Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Good morning! Another update for Jelli because we (mostly me) had a stressful morning over human error. She had a bout of diarrhea in the early morning, which is concerning because she has IBD. I cleaned her up then picked her up onto my bed with me for some cuddle time (a mistake) as I waited for the vet office to open. Called when they did then gave her the pain medicine and readjusted the onesie when I noticed the whole underneath her and the blankets were damp and Jelli was shivering. I smelt her and the blankets and nope, no urine smell. I still have a hard time looking super closely at the staples/sutras but nothing seemed off. Still, I panicked called the vet and said I was on my way. Felt a little bad about forcing them to squeeze me in between appointments but I figure if something tore that would have been a bigger emergency.

Jelli was able to see her primary vet who was concerned about her anemia. Apparently it was lower than what the vet who oversaw her for the surgery let on and her primary didn't feel comfortable about waiting two weeks to retest. 

Her staples and sutras were all perfectly fine and her anemia is stable with lots of baby red blood cells forming. So they sent us home with a pro-biotic and anti-diarrheal medicine with the theory that she must have wet herself and perhaps it was too dilute to give off an odor. I feel like this is the case because now that I'm home an hour later, the blankets are starting to smell like urine.

But on to the good news! While it was diarrhea, she did manage to get into the litterbox herself to go in the back corner by herself! She couldn't quite manage to get out herself but I was awake and had to clean her anyways. She's also managing to stand/sit up a lot longer when she goes to drink water before she resorts to laying down while drinking. Day two and her movement is pretty solid!

mommatux said
During Tuxedo's recovery, I used pizza boxes as temporary litter boxes.  My vet also advised using torn/large shreds of newspaper to minimize the chances of getting anything in the wound. The boxes had low sides and no need to clean anything. When it got messy, I just closed the lid and threw it away.

That is a very good idea! Right now I have the cardboard bottom to a Costco-sized case of soda that I think will work well but I'm definitely thinking about ordering a pizza in the next few days!

Hi Tanja! I'm glad that my updates with Jelli are able to help you! I hope Scott's recovery goes well for you, it certainly is very stressful on us humans. And to repeat what the others have said, I really do recommend making an account and your own thread- it's certainly what helped me keep my mind!

On to updates for Jelli! This morning I woke up to her complaining because I DARED sleep in when I should have been giving her breakfast. Truly, hers is the most miserable life. After feeding her, I went to lay down again and she once again tried to climb up onto my bed with me for some cuddle time (with no pee this time). It was the loudest I've heard her purr in a long time. Eventually, I got up and turned my back to her for a moment to grab a new onesie to change her into (I bought some dinosaur ones!) and what do I see but her try to jump off the bed (don't worry I stopped her)! After seeing that, I wonder if she realizes she's down a leg

She's still doing great with the eating and drinking. And she's still determined to use the litterbox and I believe she's figuring out how to get out by herself. Still takes some time but I can't complain with how well she's doing!

Anyways, here's a pic of her in one of her new onesies 😁

jerry said
Oh my gosh what a cutie patootie! She looks super comfy in the onesie, is she tolerating them now?

Absolutely not 😁 She's willing to stay in them when she's resting but after a few hours she wiggles her way out them. So far she hasn't tried messing with the staples/sutras so I believe it's currently just an uncomfortable issue.

But for the good news! We had a bowel movement this morning and it was solid! I'm thinking the diarrhea was because I gave her a can of Friskies for her after the surgery to encourage her to eat because it's more like junk food for her. But she bounced back quick in that regard.

Yesterday was a little more... rough? Lethargic is a little too harsh but she was definitely more tired yesterday. This morning though? Back to being a brat. Wanted up with me in the morning, then wanted to jump down by herself, managed to wiggle herself UNDER my bed while I was grabbing coffee then wiggled her way back out when she noticed I had breakfast for her.

I do have a concern if anyone can share some advice: so the modified litterbox is working great because she doesn't have to step into it but she loses traction on the litter. Should I try switching to pellets (which she's never used) to see if that helps or keep the litter so she can get more practice with it?

Ending on another picture of Jelli, this one from cuddle time this morning.

Woo Tanja! Looking forward to hearing more about Scott in the future!

Leaux! Thank you so much for sharing! That's actually the box I have for Jelli when she starting showing signs of arthritis. And she's falling down in the exact same say since she's not able to balance and squat yet. I'm thinking about using the cut out cardboard boxes for a little while longer while she learns to get steady then moving back to her kitty go here box. At least until she's on a lower dose of pain meds.

She's wiggling out of her onesies head first since yes, her shoulder blade was removed with the leg. I would love to see your modification if you ever share it!

Thanks for sharing. I looked at the blog posts you have of Luanne and I feel more confident now that Jelli will recover strong!