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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My 10 pound mini Aussie is going to have his front leg removed tomorrow due to a second break that this time cannot be repaired. I'm totally inspired by all of the great dogs on this site so I know he will do great but I'm soooo worried about him breaking that remaining front leg. Should he take a vitamin supplement or ? Will it really bulk up and be super strong? His front legs are so skinny and the bones are so so small. I'm scared to death here!
Btw, he is 11 months old.
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
Protecting the remaining three legs is something all Tripawd parents worry about. He is so young- I'm not sure about starting a joint supplement. But there is lots you can do- core strength is essential for Tripawds. Also you can try and limit some dangerous activities (harder with a puppy!). Don't let him jump out of the car unassisted, try to keep him from jumping off furniture, you might build some stairs so he can get down without so much force on the one front leg.
There are tons of exercise ideas in the Gear Blog under fitness. And in the Gear blog there is information about Rehab including this Newest Post from a Rehab Vet. And you can read about supplements in the Nutrition Blog.
Good luck with the surgery tomorrow, keep us posted.
Karen and Spirit Maggie
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi and welcome to Tripawds....
Sorry your little guy needs amputation, but he will feel so much better after he has that bum leg removed, and after he heals. What is his name? I would think with him being a smaller breed, he will do fine with a front amp......however, Karen is right. You will want to limit certain activities, probably forever......no jumping off higher places for sure, or going down stairways at a fast pace, the one remaining front leg will never be able to withstand constant impact from these kinds of activities, especially over the years. I would have to say, that even though Tripawds from an accident will do great on 3 legs for the long haul, they will still be limited doing certain things always, that will put them at risk for additional injury. My precious Lab girl Polly was a front right amp, and she was 9 so we had to be very careful with her.....we didn't completely restrict all activity, but never allowed her to jump down off our bed, or go down any steps without our assisting her. One or two steps were fine, but still assisted her even then on most occasions.
Best wishes for his surgery tomorrow....keep us updated on him as well...
Bonnie & Angel Polly
Sorry about your little guy losing his leg, but you've definitely come to the right community. Welcome! I think it's natual to worry about remaining limbs. Building core strength, as others have mentioned, will be very important.
Depending on where you live there may be a rehab vet in your area you could see sometime after surgery (in our case, a PT evaluation was included in the surgery package). Even if you have to drive a couple of hours for an initial consult and evaluation, I think it would be worth it so they can make specific suggestions for things you can do at home for core strength, stretching, etc.
Do you have stairs in your home? If feasible you might want to keep most of his activity to the lower level. We have a tri-level so haven't been able to limit stairs for Lexie, an older front leg amp, but we do have carpeted stair treads and we try to baby gate the stairs if we're just going down/up and coming back.
I'd check with your regular vet and a PT vet about adding supplements that are formulated for his age.
Also, check out the advanced search function and look for Cassie and Domino, another young front leg amp mini Aussie.
Good luck with the surgery. We'll be thinking about you!
Deb and Angel Lexie* Diagnosed at age 13. Tried radiation first; wish we had amputated upon diagnosis (even with lung mets). Joined Club Tripawd April 2014 & Lexie loved life on 3 legs! Advice: Start physical therapy as soon as your vet clears it, especially hydrotherapy if available :-) See Lexie pics here.
Thanks so much everyone! I will be looking to into rehab for sure. We live in the middle of nowhere but maybe I can find something. I plan to spend a great deal of time here learning as much as I can. We do have a two story house so I will gate the stairs but he has a full flight of non padded stairs to get to the grass in the backyard. I think we will just have to carry him up and down those for a while (forever maybe). Good thing he only weighs 10 pounds!
His name is Murphy :). He's a real character and lives and breathes for my 5 year old son, I hope none of that changes!!
My pug Maggie was a rear amp, she weighed 17 pounds but was only about 12" at the shoulder.
As a rule of thumb rear amps have more trouble going up and front amps have more trouble going down. After her amp Mag was never able to climb more than a couple or three stairs at a time, but that was mostly due to her small size. Most stairs were almost as high as she was and asking that one back leg to jump her body height again and again just wasn't going to happen. She was willing and able to go down lots of stairs on her own.
She also couldn't get up on the furniture on her own anymore either, even though I built some stairs for her to get to the bed and up on the couch. She must have fallen at one point trying to do it on her own. But it wasn't a big deal to get her up on the bed or couch, and again she would get down on her own. You may have the opposite issue with Murphy!
Once he gets through the healing process I bet he will be the same crazy pup he always has been. We often see here that the young pups recover very quickly after surgery. It can be rough though, so don't get discouraged if he has some down time.
How is your son dealing with this? I think most youngsters take it in stride, hopefully your son will too.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
My tri-kitty Mona had her front leg amputated and weighs about the same as your dog. I know cats are much better jumpers than dogs so getting up is not an issue for Mona but I was concerned about her jumping down. I agree that boxes might help to go down - perhaps use a treat to coax your dog to us the box.
The best thing I did was take Mona to an integrated vet for a chiropractic treatment and learned some massage techniques to keep her spine aligned. I also learned some techniques to strengthen her front leg - basically for her to move slow rather than fast. I've also noticed her core is stronger because she now sits up on her hind legs. She never did that before the amputation.
I know cats are different than dogs and through watching some of the rehab videos and/or seeing a rehab vet you'll find what will work for your little dog. One thing I realized with Mona being so low to the ground is when she falls it's more of a tumble on to her side. And she acts like she planned to do that! I don't fret so much anymore.
Keep in touch with the folks here for support during and after the surgery. Everyone has great information and all of us can relate to the stress and exhaustion the pawrent (yes, they talk funny here) goes through. And we like photos!!
Kerren and Mona
Great to hear how Mona and you have been handling things. Beneficial to ALL tripawds...cats or dogs! Thanks
A
Also...dont know if its been mentioned or not...get non slip scatter rugs if you have hardwoods.
Sendingnlove to yoh and Murphy!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle
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!
Hi all, haven't posted in a while (work has been crazy) but when I saw this post I had to come out of lurker status, lol. Welcome to the club, Murphy! I also have a mini aussie who just turned 1.5 years old. Maverick weighs 28 pounds and had his front right leg amputated at 6 months do a genetic deformity of the bones. I can tell you that aussies handle things a little differently since they're herders but the basics don't change.
ABSOLUTELY go to a certified canine physical therapist! This is going to help your baby beyond measure. There are devises you can use at home (peanuts, wobble boards, teeters, etc) once you know how to use them that is really going to build up core strength and improve balance. FitPaws is the biggest supplier of these devices.
Traction really helps as well, the biggest place I find Mav needs it the most is in the kitchen at the back door. He's always so excited to come in for his food that he completely forgets how to coordinate and takes a crash landing into the furnace doors, lol. The rug solved that issue right away 
Raised feeders help a lot in maintaining spinal alignment and preventing unto stress to the neck. It may not seem like you need this since he's only 10 pounds but trust me, raising those bowls to chest level helps in the long run.
Mental stimulation is the biggest obstacle you're going to find. Even though he's toy sized that doesn't mean that aussie brain isn't at work in there. Games and trick training is the best way to keep his mind occupied so he won't be so tempted to get into trouble. It also increases your control over him. Trust me, those recall and stop commands are even more essential now, it may save his life (or a leg) one day.
I wouldn't worry about helping him with the stairs as much unless your stairs are so big he has trouble with them. I find that babying your dog is just going to create more issues in the long run. You still have to let him be a dog, which is the best piece of advice I can give you. If you find there's a need for it, you can easily build a ramp on the back stairs with plywood for him but you most likely won't need it.
Just take one day at a time. Everyone here has years of experience when it comes to tripawds and is willing to give advice where you need it. Just remember, he may have used his spare leg but he still has an awesome brain; keep that activated and you'll be just fine.
With love, Mandy and Maverick
Maverick is a wonderful miniature australian shepard born with a malformation of the front right radius/ulna, amputation performed on 11/4/13 at 6 months old. Follow his story at mavericksjourney.tripawds.com.
Hi Murphy and family, welcome, I hope everything goes great today!
Another resource you might want to check out is our Tripawds e-book, Loving Life on Three Legs. We've got lots of tips about staying strong and fit on 3 in there and it's all things you can do at home. Also, soon we will be announcing a Tripawds online conditioning course that you can take from home, stay tuned for details!
Let us know how things go and how we can help.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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