was and move their stump around like crazy, and then you jump up and itch for them? Or they give you an upset look, or rub the itch on something?
Well, Meg has started doing that with her right side, the side she can still scratch. The last week or so, instead of scratching an itch she'll just shake her head, desperately look at me to scratch or rub the itch. I thought this was just her being lazy/getting confused about what side she can and can't itch. But then last night I noticed she 'air scratched' with her right side, turned her head to the right, her upper rear right leg muscles were twitching and moving, but the lower part of the leg she needed to move to scratch stayed put? Then she looked at me to itch!
Has anyone else had this before in the first year after amputation? Do you think she just being lazy and expecting me to itch all her scratches, or her brain is just getting confused as it rewires and tries to figure out how to itch all those left side scratches and really learn theres no more leg there?
Good to hear from yiu!! Love seeing that avatar picture always!!
I have noooooo idea what's going on with that weird itching (or "non itching")! Maybe some others have ideas. I suppose it cpuld be some sort of confusion. She knows you need to scratch her left side for her and maybe she "forgets" she can scratch her right side by herself...maybe?? Have no clue. There isnr any tenderness or soreness with her right leg, right? No sore back issue like a pinched nerve or something that could be interfering with her ability to scratch? She walks okay?
Maybe some others will have some ideas.
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!
She has had a bit of nerve pain/phantom pain on her left side the last few weeks, so I figure there is some sort of nerve/brain rewiring happening and there might be a bit of cross over with what her brain thinks she can do with her left 'leg' and her right leg??
Other than that she has been walking fine and doesn't seem to have any issues with the right leg other than general tripawd soreness which we massage her for.
I thinking she might just be confused about what she can and can't itch, hopefully it leads to her learning not to try to scratch the left side with the stump and work on her other methods. Nothing I'm awfully stressed over, just an odd little quirk!
Or, she just realizes that you will come pay attention to her. . . Some times I think they are way smarter than we are. 
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.
I don't remember Maggie ever doing that, and I haven't noticed Elly doing it either but she is a year and 7 months past her amp.
Maggie at some point stopped doing the 'air scratch', I think it was a few months post amp, she would just rub her chin on me or the furniture or her sister. Elly still does her version of the 'air scratch' although she doesn't have a stump. There is a bit of muscle movement and she forms her body into a 'C', bending her neck to get her head closer to where her leg was. Elly does put her chin in my hand when she needs the right side scratched!
I hope all is well otherwise!
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
Yes thats what Meg does, goes into a C and waves the stump. Occasionally she is so desperate she gets her neck or ear to the stump, only to realise it isn't very good for scratching 
.
She has had a few more upper leg twitching issues where her lower leg doesn't move to do the scratching, and she goes into the C position. If I poke her foot she realises and then scratches. I think she is just forgetting which side the stump is and which side the leg is.
Does she ever knuckle any of her feet?
You might try massaging and manipulating her one back foot when she is laying with you. Quad pug Tani had some proprioception issues and sometimes dragged or knuckled her back feet. I would massage and move her back feet around (when she let me, she didn't like to be touched much). The theory is that it helps the brain connect with the extremity. Maybe it would help Meg's back leg 'remember' what it is supposed to do.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Good tip Karen, will start working that into her morning massage and scratch routine. I have noticed she loves army crawling around on her belly/just using her front legs a lot more lately (to scratch her belly on the carpet), and then sometimes just gets up on her front feet and leaves the back one being dragged for a few moments
It might be worth having a Rehab vet look at her if you can. Sounds like something more going on than her foot 'forgetting' what to do. Maybe a back issue? Maybe she tweaked something. Tani had chiropractic treatments which really helped her. I think because of her odd gait (although on 4 paws) her back would be out of alignment. She was very perky after each adjustment.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi,
maybe it's also worth investing a little time in making her a little more "body-conscious", with little exercises like cookie-stretches? What we also do during our dog training (sport) is to let them stand on an uneven surface and then sweep our hands over the dog's body including the legs to make them more aware of their bodies and limbs and maybe even massaging a little.
hope this helps!!
tina
Guardian of Manni the Wonderdog. -Or was it the other way around?
Osteo and amputation in Dec 2015. Second, inoperable, primary osteosarcoma found in June 2017.
The end of our adventures came Dec 10, 2017. 2 years to the day.
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