Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Help. I'm new here but in previous years, I owned a dog who had surgery on her ACL and during recovery, I would lift her back legs and walk her outside. I now own a three legged pit who I rescued. He and my other three dogs have access to doggie door 24/7 on 9 acres of land but now Winston (pit) is limping and tommorrow he will have an indepth exam under anesthesia since our vet thinks it's his ACL. Winston is missing his right front leg, possibly from chasing cars since he runs like the wind after vehicles leaving our yard. Is it logical to have the surgery if he is missing a front leg? How am I going to get him around? I have a bad back and can't carry him. Thanks, Mary
God appreciates his creatures far more than we do or more than we will be able to. We should not destroy God's joy in his creations. All those who love and care for these creatures will bear the stamp of God on their souls.
Hi and welcome to Tripawds. You are doing exactly what I did when Chuy needed FHO surgery. Questioning whether you should go ahead or not. I say "GO FOR IT!!" Chuy is a frt leg ampawtee also and had FHO surgery last year in May. He is now back to the same wonderful, happy dog he always was. It was H E double hockey sticks at first and the folks here at Tripawds got us thru all of it. You can read about Chuy here:
http://tripawds.....8;search=1
http://tripawds.....8;search=1
http://chuymalo.....pawds.com/
I suggest getting a sling to help your dog go out at first. Just wrap it under the belly and hold on to support him. Winston is probably in pain and not showing it. ACL surgery will help him get back to his feisty, running self again.
Chuy & Eleanor
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
uzd2byounger said:
Is it logical to have the surgery if he is missing a front leg?
Perfectly logical. Hopefully you'll hear from chuymaloney with a reply. Chuy is a front tripawd who successfully underwent FHO surgery on his remaining back legs. You can read more about Chuy in his blog and these Tripawds News blog posts:
When a Tripawd Needs Another Leg Surgery
Thursday, July 9th, 2009
Swim Your Tripawd to Better Health
Friday, September 18th, 2009
A Tale of Two Tripawds: Chuy and Dixie
Saturday, May 22nd, 2010
Eleanor (Chuy's mom) won't lie, recovery was a rough couple weeks. But after that, Chuy is doing just fine as you can see from his video in the third link above. Best wishes with the decisions you face and thank you for joining. We look forward to following Winston's progress. The Ruff Wear harness will greatly help you assist him as needed. You will find lots of links to much more help and advice in Jerry's Required Reading List.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
hey smithville, we live in knoxville. chuy's sling idea sounds right on. when gayle had her front right leg amputated, we opened up a cloth tote-bag and lined it with a cushy towel - the handles made it very handy to get her in and out and up and down until she was feeling better.
charon & gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
Comet had two of them! Both back knees went out within a year of healing from the 1st one. She has a front leg deformity rendering her 3 legged. She did the TPLO. 3 legged dogs should have the TPLO and not the sucture repair. You should also have a good surgeon very experienced with TPLO as it can be botched if inexperienced.
Here's Comet's xray pics:
http://tripawds.....f-the-leg/
It's a hard surgery on the person taking care of the 3 legged dog. I won't lie. It was hard because of the length of time.
The bad part about ACL repairs they can't walk on the knee for weeks until the bone is healed unlike a femur head removal (FHO). This is very important. We had to wait 12 weeks because the bone wasn't healed at 8 weeks.
Comet is under 40lbs so we could carry her. But it took it a toll. So, the second time we made a rolling crib for her and wheeled her everywhere in the house. She only got out to potty and that was it. We put a bungi net over the top of it so she wouldn't try to get out. She lived in it for 12 weeks.
The worst part is when the dog starts feeling better from the surgery, they want to resume activity. Well, you can't let them.
I can't even tell you how you will do without help. A sling will help but you have to ensure the dog is not bearing any weight on the knee (8 weeks at least). All I know is - if you let them walk on the repair - you risk doing it all over again! The horror stories I have read on TPLO's were all caused by people who did not crate their dog for the time period so the bone would heal.
I wish you the best of luck! I'm sorry I can't be more cheerful about it...
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
It is not unusual for Pitbulls to rupture their ACL since they have such large muscles and such a high pain threshold. My Tazzie was a 185 # Mastiff and she ruptured both ACL's prior to becoming a tripawd. I elected to have both of her knees repaired with the suture technique, rather than with a TPLO or TTA and she did just fine. It is true that many specialists prefer the TPLO but Tazzie was so big that she barely fit in the largest wire crate that we had plus we had a young French Mastiff running around and I have seen too many broken plates, infections, and even OSA at the implant site. I would leave it up to your surgeon as to the preferred method of repair. We still put Tazzie through rehab which involved physical therapy and weekly workouts on an underwater treadmill.
I do realize that it is harder to deal with an ACL injury when your dog is already missing a front leg and there are many harnesses and slings to help support your dog. I would not be surprised if your dog is up quickly but you will still have to restrict his activity and keep him away from the doggie door for a while, regardless of the repair type that your vet performs.
Pam
Thanks Pam! I just want to say so I don't look like I'm being jerky...everything I wrote was based on my vet's information to me. Her ortho surgeon was one of best (based on two vet's opinion). They put the fear in me!
At $3500 a pop, I was terrified of letting her use the leg until I got the green light the bone was healed! And the one thing I never understood is why couldn't they leave a cast on a, now 2-legged dog longer?!! I sure did want the cast for more than 3 days!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Not to argue with Comet, but Chuy didn't use his leg for 8 weeks after the FHO surgery. I do believe that any leg surgery on a Tripawd is alot to deal with. They are resilient creatures and do fine in the end. It's just a matter of healing and time. (and the peeps keeping calm)
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
Oh Chuy! I wouldn't argue with you!
Put up your dukes!!!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
you mean Duke, don't you Comet? BOL!!!
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
Oh my dog! I had to read that 3 times to "get it' ! Well duh.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
You people are all fabulous. I had an indepth exam done on him which revealed a perfect ligament but just arthritis in that knee with a few bone spurs. He is on Dermaxx, Gluo/chon and fish oil and ran like the wind today chasing the deer as if he might catch one some day. The deer are funny since they are used to the dogs so they don't run. Libby, my smallest dog reaches it first and is afraid to go near it. They all just stand and bark at the deer. Will up load pics and I can't say thank you enough except to express it this way. My compliments to your Creator. Mary
God appreciates his creatures far more than we do or more than we will be able to. We should not destroy God's joy in his creations. All those who love and care for these creatures will bear the stamp of God on their souls.
glad to hear it was just our old friend 'arthur itis', and nothing worse! can't wait for pictures of the 'deer vs. dogs'...
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
uzd2byounger said:
My compliments to your Creator.
Bless you, that is very kind. We're happy you find the Tripawds community helpful and thank you for your support.
We have lots of links to information about various recommended glucosamine supplements for dogs in the Tripawds Nutrition blog . We gave Jerry liquid Synflex before learning about Dasuquin, one of the best.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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