Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Week 23: 

We celebrated Bacon's 12th birthday Friday May 13, 2016. He is now 12 years old. On November 30, 2015 we were told Bacon had 3 months to live if we did nothing. We are now on 23 weeks and 6 days (almost 6 months) since that aweful news. Because of surgery (and 4 rounds of iv chemo) he has flown past that sentence by 3 months and counting. 

He is doing well. He still attends PT one time per week for floor exercises and pool therapy. Last session I requested we stop the underwater treadmill as it did not seem to be doing much. He had 12 water treadmill sessions. He is now taken in the pool and loving every minute. I was afraid of how he would swim. Prior to amputation he could have been a Navy SEAL with how stealth he was in the water. He now wears a life vest and is still a good swimmer. He took back to it immediately. You have to watch them carefully when they swim. They tire fast and may need assistance keeping their heads up. He will NOT be in the water without Jason, me, or a therapist right with him. 

We walk him around the outside of the house because our home is built into a hill. He stays on the grass so there is padding under his feet. He is able to make it around the house (at a fast pace and many times running up the hills) twice two times per day - morning and night. That may not seem like a lot but we are fine with that. We are working on increasing his stamina. We bought him a big dog stroller we use for walks on the cement. He walks as far as he can then we put him in the stroller. Once he is rests and wants back out we get him out again. This is repeated for the whole 3 mile walk. 

I purchased Musher's Secret for his right back paw pad. He pivots on this foot (he is a left front amputee) so that paw pad takes a beating. Thus far it seems to be helping. The balloon shoes did not seem to help him much although I was surprised that he did not mind wearing them at all. 

One very important thing for new tripawd parents: WARCH YOUR TRIPAWDS NEAR STAIRS. We have a baby gate at the top of the stairs that lead to the basement. Since surgery Bacon had never attempted to go down the stairs alone but now that he has had therapy HE thinks it's OK for him to do it alone. I headed down the stairs the other day without thinking to close the baby gate because I was coming right back up. Guess who was halfway down the stairs by the time I reached the landing?! BACON. It put us both in a precarious position (my fault totally) because he only had his collar on. I had very little on him (no Help Me Up harness on him) to help him and you should never hold them by the collar going up or down stairs as you can choke them. He is 78 lbs now and a lot of furkid. I held one hand in front of his chest and the other around his waist and guided him all the way down, turned him around, and kept my hands under him on the way back up. I thanked the Universe we both did not tumble down the stairs. As much as he wants to be like his old self (swim w/o a life vest, go up and down stairs, jump on and off bed and couch, jump out of the car wtc.) we have to prevent him or assist him if it means he could get hurt. The Help Me Up harness helps me a lot and it keeps him safe. 

I am still getting him Adequan injections 1x/mth. This is to keep his joints cushioned. Other than that he does not take any medications.

For 12 years old he is very spry. He still loves to rough house with Hamlet (his 8 yr old brother) and act like a puppy around us. Although deciding to amputate is a very hard decision I see he is happy to be with us. He is out of all pain and lives like a King. 

Keep on truckin' Otis! I will post the brand if the stroller later in the week. I'm away from home right now and I need to look at it for the name. Bacon is 79 lbs now after surgery. He was 89 lbs. He is a big boy, big boned. I would say any dog bigger than that probably would not fit the stroller. Bacon just fits. He does seem to like it though. Does Otis pant and breathe really heavily when you walk him? Bacon sounds like he ran a marathon. Chest x-rays are clear so assuming the added effort is what is causing it. 

Have you talked to your vet about Adequan injections for the arthritis? It has good research backing it up. There is a 4-6 week loading dose period then just once monthly injections. 

Thanks guys! 

Bacon had been limping on his back leg. Went to msu today for evaluation. He has a torn acl. Although they will do surgery if we want they said the recovery would be very difficult for him being a tripawd. Given that, what he has been through already this past 6 months, and his age, we are not going to get surgery. 

I have an appointment tomorrow with a specialist to see about a custom knee brace. Does anyone have any experience with knee braces for this issue? I'm wondering if they are truly helpful.