Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
jerry said
Oh the link doesn't show images, just points to her wordpress blog.
Sorry is this link better? (I'm struggling a bit with the process to upload photo's here):
These are 2 of the images (I've no idea what I'm looking at but I'm told it's not good)
https://trixiet.....arousel-29
https://trixiet.....arousel-28
All the x-ray images are here:
carolina said
Sorry is this link better?
No. Your site has a Coming Soon page installed.
You'll need to deactivate that before the public can view any of your posts.
In case you didn't know, you can set up a free Tripawds blog in seconds. If you've already posted on your wordpress.com site you'll be familiar with the interface and can import any posts you've published.
admin said
carolina said
Sorry is this link better?
No. Your site has a Coming Soon page installed.
You'll need to deactivate that before the public can view any of your posts.
In case you didn't know, you can set up a free Tripawds blog in seconds. If you've already posted on your wordpress.com site you'll be familiar with the interface and can import any posts you've published.
OK so I started another blog in order to show photo's and got a 'pending' notice.
I've tried so many things just to show an x-ray image and nothing seems to work. My friend uploaded the x-ray images to the page that had the videos of her walking:
Thanks for the images; this poor dog! She has a pretty bad pelvic fracture on the right side so her hip joint is not normal. The left hip looks okay and her elbow joint is normal but unfortunately her carpus (wrist) joint is out of place. Most likely the tendon damage pulled the joint apart or she suffered a fracture through the joint plate but either way her joint is not lined up so she is unable to bear weight. Combine that with the fractured pelvis and amputated leg and I am surprised that this girl can even get up.
In a perfect world she would have a carpal arthrodesis where they fuse the joint with a metal plate but that might not be something you can find; even here in the States that surgery is generally only done by a specialist. I would look into getting a carpal brace preferable a heavy duty one. You can order those through Hero braces or OrthoPet but your vet might need to help you take measurements. You will want a brace that is hinged and has heavier material such as fiberglass or multiple soft layers with padding. You can try to pad and wrap the area yourself or with your vet but you need to make sure it is not too tight and that you do not create any pressure sores.
Pam
tazziedog said
Thanks for the images; this poor dog! She has a pretty bad pelvic fracture on the right side so her hip joint is not normal. The left hip looks okay and her elbow joint is normal but unfortunately her carpus (wrist) joint is out of place. Most likely the tendon damage pulled the joint apart or she suffered a fracture through the joint plate but either way her joint is not lined up so she is unable to bear weight. Combine that with the fractured pelvis and amputated leg and I am surprised that this girl can even get up.In a perfect world she would have a carpal arthrodesis where they fuse the joint with a metal plate but that might not be something you can find; even here in the States that surgery is generally only done by a specialist. I would look into getting a carpal brace preferable a heavy duty one. You can order those through Hero braces or OrthoPet but your vet might need to help you take measurements. You will want a brace that is hinged and has heavier material such as fiberglass or multiple soft layers with padding. You can try to pad and wrap the area yourself or with your vet but you need to make sure it is not too tight and that you do not create any pressure sores.
Pam
Thank you Dr Pam, now I can focus on doing something for her! She has such a zest for life that I had to run after her more than once this morning because she wanted to follow the other dogs to bark at the cows! Catching and carrying her around is giving me great exercise!
Is this carpal splint what you are recommending?
tazziedog said
Yes that brace would be a good place to start.Pam
Dr Pam, I may need a little more guidance with explaining what kind of hinged custom brace Trixie needs for her front leg.
Orthopet replied to me: "We typically do not make “hinged” front braces. We might be able to do so with one of our custom Splints but I am wondering what kind of flex she is looking to get out of it.
I should have been more clear; since she is a larger dog missing a front leg you might get more support with a brace that is hinged at the elbow to allow for normal motion. If you want to start with just a carpal brace then the OrthoVet one without a hinge might be enough for her.
Pam
tazziedog said
I should have been more clear; since she is a larger dog missing a front leg you might get more support with a brace that is hinged at the elbow to allow for normal motion. If you want to start with just a carpal brace then the OrthoVet one without a hinge might be enough for her.Pam
Thank you, I understand now. We'll start with the carpal brace, a support harness and a wheelchair and see how she adapts to those. But I know now there is another option with the leg brace.
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