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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Hi everyone, new to these forums and wishing everyone the best in their three legged adventures.
Our cat Charlie has had a rear leg amputated four weeks or so ago and recovery has mostly been really good - he's getting more active and back to his usual self.
Unfortunately he's had some loose stools / diarrhoea today, and this has presented a new significant issue. It's getting all over his remaining rear leg and consequently is getting spread everywhere. The problem isn't his litter tray - he gets in fine and appears to have plenty of room. The issue is he seems to stand up to do his business, and the remaining leg is planted centrally now to keep balance.
Short of accosting him with wet wipes straight away every time, is there anything more practical we can do to manage this? I have a busy job and my partner is heavily pregnant so we've got limited capacity to manage this. We're also going to reach out to the vets but would appreciate any advice from the community.
Hi Jonathan,
Welcome to the club nopawdy wants to join! What was the reason for Charlie's amputation?
So he's standing OK but the loose stools are just not getting into the box because of where his leg is planted? He's not actually showing rear end weakness is he?
When it comes to Tripawds, that's pretty much the stance they use to balance (as you already know). Trying to modify that would be difficult I would think. I haven't heard of anyone reporting this type of issue, so I'm hoping that some of our cat members can chime in with ideas on how to cope with the mess.
Hi Jonathan and Charlie,
Nice to meet you, though I wish it had been under different circumstances. Sorry to hear that something upset Charlie's digestion. But great to hear that otherwise he is doing fine in his recovery!
Tuxedo, my fur baby, lost his rear leg and partial pelvis due to trauma over six years ago. Would you believe in those years, he never has had diarrhea. Hopefully he won't ever. Today I have been watching the litterbox to see if I could spot anything while might help you and Charlie. Tuxedo also plants his remaining leg closer to center when he goes. But one thing I did note is that he also braces against the wall on the missing leg side. His litterbox is the in the corner. I do not know if that really helps him any or he just does it because the wall is there. Figured I would mention it just in case.
Best Wishes,
-Dawna, Tuxedo, Lilly and Angel Dazzle
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