Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I have an 8 1/2 year old very energetic/active terrier mix female dog. I found her when she was 5 months old and she had a broken elbow. due to no money i had her front leg (and shoulder on recommendation from vet) amputated.
she has done extremely well, but twice in her 1st 8 years she would over do it on a walk or while playing and then she would be unable to put weight on her remaining front leg. the best i can describe is that she would try to walk, but her elbow would stick out and her leg would twist to the side, her head goes down and then she stops and sits on her hind legs or lies down. she might take a few good steps, but eventually her front leg seems to give out. it happened once when she was about 2, but by the time i got her to the emergency vet her adreneline was up and she wasn't collapsing anymore and she was fine when we got home. similar thing about 2 years ago. . since then she's been totally solid. i walk her once to twice a day between 20 minutes and 45 minutes although occasionally we can go longer. she does run around the back yard sometimes, but prefers to do her 'zoomies' in the house, on and off the furniture, tight turns etc. even though i have put a ton of rugs down she still occasionally slips on the one or two spots where there aren't rugs.
over the past 2 months she has had a total of 4 'episodes'- she is currently going through one now. these are far worse than the ones she had before in that it lasts days and recurrs after she seems better.
2 months ago she had indoor and outdoor zoomies and then we took a walk. about 15 minutes after we got home she started her collapsing. it was the most severe i'd ever seen. i carried her out to go potty later that night and she literally fell over, she also acts scared or like she thinks she's in trouble when i try to help her. . it's pretty tough. i took her to the vet the next day (she was a tiny bit better) and they told me to come back to see the specialist the next day. she was crazy at the vet and i couldn't get her to stay still, so of course they thought she was fine, but i knew it was just the adrenaline. by the time i got home she was way worse than she was before. . wouldn't move a step or even try. she seemed a lot better the following morning and we went to see the specialist.
he looked at her, said she's very well muscled, couldn't find any 'painful' areas in her leg, thought maybe it was a pinched nerve in her neck, but didn't recommend x-rays or meds. he recommended we try the wait and see approach. i asked if i should crate her and he said no- let her get around the best she can.
i opted to not let her play or go on walks for a few days. she seemed good for about 4 1/2 days and then had another episode following a short walk. she was fine the next morning and then 3 days later she had another very minor episode and has been fine up until last night. i gradually worked her up to normal activities (longer walks and letting her run and play, but trying to keep her running/playing outdoors where it's not so 'cramped') and she showed no signs of pain or discomfort this entire time.
last night she ran around a lot outside and then went crazy inside, running and jumping and throwing her toys around. we went on a short walk and about 1/2 mile from my house she started collapsing. i had to carry her while somehow holding my other pup on his leash until i came to a house where i vaguely knew the owners and i asked them for a ride home (bless their hearts, the grabbed their keys, helped me with my other dog and got us home in their car). she stayed really still for the rest of the night and i carried her out to go potty. in the middle of the night she got herself up and went outside- she was moving slow, but was managing so i just watched her. she came back in and went back to bed. she was on and off this morning and i went to work. when i got home she tried to bring me a toy, but started collapsing again, her tail was tucked and she was shaking really bad- i think the shaking and tail tuck is her being afraid- like she thinks she's in trouble when i show concern (although she's never really gotten in 'trouble'). other than that behavior (which is really only when she realizes she can't walk and i go to pick her up) she doesn't seem in terrible pain.. there's no yelping and her eyes are bright. she wants to eat and seems to enjoy getting scratched and snuggling next to me. obviously something is wrong, but i am at a loss as to what it could be.
i have a good job now so i can afford to do a lot more for her and i will do whatever it takes to figure out the problem so i can get it fixed. i just don't know if this is a common tripod thing from over exertion, or if she has some sort of injury that is getting worse as she gets older.
i'm going to make an appt, but i don't want the 'run around'. so i know they will recommend starting with x-rays, but if there is tissue or tendon damage it won't show on x-rays, does anyone know of a diagnostic that would show tissue, ligament, tendon damage as well as bone? or maybe it's nuerological?
i guess i just want to know if anyone has had this experience and what you did, what the outcome was or if you can recommend what sort of specialist i should seek out for her.
thanks so much!!
-loretta
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I'm sorry your girl is having problems, what's her name?
I have to run right now but I wanted to get your post approved so others and Dr. Pam could chime in.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Loretta ~
Where are you at? Could there be a teaching hospital someplace nearby where you could take her to see an orthopedic specialist for an evaluation? I would say she needs x-rays at least to start with. Maybe she just needs some sort of support brace or something? I'm not a vet, but just throwing things out there ... I know with back legs their patella's (knee caps) can slip, not sure if something like that can happen with an elbow or not.
Sorry your girl is having trouble. How cool that she's been a tripawd for so many years though!
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Okay, I've just read this through again. I posted a full response to your post on Meg's shoulder thread, but I have to say this does strongly remind me of what happened to us. If she has strained a muscle in her shoulder, a rehab vet should be able to tell by touch. Of course, if they have concerns they may well recommend scans/X-rays as well.
Good luck! You are asking all the right questions and this will be sorted, I'm certain.
Meg, Clare and Elsie Pie xxx
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, November 2023, adopted January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Elsie Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
I've attached a video of my front legger Frankie who had overdone it. It's not a very good depiction, but it spunds very similar to his gait at the time.
He was using his head in an exaggerated bobbing up and down way to help with his "hop". His upper body head, neck area seemed to "sink" down and his front leg seemed to sort of sink down, kind of semi collapse.
Frankie's gait front leg pulling: https://youtu.b.....bo_4zaQjF0
I actually posted the video to Dr Pam as I wasn't able to get to his Vet right away. She also mentioned shoukder/rotator issue. When got him to Vet ne recommended COMPLETE REST, as well as an anti-inflammatory AND Tramadol for pain as the treatment. I was really surprised that your Vet didn't INSIST on some sort of "confinement", or intense rest for abput a week.
Anyway, just wanted to throw this out there. NOT a Vet and NOT giving Vet advice!
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. The shaking definitely sounds like pain!!! You might try some doggy puzzle games in lieu of so much activity, even after he heals. Is he on joint supplements??? They are really necessary with tripawds.
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!
Oh I do love Frankie 
I do just so adore Frankie!
This video looks very much like what Meg was doing too, except that sometimes she would fall over completely, and it was definitely worse on uneven ground.
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, November 2023, adopted January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Elsie Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
I've seen Murphy do that same sort of thing, too. Just every once in awhile, and of course, if I try to see it better, he just lays down! ugh, that boy is so stubborn!
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
wow! thank you so much for all the advice and responses. .especially the video. that is what she's doing. hers is a bit more severe, but similar in that as she starts to improve she'll have a few normal steps and then the ducking head "limp". i don't know how to reply to each response individually so i will try to answer all the questions here:
Her name is Saysay, she's of unknown breed, i rescued her from a freeway onramp when she was a puppy and she had a broken elbow at the time.
Donna- i am close to UCdavis and i will be calling this morning to make an appt with a CCRT and whoever else they recommend. thank you! it is cool that she's been on 3 legs all her life, but it does cause me stress bc i don't know how long she will 'last' and i do love her so.
Megsmom- thank you! i will respond more fully on the other thread, and thank you so much for the quick replies to both of my queries.
Sally- Frankie is adorable! i also was really surprised and dissapointed that the vet was so nonchalant about it. i did rest her- i can't bear to put her in the crate as she had to live in one for 2 weeks as a puppy and it made her insane, but i did put her in the spare room where she can't jump on anything-or get moving fast at all. i rested her for a solid 5 days until she showed 0 sign of pain/awkward gait. then i gradually increased her walks to their normal length and after 2 weeks i allowed her to run and play .. .tramadol and metacam don't seem to help her. that's weird right? or maybe they do and she's just in so much pain that i don't see a difference.
thank you everyone! i am making the appt at UC davis -they're great over there, just expensive as all get out, but i do trust them and they do have a teaching hospital component. in fact that's where saysay had the amputation done. i will keep you posted on the outcome. she's a lot better today. she's wanting to run around and go on a walk, but i'm standing strong for a solid week. poor girl. i took her on a car ride last night so at least she could get out of the house.
-loretta
Hi again. You have received some great input!
I have an almost 2 year old rear amp pug mix named Elly. She was hit by a car at 7 months, I adopted her at 10 months old. She was healed up from her surgery when I got her but not very strong. We work every day on core strength and balance though games, food puzzles and obedience practice. We also have some balance equipment we work on almost daily. Once you figure out what the injury is and what triggers it you should look into getting some food puzzles and games. It is a great way to occupy their minds and it does burn some energy without being too physical.
I also wanted to mention that we have a fairly active Nor Cal Tripawd Group that gets together at least twice a year in Mill Valley. There are several Tripawd's I know of that live up your way so if you wanted to try and meet some you could post in Tripawd Parties. I am in Livermore but have been known to travel 
I hope the consult at Davis gives you some answers.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Sorry for the late reply but this does sound like a neck issue. My Pitbull Phil (not a tripawd) had shaking and stiffness issues and after an MRI we found a pinched nerve in his neck and he had surgery and now is fine. Some dogs do well with prednisone and do not need surgery.
UC Davis is a great place to go!
Pam
tripawd parties! that's so cute. unfortunately she's not super nice to other dogs- or humans. we're working on it. she's just very particular.
i'm glad Phil is better. surgery is so scary, glad it turned out good.
one of the vets she saw the last time she did this suggested that it could be her neck as well. we looked at her pupils to see if one was bigger, but they seem to be the same size, we also noted that she can turn her head really well in both directions so he wasn't so sure that it was the neck, but it's all worth checking out for sure!
mostly i'm just trying to keep her from jumping on or off of things, running around and/or making sharp turns right now. would it be mean to give her benadryl to keep her 'calm'? she seriously has SO MUCH ENERGY. and now that she feels better she want's to play and run.
Hi everyone, just wanted to update you on Saysay's current "status".
we went to a specialist today (Dr. Koski at Marqueen in Roseville, Ca)- she did a very thorough examination on saysay and she doesn't think the issue is with her remaining front limb, but rather with her lower back (possibly her SI joint or the discs near her sacrum). . .
Saysay has been feeling pretty energetic and happy lately, but Dr. Koski did detect painfulness in her very low back- nothing extreme, but she's not comfortable with being pushed on back there. i was a bit surprised that she was still painful bc she had been so silly and active the past few days, but maybe she irritated her injury by running around like a maniac before i could stop her.
that being said, she's ordered xrays (of her spine/lower back/hips and her remaining front limb just to be sure there's nothing happening there) and blood work through my regular vet (we go on monday) and wants to start her on gabapentin for regular use and she mentioned a muscle relaxer (Robaxin) for when she has an episode.
she also did laser therapy and some sort of laser like acupuncture b/c saysay is a bouncy spaz and we didn't think we could keep her calm/quiet enough for the real thing.
i'm always really nervous about giving my dogs medication over a short or long term period so if anyone has any experience with either of these drugs feel free to chime in.
obviously i will do what's best for her, but i was really hoping (and under the impression) that the laser therapy/acupuncture and eventual physical therapy rehab would eliminate or perhaps reduce the need for her to be on something long term.
the doctor wants to wait on the PT rehab until we are confident she's not painful at all which makes sense to me. . anyway, i'm totally ignorant on all these counts, but i did really like the doctor and so did saysay- and she doesn't really like people so that tells me something.
comments/advice appreciated. 🙂
Once you get her pain under control and are more sure about her back maybe you could try chiropractic? My quad pug Tani had terrible arthritis and was on all kinds of meds as she aged. I didn't really think chiropractic could help her but it really did! She had long term issues with knuckling her feet in addition to the arthritis which messed with her gait and she had always been a reckless and energetic pug. Like Saysay we could not do acupuncture with Tani.
Tani was also on Gabapentin for a couple years for her arthritis. It helped her and she never had any issues. Because she was so small I had to get it compounded into a liquid, which was fine as it made it really easy to give to her.
I searched blogs and found this on Gabapentin. It was written for pups who are giving gaba post surgery but there is probably some info there that will be useful.
Do you have her on a joint supplement? I used Dasaquin for Tani and my quad boy Obie now takes it to help with his two knee surgeries.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
What about starting some cosequin/chondroitin? She's getting a little bit older, and it helps with joints and bones.
I've heard good things about the laser treatments, although we haven't used it. Quite a few people here have, as well as chiropractic and regular acupuncture.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Tazzie dog you were right! turns out she does have a narrowing of the discs right where her neck connects to her spine ...Dr. Koski said it probably got tweaked when she was running around and continued to reoccur due to her being about 2.5 pounds "overweight" i used quotes bc if she wan't a tripod (and an extremely active one at that) her weight was perfect, but due to her weight bearing on that one leg she needs to be underweight.
she lost about 2.5 lbs in a very short time which makes me think i'm starving her, but really all i did is cut out ANY and ALL treats. she gets her food and that's it. i do add a bit of pumpkin and green beans bc they are fibrous and fill her up, but i'm thinking if she keeps dropping i'll increase her kibble a bit. you can see her ribs at times and definitely feel her bones. 🙁 the doctor said she was perfect, but i just feel so bad.
she, however, feels amazing, she's back to 100% running around like a maniac, jumping on and off of things and taking shorter but more frequent walks. (i did keep her on very limited activity and short leash walks with no 'crazies' for quite some time before i let her work her way back to madness!)
she had 2 laser therapy treatments, but the 2nd time we went (post weight loss) Dr. K said she was fine and suggested a different harness and continue stretching her as well as massage, a little bit of balance PT (on the peanut or on a mattress) and we don't need to go back unless there is another episode. the supplements are a must and i will be looking into chiropractic care as well. i'm sure she will benefit from it- i know i do.
i think the main thing is keeping her at a low weight (hardest), stretches, massage, keep the core strong and regular walks/exercise.
i'm soo relieved. she turns 9 in may and she's been a tripod since she was about 8 mos old. . she's quite the trooper and i hope she can live a long healthy and happy life. she's my baby girl and really is the sweetest, strongest pup i've ever known. seeing her hurting was the worst!!
thanks again so much for all of the suggestions and advice. you are all amazing dog peeps.
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