Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Ollie has tested positive for a myriad of allergens, but the primary one was as we figured...dust mites. He is also allergic to a number of different grasses and grass "smut", as well as maple trees. Guess what kind of trees we have a predominance of in this neighborhood, with two of them in our front yard.
He starts on an anti-itch med today and will take that for the next 30 days. His doctor is formulating an antigen serum that we will give by injection for the next who-knows-how-long, depending on how it is working.
So much for us being blessed with a "normal" dog this time. Instead we have Ollie, who is so very fortunate that he came to us instead of someone who doesn't believe in treating their pets as family. We are the far more fortunate ones, though, for having Ollie in our lives.
BTW, the tech at the clinic told us that they didn't really want to bring him back to us. Everyone loves him! But we knew that.
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the Labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Oh no... that's tough. I feel his pain. Jasper gets the itchies too and I was told "seasonal" but since LA has basically ONE season (dry), I am assuming she's allergic to LA. But she also had super bad itchies when we were in Portland and Seattle last week so I think there it was dry skin (I was itching too) and dry air and the heaters. She gets allergy meds when she starts scratching a lot and I am supposed to bathe her more frequently. I'm a bad mom since it's been a while since she's had a bath but I'm taking her this weekend.
Shelby never had any allergies and was the most low-maintenance dog until she became a very expensive dog!
But they are family so we do what we do. I never considered dust mites though. I should ask our vet about that. I hate drugging her but I don't think I can fix this holistically.
Good luck!
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Ollie's dermatologist (she was Gus' doctor, too) said that we can never really get rid of dust mites. They are everywhere. Even if we were to tear out all our carpets ( which is on the plan for springtime anyway), get rid of all upholstered furniture, books and bedding, and even if we were to fumigate the entire house, those pesky little bugs would come back in from outdoors the first time we walked in the door. Apparently keeping the house at high humidity when Ollie had kennel cough last month was just fine with the mites. They like humidity.
So we will vacuum more frequently, shampoo the carpet more frequently, bathe the dog more frequently, etc., etc., etc., and we will hope that the antigen serum works well. The anti-itch is already helping. Unfortunately, there is little we can do about the outdoor allergens, short of tearing out all the landscaping and planting concrete. The neighbors would probably object to us cutting down their trees.
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the Labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Spirit Trouble's mom Shanna once told me that these pups come into our lives because we are willing and able to take care of them.
I gave up on normal dogs along time ago. I'm hoping that since Elly has already been hit by a car, lost a leg, and had double eye surgery that the worst is behind us 
Allergy dogs are tough, I have other friends who have them. Obie is allergic to grass and something else seasonal but he is pretty easy to keep comfortable.
I hope the meds work for Ollie.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Me, too!
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Ha, we're going through this too w/ our quadpaw "normal dog this time" too. It is the first time we've dealt w/ allergies---in fact, we didn't even recognize the symptoms (the shedding, the loss of hair etc) until he gave himself a skin infection w/ all the licking. Duh.
Toby seems to get itchies at both ends---ears and anal gland---so the vet is suspecting food allergies first. We're on our a limited ingredient diet now (venison and sweet potato) and he's doing really good. His fur has come back, he's soft as a bunny and he's so much happier! We'll move on to another limited ingredient food in another month or so to try to pin it down. I suspect Chicken is the main culprit but I have no proof yet. We want to do the allergy testing too, since he could also have seasonal allergies (which have been fine now that it is winter). I'm just waiting to find out that he's allergic to dust, since we have the dustiest house I've ever lived in!
But I adore my Tobster no matter what!
Denise.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
We did the limited ingredient diet, too, but Ollie didn't get any better or any worse. He was on venison and potato, and we made all of the dog treats ourselves...dehydrated sweet potato and dehydrated elk. He loves those treats, so they will remain in his diet. Both our family vet and the dermatologist told us that only approximately ten percent of allergic dogs have food allergies. Most appear to be environmental.
Chicken is sooo pervasive in dog food and particularly in their treats. There were only a couple that we found that did NOT have chicken in them. Surprisingly, one was Milk Bones. Gus was quite sensitive to chicken, so we were always on the lookout. We changed Ollie back onto Earthborn after the waaaay expensive limited ingredient food. Instead of the ocean variety, he is back onto the prairie, which has lamb. He does better on this, gut-wise, probably because it is higher in fiber than the fish one was.
We are starting to look around at new floor coverings. Still not decided on which we really want, although I do know that my upstairs sewing room/bonus room will get linoleum. I hate having carpet in there anyway and have wanted to change that out ever since we moved into this house. As far as the rest of the house goes, whatever is easiest to keep the dust out of will be the answer.
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the itchy Labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Hi Kathy,
Allergies are so hard to deal with but it sounds like you have a well thought out strategy in place.
I just wanted to comment about putting linoleum in your sewing room. As you may already know most "linoleum" sold these days is actually vinyl flooring which off gases. I don't know if that will affect Ollie. One product which supposedly does not off gas toxic VOCs is Marmoleum. There may be others. I suspect it is more expensive and is generally used in commercial applications but I have seen it in homes.
I hope your itchy Labradork gets some comfort soon. Hugs to both of you.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
At first, I was hoping that Toby's allergies would be environmental since I thought food would be harder to deal with. But now I think we'll actually be lucky if he's one of the minority where it is a food allergy because we control what he eats. And he's doing so well---I mark each "itchy butt" on a calendar and he's down to at most 1 mild episode per week. When we first adopted him, we thought it was sort of cute how he'd grab his tail in his mouth and sort of spin like a top on his butt, wheeling himself around by pushing off with one leg. We thought it was a game he'd taught himself. He'd go on for a good 15-20 minutes, just driving himself to exhaustion. We did check his anal glands a couple of times, but they were never full. It was only after he developed the skin infection that we discovered his anal glands were probably just itchy.
Our vet recommended doing the food trials first, since the allergist would probably want that data point anyway. And it takes so long to see a vet dermatologist (only 3 here in Maryland) we might as well try this in the meantime.
Denise and Toby Two-Toes too!
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
Kerren... that is so interesting what you had to say about linoleum. Right around the time I got Jasper, my apt flooded and I had the carpets replaced with that pergo / fake wood. I wonder if that is what causes her itches (and my migraines). But I also think Jasper is just allergic to air, sadly. I also removed a lot of things from her diet and like Kathi's vet - mine also said it was rare to have food allergies (we do keep chicken out of our diet though since i know it's a high allergen). Jasper eats lentils and lamb for dinner and her many veggies (spinach, green beans, baby carrots). We try and keep her carb free since I have heard sweet potatoes and the sugar can cause itchies.
It's just tricky. I know I need to bathe Jasper MUCH more and perhaps she does just have dry skin but her itching was SO bad in the PNW, I definitely figured it must be dry skin. She cannot be allergic to my home state!!!
Good luck all..... I remember growing up w/dogs ... we never dealt with these issues!
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Hi Kathi, just wantd to chime in with the allergy talk....both Nitro and Kodi have allergies 
Nitro is on 2 different chinese herbs and Zyrtec to help him cope. He seems to have them year round, but definetely worse in the summer. Kodi is able to get Apoquel - the alleged new wonder drug for allergies that works at the cellular level before the histamines get released. It's in such demand, that it's hard to come by; my vet has the dosage for a small dog, but so far Nitro is out of luck. The drawback is that its a little on the pricey side; a 30 day supply costs $49.50. Which I guess isn't that bad, come to think of it; I don't know what the cost would be for an 80 lb dog like Nitro.
I get so tired of saying "STOP LICKING" and they probably get tired of hearing me say it too!
Paula
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
Thanks, Paula. Ollie has tried the antihistamines, and unfortunately he is one of the dogs that it didn't work on. The anti-itch med he is on right now is Apoquil, but because it is so new, and because he is so young, his dermatologist doesn't really want to put him on it long term. She would rather know what the long term effects of the drug will be before setting out on that course of treatment. He has had a couple of short courses of it previously, and it did help. Even today, after only two days on it, he is much less itchy. Our local vet only gets a very limited supply of it, but the dermatologist has more access to it. Right now, we are going with the de-sentization program to see how that works.
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the Labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Forgot one other thing. Ollie's regular vet had given us some oatmeal and aloe shampoo to try on him. It just seemed to make him itchier. The dermatologist said that some dogs react to oatmeal and not to use that shampoo. It turned out that one of his allergens is oat grasses, so that's probably why the oatmeal shampoo wasn't soothing.
Kathi
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Jasper got Apoquel also. No problems getting it here in LA but it is very $$$ for sure. We use it once a week (as needed). That was after we were on it daily for a week. I feel so bad for the itching. But the licking has eased up - thankfully!
Interesting about the oatmeal soap. I never thought of that. I just bathed Jasper yesterday at one of those "do it yourself" place and they had oatmeal soap and conditioner. I used the sensitive skin shampoo but the oatmeal conditioner. Her itchies are a little better today but not perfect. Will remember that next time. These poor kids!
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Interesting "stuff" everybody!
Kathi, you and Garry would br soooo bored sith a "normal" dog with no issues! Such a dull existence!
So when Frankie first went to the ER for his Rimadyl binge, I asked the vet if he would also check his rectal area, glands, etc. as he gets very obsessive about licking his "anus". I mean really obsessive and intense. The ER doc's response was something along the lines of, "Your dog may be having organ failure and you're worried about his anal glands?" I guess that out things in perspective pretty auickly! I did try and redeem myself some what and explained that, as a result of my journey with Happy Hannah, I just wanted to make sure it wasn't any sort of rectal tumor etc. Anyway, on the discharge papers there was a charge for rectal exam with no evidence of any issue and they didn't need to be "expressed".
I had not given any thought to it possible being allergy related. He has no other signs as far as hair loss or any other itching issues. I do notice sometimes, but not all the time, that lovely anal gland odor.
So thanks again for this informative thread everybody.
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!
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