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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Didn't know where to post this but here goes. My daughter as some of you know is a shelter vet who recently lost her beautiful border collie Zip. We had some fires around Austin this past fall and out of this fire with some burns and non functioning back legs came Cinders a 4 month old unclaimed puppy who looks like he has lab and border collie in him. He came into the shelter and won everyone over with his happy personality but he had spinal issues and would just twist his body around and dragged his rear legs. A&M vet school donated all sorts of tests and found he had a spinal compression that was not able to be corrected by surgery, The wonderful pain and rehab vet in The Woodlands, Dr. Wall took him to see what they could do with him for rehab and maybe get some response in his legs. He has feeling in his legs and can pull himself up on all fours briefly but there is no bend in them and basically the legs are dead weight. He got put in a cart which he is not fond of but scoots around great on his bottom. It was suggested to remove both rear legs and have him learn to walk on his front legs only, which is pretty much what he is doing now. Has anyone any experience with multiple amputations? The other thing going against him now is that he might be urine incontinent but not poop incontinent. All these thing are adding up to a nonadoptable dog and my daughter has gotten too attached to euthanize him but she is not in a position to adopt him. The shelter is no place for this sweet 6 month old puppy. Sorry, I really mean for this to be a discussion just about losing two legs. Any one ever dealt with this?
First of all, my condolences on losing Zip. I saw some of your postings early on, but hadn't seen that he had passed on. I'm sorry.
Secondly, I don't have personal experience wiith multiple-limb loss. But there is a dog on facebook called Fifty the Two Legged Pit Bull. He was adopted after losing his front and rear legs in a police shooting. His mom works in canine rehab and might be a good resource for you and your daughter.
I hope this can be of some help. Best of luck to you both and the pup.
Oh man, what a tough situation! I don't have any personal experience that relates, but have you and your daughter already heard about the dog named Faith who only had her two back legs? Here's her official website: http://faiththedog.info/
Gerry has been a tripawd since 12/16/2009.
He was a shelter dog with a mysterious past and an irrepairable knee injury.
Videos and pics of Gerry's pawesomeness can be found at: http://gerry.tripawds.com
I don't have any personal experience either, but I also thought of Faith the 2 legged dog. She is amazing! Definitely check out her website.
Diagnosed with OSA: 5/2/2011 Ampuversary: 5/11/2011 OSA returned in hip: 8/26/2011
Chili Dawg crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 8/30/2011 & is now pain free. He was my heart dog, and I miss him every day.
Hello Cinders and friends!
Yes, I do have some information that might prove useful and even heartening. First – I am sorry to hear that Cinders (cute name!) had such horrible injuries.
Have you heard about Popeye the dog? He is a paraplegic (two front legs, no hind legs), brought from the streets of Taiwan to NorCal, where I believe he still lives with his foster mum waiting for a permanent home (obviously she IS the permanent home). I haven't checked on Popeye lately, but the videos make me weep (joy).
http://www.pope.....index.html
He has his own special cart and zips around the dogpark, wrestling with the dogs as hard as anyone. Popeye is fierce and can take care of himself in that way. But being paralyzed, he needs assistance with basic facts of life (pee and poo). The website shows all of this so that potential owners will be aware what is involved. He definitely has spunk, and it sounds as though Cinders does too! Nice that she is so young for that should make the adjustment much easier.
p.s. you can see videos of Popeye before his amputations and afterward. They had him for a while when he dragged his legs around on the floor. What a happy puppy! As happy as any puppy!
pp.ss. The sign on Popeye's cart: "4 legs is just greedy"
There are lots of two-legged dogs living great lives, I've met them and know that they can get along fine. Our friends at Gimpy Dogs can tell you all about it.
What I've seen is that it does take a lot of care and attention by their humans, however, to ensure that the dog doesn't get pressure sores or abrasions when they're not in a cart. Caring for a two legged dog does take a lot more time than caring for a Tripawd, but it's not impossible.
This pup is so young, I would say that as long as the dog gets an official clearance by a certified canine rehab vet to ensure nothing else is going on, anything is pawsible.
Of course, finding the right home for him would be the biggest challenge, that's where a lot of work comes into play.
Whatever we can do to help, let us know OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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