Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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Hello Tripawd family,
Dior is now 4 days post amputation and she is doing great. It is still hard at times for her to adjust to being on 3 legs but she is definitely a fighter. We joined the research study through UPENN and they have been great. It is a little tricky getting from Brooklyn to Philly but we have managed to make it work. I appreciate the support and advice everyone has given. Reading through others blogs/forums helped me feel a step ahead of the game. The sutures do make me nervous. She has been banging her head in many places around the house and I have considered buying the E-Collar alternative which looks like a dog onesie. Has anyone else tried this?
Hi Dior and family! I'm so glad to hear she's done well after surgery.
My dog is a front amp and I used a shirt/jacket instead of an E-collar because Jack never figured out how to navigate with the collar. It worked well for me, for the most part. After a couple of weeks the stitches became itchy and she bit through it, but in the meantime, it was worth it.
By the way, I'm a PhD student at Penn (in Wharton, which is near the Vet school). If you ever need anything, don't hesitate to ask - classes are out now and I'm around campus most of the time.
After 2 days, we also switched to the T-shirt for front amp Otis. The cone was cutting into his neck, actually cutting the skin. The T-shirt worked fine, but we also had someone home to watch him for at least the first 7 days. At times, we had to pull the shirt down a bit, if it rode up he would start licking, but for the most part, it worked perfectly. By the way, it was about the end of the first week when I saw Otis standing in "tripawd" position, with the front leg under the center of his body. They do adjust, just let Dior go at his own pace.
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.
Thanks for the Great Update! 
You will find many cone of shame alternatives in the Tripawds Gear blog . Many members find an old t-shirt helpful for protecting the incision area and keeping it clean.
Best wishes for a speedy recovery, lease keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Good luck! We took off the cone of shame as soon as we got to the car after picking Quincy up. Put a tshirt on and it worked like a charm until the stitches came out on day 13. Quincy adapted well but they all have their own pace. Dior will figure it out.
You've gotten grea t suggestions. I was lucky in that Happy Hannah never had to wear a cone or tee shirt. Sje just wasn't I interested in her incision.
Juxt wanted to say how glad I am Diro is adjusting so well! It's still very early in recovery and you may have a few ups and downs before her sparkle comes back consistently.
Keep us posted on the research program Dior has joined.
Oh, and you'll soon forget Diro even jad the surgery, especially once her fur grows I ! Those surgeons sure do like to shave a lot of fur!
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!
I am trying to figure out how to put pictures on here 🙁 lol I am not the most tech savvy but wanted to keep everyone up to date. I appreciate all of the feedback and advice given!
Dior has been moving around great but I have been debating on getting her traction shoes because of our wood floors. Has any one else had success with a large dog and traction shoes?
I was wondering if there is anything for dogs close to a non-skid wax like the ones we use on surfboards. This would help a lot. I don't have wood floors but since Golden retrievers are furry creatures I have to trim the feet pads every two weeks and keep the nails very well clipped.
Regarding pictures, you have to put them on Google Drive or Photobucket and put the link here.
Daniela & Johnnie
Our awesome Golden Boy was diagnosed for OSA in April 2014 in the proximal humerus, front-leg amp on 05/20/2014. Finished chemo (Carbo6) on 07/10/2014. Ongoing treatment: acupuncture + K-9 Immunity Plus ( 3chews) and home-cooked no-grain diet. Stopped Apocaps because of liver issues. Liver issues: controlling altered enzymes with SAM-e and Milk Thistle. October 17: started having seizures. Taking fenobarbital for seizures. April 18: started prednisone.
I bought industrial floor mats (Home Depot, Target or Menards type stores have them) and spread them throughout the house. Yoga mats work too, but you can't really vacuum over them. 😀. I'm not sure Otis would wear booties so never really thought to try that.
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.
diorthedane said
I am trying to figure out how to put pictures on here...
Here are detailed instructions for adding photos to forum posts
. If you don't already share photos online somewhere, you can start a free Tripawds blog
any time and upload them there.
Need further help? Post in the Tech Support forum
!
Has any one else had success with a large dog and traction shoes?
Click any of the highlighted traction links for our best recommendations! For dogs who are not used to wearing boots, we highly suggest starting with Power Paws Traction socks or PAWz dog booties to see how they tolerate those first.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Daniela & Johnnie said
I was wondering if there is anything for dogs close to a non-skid wax like the ones we use on surfboards.
Yes! Musher's Wax provides good traction on slick floors too.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Ok.. so I might be going crazy because all in a 24 hour period we have hit a road block. Dior has been eating and drinking just fine but is not getting around well at all. The first two days home she hopped around with no issues but yesterday night she did not want to walk/move during her potty break. We finally made it the 15ft to the grass and back but the lack of mobility continued in the house. For some reason she will move backwards rather than forwards "as it seems to be more comfortable." When she tries to walk she is very off balance and refuses to take any steps. Has anyone seen this before? I sent my vet a video and have been waiting for a response for a few hours now... Any advice?
Okay...deep breaths!
Most likely a pulled or strained "something". Dior is a big dog and takes a lot of .muscle and joint adjustment for about thirty days for things to get worked out.
It's less than s week since surgery so I'm sure she's still a bit sore and uncomfortable from that. How so the stitches look? Anything look like it's tugging or pinching the incision?
Just throwing things out there til your vet gets back in touch.
Oh, one more thing. Since you have hardwoods and haven't gotten traction rugs yet, is it possible she had a face plant and maybe hurt herself that way.
Another thought for the balance issues, possibly meds related...maybe a bit woozy from hre pain meds?
Can you post video here?
Eating and drinking all good signs! Hang in there! Probably related to overdoing it and tweaking something.
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!
Darn I was hoping since we chatted that things were on the upswing. I'm sorry to hear she's still not feeling well. Take a deep breath, know that this is still very soon in the recovery process and not too atypical, especially in giant breeds. let us know what your vet says OK? We are sending lots of pawsitivity your way.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Just thought of something: what are your floors like? Do you have traction down?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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