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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
Hi, I’m fostering Ria, a 4-5 month old puppy about 7kg who’s just had her front leg amputated. Her story is heartbreaking. She was abandoned with her siblings in front of an apartment building named Casa Ria in Kuala Lumpur. Someone beat her with an iron rod and she was wandering around for more than two weeks before anyone helped her. I got a late night call from some independent rescuers on Wednesday asking if I could take her in for the night before they brought her to the vet the next day. She was so scared and sad.
When they took her to the vet on Thursday, he said they had to amputate the next day. She was just discharged today (Sunday) and I’m fostering her for her recovery before she can go to a shelter. She’s so depressed and doesn’t want to move. I hope with enough love and care, she can be happy and play like a normal puppy. She’s been through so much in her short life, I don’t know if she even knows how. I currently have 5 other dogs (3 of my own and 2 fosters) so I’m keeping her in a big playpen for now. The other dogs are all sweet and friendly so maybe they can help her when she recovers a bit.
Susan, welcome. Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away.
THANK YOU for helping Ria! What a terrible situation she was in, she is so lucky to have found her way to you. It will take loads of time for her to acclimate and learn to be a normal dog again, but I can tell you have the patience and love in your heart to help her get there.
What kind of pain control is she on? Name/dosage/frequency, etc. Many times what we think is depression is actually pain signals our dogs are sending out when they are hurting. A good pain management plan is key to a better recovery. Is she in Kuala Lampur now?
Thank you for taking care of Ria! My tripawd, Loki, also lost her leg due to trauma at a very young age. I adopted her about 2 months after her amputation. From what her foster mom told me, Loki had been hit by a car and her family couldn't afford to save her life, so they surrendered her to a rescue that was partnered with the emergency vet they took her to. She then had to wait about a week with a severely broken leg for surgery. After that, she bounced between two different fosters who were both vet techs at the emergency clinic. They took great care of her, but Loki didn't have any stability in her life until she came to me at 5 months old. Loki has been with me for almost 2 years now, but that early trauma has left it's scars. She's a very anxious dog (which may also be related to her breed mix). She can go from appearing to be brave and fearless to a pathetic scared puddle in an instant. Sometimes I think I'm her favorite person only because she doesn't have another option. I try hard to remember that she's got a lot of baggage and to give her grace when she's having a rough day. Loki makes me a better dog mom/trainer because I really have to make a plan and take it more slowly than I would with a more confident dog.
Poor Ria has definitely had a rougher go of it than my dog has. She's lucky to have you!
We adopted a husky who was being fostered by a friend and then by us (a foster to adopt) at 4 months old. At 6 months she had her front limb amputation (she was always going to need from birth). She was a bit sore/ tired the first few days but before I knew it she was messing with her t-shirt and trying to lick her drains, so she quickly became a full time job ha! Good luck to you guys!
Thank you! She's still in Kuala Lumpur. I'm an expat here. I didn't even know what she was on; it was just labeled "pain killer" to be given once a day. She was crying last night so I contacted her vet to ask. I also saw she had fleas so I wanted to know if it was safe to put Frontline on her and also whether she'd had any blood tests before the surgery since I'd found out another dog that was rescued with her had tick fever. The vet wouldn't even tell me the name, just that it was anti-inflammatory! And they didn't do any blood tests before the surgery.
So I got her to another vet today and they gave her gabapentin to be given once a day. They said she's actually healing well and doesn't seem to be in pain when they handle the wound. They think the cause of the crying is psychological. And she tested positive for tick fever, so she's on medication for that.
She wags her tail a little when she sees me now and is walking around a little. At least it's some progress.
Online
Oh my gosh...my heart breaks for what thos sweet girl jas gone through....and is going through right now. To know she's made her way to you though all this is definitely the silver lining in all this.
Thank goodness you advocated for better pain meds. She just had MAJOR surfery where bone, muscles, nervew, etc were all manipulated and cut and all they gave her was an antiinflmmatory?? Grrrr........pain management is so crucial to her healing right now. The crying and not wanting to move is probably pain related (not physiological at all...in my unprofessional opinion) On top of all that she is healing from trauma of a brutal early start, tick fever, fleas, etc. Poor puppy!!
Really hope the Gabapentin kicks in and helps her feel at least like moving a little bit. In my non Vet opinion, I would think she needs the Gaba at least every twelve hours. I know she's young and little, but pain is harder to keep under control if it gets ahead start.
What did the Vet say about the ticket fever? What symptoms d03s ot cause....treatmennt ...and how long does it take to cure? Any lingering side effects?
Cannot than you enough for goving this sweet puppy the care and love she needs.....and she sure does need it!! The fact that you've gotten a few tail wags melted my heart♥️
Stay connected and let us know how we can help you navigate thrpugh the recovery. You are a Saint!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS.....Cant believe I'm gonna say this and it's really crossing the line.....I hope Rita is a foster fail!!! There! I said it anditt was so wrong to say!! The thought of her gping back to a shelter after recovery and as a tripawd......yeah, not the best odds.
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!
She’s doing so much better today! She’s wagging her tail and moving around a lot more. Almost runs up to the side of the playpen to see me. Such a change from yesterday!
Tick fever isn’t too serious if they catch it early. It causes fever and anemia at the start. She has to be on doxycycline for a month, but it starts working quickly.
I’m worried about her going to a shelter too, but I can’t have another foster fail! My third dog was one, and another of my fosters seems determined to make this her home too! But unfortunately in Malaysia, if someone complains about their neighbor having too many dogs, they could send the council to take them all away. It’s so sad how many people hate dogs here.
E said
We adopted a husky...
Thanks for the input. Please be sure to log in when using the forums, so your posts do not require moderation.
It's great to hear that Ria is feeling more like herself today! But everything you said about dogs in Malaysia is extremely depressing... I hope Ria ends up with someone who loves her.
Susan I'm so glad she's gotten some additional pain control. How is she today?
The dogs of Malaysia are lucky to have you looking out for them. Thank you!
Ria is doing amazingly well now! I let her out of the playpen to play with my dogs sometimes, and she plays just like a normal puppy. She jumps up on the couch with no problem and seems so happy.
She did start getting a seroma last week. Thanks to this site I knew what it was. But I asked the vet about it and they said put a warm compress on it, and it got better in a few days.
Woohoo! Really hoppy to see this pupdate. 
Isn't it incredible that something that seems so brutal like amputation, can bring such pain relief?! Plus, dogs being so resilient, well, it really shows us what they are made of. Ria is a great teacher! And she's so lucky to have you for her foster family. When do you think she will be ready for adoption?
It is amazing how Ria is thriving after what she’s been through. She’s so playful and mischievous, like she doesn’t miss her leg at all. She jumped up on the couch just now and started licking my face! 😂 If I didn’t have so many, I’d keep her myself. My friend is trying to get her a place in a home for three-legged and paralyzed dogs. At least I know that’s a good place and they take the dogs out to adoption drives often. I don’t know where her rescuers were going to send her, but they haven’t been too responsible so far.
Ria just got her stitches out a couple days ago and the vet said I can take off her cone in a few more days. She has one more week of tick fever medicine and then she can be vaccinated and will be ready for adoption.
What a fun pup, she's really back to her old self! That's awesome her stitches are out too. Check that box off the recovery list.
She's almost at the finish line for recovery and the start line for adoption. When she's ready let us know and we'll help get the word out. I'd love to hear more about the special needs pet rescuer so keep us posted.
1 Guest(s)
