Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Gracie is a 14 month old girl who we adopted from the SPCA 7 months ago, 3 weeks after a full front leg amputation due to multiple untreated fractures and a deep bone infection. She is amazingly athletic and energetic and we have to "dose" out her exercise because she doesn't ever slow down on her own. Her favorite things are playing ball and playing with other young dogs. Due to her lack of front "brakes" she does a lot of sliding (not unlike a baseball player sliding in to "home"). After we adopted her I consulted with a very good ortho vet about her general health and to get tips on what we should and shouldn't let her do. We were told to let her be dog and enjoy her life but to limit steep hill hikes, jumping down off of things, and playing with other dogs on hard surfaces (to minimize impact to the now unproteced chest area). He said not to be nutty about it, but to avoid letting her play on sidewalks and with dogs that played in a way that included a lot of body slamming. We have done this, she always plays on grass, but young dogs play like crazy and she is no exception.
She has just developed a swelling at the amputation site. I felt it on Wednesday, it was the size of a superball and squishy. I made a vet appointment for Friday and by then it had more than tripled in size and changed in shape, wrapping around to her chest. The vet aspirated some fluid to look at and said it was very high in neutrophils but shows no signs of bacteria. Her best guess was a seroma from trauma. She prescribed hot compresses 3 x per day, Rimadyl, and very minimal exercise (no ball play, no running, no playing with other dogs for a week). If the swelling gets bigger, harder, or hotter we need to take her back in for a drain and antibiotics. My questions are these: I read about seromas and it seems they generally appear very soon after a pretty severe trauma or post surgically, otherwise they start out as hematomas (sometimes from repeated trauma) and as the body absorbs the blood they become seromas (other fuids fill the space). I do not think Gracie had a single hard trauma (and surgery was 7 months ago) so it makes more sense that it is from repeated trauma to that site form "skidding" on it and even from lying on that side all the time. Will this be an ongoing problem for her? Will the seroma site be now more prone to future seromas? Has anyone ever used a padded vest for chest protection? She is so young, and we hope will have many years of happy dog life and the idea that the things she loves most may be severely limited makes me so sad.
Any similar experiences or thoughts?
Hi Gracie and family welcome! I wanted to get your post approved but am on my phone now. I have some thoughts for you though and so will others so stay tuned. I'll be back later this afternoon.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi and welcome.
What kind of pup is Gracie? How big is she? Does she still have her shoulder blade or any part of her leg left?
I adopted my current Tripawd Elly when she was 10 months old. She lost her right rear leg at 7 months old after being hit by a car resulting in a fracture that was not repairable. Luckily she is half pug so that slows her down a bit but even now at almost 2 years old she is full of energy. I use balance exercises, food puzzles and obedience training every day in order to drain some of that energy, keep her fit and strong and challenge her brain. I recently took an very brief intro to nose work class and have added some of that to our routine. She loves to 'find it' and it is amazing how the combo of searching and sniffing wear her out!
I've had two rear tripawds so I can't speak directly to the issue of laying on the chest on the amp side, but I don't remember any posts about recurring seromas from laying on the amp side.
Here is a blog post from the Gear Blog about a chest protector dog jacket.
The RuffWear Webmaster Plus has some chest protection.
Do you do any balance or strength exercises with Gracie? I wonder if you work on her balance and core strength if she might not skid so much. I know when I got Elly she was 2.5 months post op but not very strong. We do walk everyday, which she loves, but even on our walks I try and incorporate exercises. We walk in deep grass, I have her walk around tree roots (nature's cavaletti course!) and have her balance on rocks and whatever we find.
I wouldn't think you have to eliminate her favorite things due to one injury, but you are smart to try and figure out the cause. It is a balance between letting them just be dogs and knowing they have a long life ahead without their spare.
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
Sooooo glad sweet Gracie found her furever home with you!!! She sounds like a real bundle of joy!!
You have done an EXCELLENT job in your research . I'm not able to give you any specific advice. We actually had a member on here not too long ago who jad something similar...kind of a seroma /hematoma kind of thing. Even though there was no traumatic hard hit that the owner observed, the dog does play full out. I think the same "treatment" plan your Gracie is doing is what worked for her.
It is such a fine line to taking good care of a tripawd without compromising who they are. It's especially hard when you have a firecracker of a young dog like you do with Gracie!
Joint supplements are a good thing to consider for long term benefits.
I have an adopted tripawd Coonhound who is a "wild and crazy'guy who loves laying full out and running like the wind. The thought of "going around" something in his path is not nearly as much fun to him as jumping over it! I cringe everytime! As careful as I try to be, I also recognize that this is HIS definition of quality and for me to try and reign him in would not allow him to be him. It's such a fine line.
In tbe meantime, you can get some "mind game puzzles" that keep dogs entertained. Maybe even some nose work training or something like that to keep her stimulated in a way that won't hurt her joints.
Others will chime in with more suggestions.
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!
krun15 said
Hi and welcome.What kind of pup is Gracie? How big is she? Does she still have her shoulder blade or any part of her leg left?
I adopted my current Tripawd Elly when she was 10 months old. She lost her right rear leg at 7 months old after being hit by a car resulting in a fracture that was not repairable. Luckily she is half pug so that slows her down a bit but even now at almost 2 years old she is full of energy. I use balance exercises, food puzzles and obedience training every day in order to drain some of that energy, keep her fit and strong and challenge her brain. I recently took an very brief intro to nose work class and have added some of that to our routine. She loves to 'find it' and it is amazing how the combo of searching and sniffing wear her out!
I've had two rear tripawds so I can't speak directly to the issue of laying on the chest on the amp side, but I don't remember any posts about recurring seromas from laying on the amp side.
Here is a blog post from the Gear Blog about a chest protector dog jacket.
The RuffWear Webmaster Plus has some chest protection.
Do you do any balance or strength exercises with Gracie? I wonder if you work on her balance and core strength if she might not skid so much. I know when I got Elly she was 2.5 months post op but not very strong. We do walk everyday, which she loves, but even on our walks I try and incorporate exercises. We walk in deep grass, I have her walk around tree roots (nature's cavaletti course!) and have her balance on rocks and whatever we find.
I wouldn't think you have to eliminate her favorite things due to one injury, but you are smart to try and figure out the cause. It is a balance between letting them just be dogs and knowing they have a long life ahead without their spare.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Thanks all of you for the great tips! Gracie is 47 lbs, a shepherd/cattle/pit mix (best guesses). She has nothing left, no shoulderblade, and she has a very large ribcage.
We do lots of "find-it"! games, as well as putting food in puzzles (layers of cereal and cracker boxes- she loves this, tears up cardboard all over the place! She loves to learn new commands so we will play with her that way for a few days. Luckily she seems to actually enjoy the warm compresses, just melts o to the carper and sort of "snorks" around! I am really hoping this was a fluke and won't be a repeating issue.
I think I will play around with making a slightly padded vest with an elbow sleeve for the remaining leg (she also has no fur, and abrasions around the elbow of her existing forleg).
This site is so great, really happy to have found you all. We love Gracie so much and are totally up to all of her physical challenges (not always sure about the behavioral ones though!!!). LOL!!
Well don't you just love the people in this community?! There's such pawesome advice already, I ditto everything Sally and Karen said. Oh by the way no need to re-quote others' entire postings each time you reply, just click the Reply button. It saves server space and keeps the site from getting overloaded. If you have any questions on that just holler.
You are really doing great with her and I love how you're aware of the importance of mind games and mental stimulation. And your ortho vet's advice was spot on too. I would suggest doing more of that so she's a little more tired out throughout the day. Like you said, it's a puppy thing and in time she'll mellow out a bit. Meanwhile it's up to Tripawd parents to regulate activity, make sure the pup gets enough breaks inbetween play sessions and doesn't over do it.
Oh and I can't recall anyone having issues with a repeated seroma so hopefully this is an anomaly. Try the chest protector idea and let us know if it works!
We're glad you found us too 🙂
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for the tips! I feel so relieved having a whole community of tripawd families at my fingertips.
Re: joint supplements, we give salmon oil and glucosamine. Are there other things people recommend?
Hi Gracie and family! Welcome, and DITTO, Gracie is so lucky to have found a home with you.
Re: joint supplements, we give salmon oil and glucosamine. Are there other things people recommend?
I give my girls Dasuquin for their joints, this contains Glucosamine and a lot of other goodies too. I also give them fish oil, (check that it's high in EPA and has been tested for Mercury contamination).
Re appropriate activity. I agree, you absolutely want Gracie to be a dog and enjoy doing dog things. The one note of caution, based on what various orthos have said to me, concerns playing a lot with a ball. Chasing a ball involves repeated sudden turns and abrupt halts, and sometimes jumping too. All of these have high injury potential especially for a Tripawd. My Meg, who is also a rescue (though I rescued her pre amp) came to me with a total ball obsession. It gives her such utter, giddy joy, that I have found it very hard to say no to her, especially as even if I don't give her one, she has a way of sniffing them out on walks, any ball within a five mile radius... What I do now is (almost entirely) save balls for retrieving from water. I don't know if Gracie likes to swim? Throwing a ball in a lake/pond/river etc. gets around these physical impact issues, and means that she still gets to play with it.
I also have a phrase to tell her the ball game is now over "Nuff bally" (!), and then I put the ball in my bag and amazingly, she does seem to accept this.
All best to you and Gracie,
Meg and Clare (and Elsie Pie) xxx
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, 23 November 2023, adopted 12 January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
Dasuquin- thanks! I think I gave that to my old girl a few years ago (R.I.P. Esme Squalor).
Gracie is a foreleg amputee and we had a scary water experience with her, she doesn't seem to be able to keep herself afloat so we need a life vest. And, we don;t have any really good water bodies near us that don't have waves. I think we may be playing too much ball with her- twice a day she gets a good, intense ball play on a big lawn near our house. She does lots of skidding, because we have been trying to avoid lots of jumping by not throwing the ball too high. We may have to find another solution- she is a complete ball nut! She also sniffs them out! And sits in a perfect, beautiful sit near her basket (which is kept up high with her toys and balls in it) and looks up wagging her tail for long periods of time- she would like to have a ball in her mouth most of the time- she even likes to have a ball in her mouth when she plays with other dogs! We also use an, "all done", when play is finished which she mostly accepts.
Thank you all!!
Esme Squalor, love it! A fellow Salinger fan.
Meg is also a front leg amputee. She lost her right foreleg and shoulder just over seven months ago. She was a little anxious about water at first, and was definitely lower in the water, so I got her a ruffwear swimvest. This works really well and I still use it if we go to the sea or a large expanse of water just for safety, but in the local ponds etc., she's really fine, and she swims every day.
Obviously, if you don't have water near you, it's not an option, or not regularly anyway. In my experience, though Meg is smaller than Gracie (just over 30 pounds) you don't much need water to have a great time. Meg would swim in a puddle, to be honest. But clearly, you do need something.
In terms of ball play, I can obviously only pass on what I've been told, and it may or may not be applicable to Gracie and her particular situation, but certainly two 'good, intense' sessions with a ball each day, sounds like a lot to me.
Would it be possible for you to take Gracie to see a rehab vet? Even just a single session, might be extremely helpful in terms of getting advice specific to Gracie and her needs? They would be able to advise on appropriate exercise and give you exercises to do at home to build up her core strength. I my experience, because rehab vets often work with dogs over a period of time, and are trained specifically in rehabilitation, their advice is particularly helpful.
Anyway, you are asking all the right questions and will definitely find what works for Gracie. She is one very lucky dog. Now how about a photo????
Warmest,
Meg, Clare and Elsie Pie xxx
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, 23 November 2023, adopted 12 January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
This is just a test...attaching a photo is really convoluted; I must be missing something, never had so many odd steps to make this work. And...sorry if the photo is too large; I tried to resize. I will send more photos as soon as I can streamline the process.
opossumgal said
..attaching a photo is really convoluted...
Not really, you just need to follow these instructions for adding photos to forum posts and use the right link.
It looks like you attempted to link to an attachment in your Gmail.
The image link must end in a valid image file format like .jpg or .png.
This is the link you pasted:
.../mail-attachment.googleusercontent.com/attachment/u/0/?ui=2&ik=5ac47e783d&view=att&th=15458ac5ffacfb73&attid=0.1&disp=safe&realattid=1532783824990109696-local0&zw&saddbat=ANGjdJ-jUi-02BJ1RVB_FqKwrma8rt6KyZa83QJvg9QhNOcTvvkgOIwyLuZ3jnahJBqTvtdobS4x6q_R4Z3yL-rNJf_7RfXgg5A4V_nQOgeYVB_Z5tjbrD7z4h3r0f86TtrKgR2eyfxu0Mq36EO_q3ArVmdUZW4QWbW13Y9OPr_7vPYMu4QxJtgSBlbLGz3N4eO3TNoPsgvhKhIgJhTXDB5TOQOBGIMUKqjiYqkWi2_yR7-CvghlW7J70tgy1SkI3fF1VwQ8mryD6VB9u3e0ysExcbB1FrwLpRsx1Z9n6omhloUpgmkJdvQ6f2uaij2dovS88RVelU3F-ECi9-5f-ost4J9tldjBZH7FPZIy4SVcQWzHypIQ4mzPrO_ASQ9wyyqSg4vKn9e57DYXrWd3eSK4uug5kws_uLasQAU4zZ-Gabn1O5v2NdeuOn3guKUUshS4t-F8prdcHwZjqCdRUCmWRtGJ_Yr-rkPktNaFnJWNWYQCIbAaD00RFtukzSyZXgBhsLS60i0sEm-
That won't work.
The image URL should look more like:
...//website.tld/folder/path/filename.jpg
Try viewing the image in your browser... Right/Control Click on the image... Copy the image file location.
Or start a free Tripawds Blog and upload your files there.
Hope this helps! 
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
opossumgal said
Another photo of Gracie...
FYI: You cannot link to an email attachment. See previous comment for details, and drop by the Live Chat, send a PM or post in the Tech Support forum for more help...
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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