Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Jeanette,
I am also so very sorry for your loss. I was also a lurker on this site until Skyler lost her battle to cancer on June 11th, only 3 short months after her rear leg amputation. Ever since then, I can't seem to stay away from Tripawds. The support from everyone is absolutely wonderful. And for me, being here for others (like yourself) is healing for me. I laugh, I cry...and it's all good.
Max is so adorable. Hopefully by now, Spirit Skyler has found him too, and they are chasing after chipmunks together. I hope you'll stick around here. You'll never come across a better group of folks who have (or will) done the same journey and have formed the same bond with their pups.
Paws up to you & your husband for taking Max on that trip!
Cathy/Jane/Spirit Skyler/Chloe
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That was a beautiful video tribute! What a special and loved darling!
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.
Such a beautiful tribute to a beautiful and obviously very much loved companion. You have a lot of memories to treasure there. Thank you for sharing both the video and Max's story here.
Catie -
Birthday – November 4 2003
Amputation – January 13 2010
Crossed the Bridge – June 2 2011
What a beautiful boy...what a beautiful beautiful tribute...that just brings tears to my eyes. It's so obvious how much love surrounded Max. I know the hole in your heart is big now but please take comfort in knowing that Max is still with you and will always be with you - he will be filling up that hole with his spirit very soon. My heart goes out to you....
Kami (Mackenzie's Mom)
My sweet golden Mackenzie. She became my angel on Dec 29, 2010 at the age of 8 1/2 although she was always my angel from the time we brought her home. She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in Sept 2009 and officially became a tripawd (front leg) on Nov 5, 2009. She will be forever in my heart and now she's running free with all of our other tripawd heroes. I love you Mackenzie!
Thanks to you all for your support – what a wonderful community!
Today is one week since we took Max to what we call "the last vet visit." One week ago at about this moment, we were eating breakfast together on the deck. He wasn't too keen on eating for the last month or so, but he never lost his taste for people food so I scrambled eggs for both of us. We spent the rest of the morning barking at squirrels and removing the bark from some sticks in the yard, and went to lunch together at McDonalds. (Neither he nor I usually eat there, but he wanted a small cheeseburger – who was I to say no? 
So he got the burger and I ate the fries.) It was such a wonderful day together, in spite of what we knew was ahead. I was strangely serene then, because we've never doubted our decision to make sure he didn't get to the stage where his pain was the only thing left in his life.
I've been doing a little better (just a little) in the last couple of days. I made it through all of yesterday without crying once, although there were some close moments! I know that mourning and crying are necessary but it was good to be able to keep it at bay (and fairly comfortably, even) for awhile after a week of breaking out constantly. It made me feel like there might be some hope of healing (or "heeling" 
) down the road. When I see things that remind me of Max (which is most everything) I still mostly feel the pain of his absence, but now every once in awhile I instead feel the presence of his spirit.
Proud mother of Max, an 11-year-old Border Collie mix who was sure he was a Real Boy.
Diagnosis of osteosarcoma of the left rear leg and lymphoma in February 2010.
That annoying leg was removed April 7, 2010 and was never missed.
Max left for the Rainbow Bridge on July 29, 2010 and is now running free. We love you!
Hi Jeanette & husband,
Your Max - what an adorable sweetheart! You can see the life in his eyes. I'm so sorry you lost him and for your sadness and grief. Our beloved dogs give so much to our lives and I hope the memories with ease your pain as time passes.
Thank you for sharing Max with us!
Dx Osteosarcoma 3/31/10. Amputation 7/21/10. Honey put up a valiant fight and lost her battle 9/22/10. Missing her and treasuring 9 years with our Honeygurl.
"I still mostly feel the pain of his absence, but now every once in awhile I instead feel the presence of his spirit."
I love that!
It's good to hear from you and know that you're doing better. One thing that helped us whenever we nearly lost it was to immediately replace that hurt with an image of our boy running, swimming, barking, just loving life. Replace a sad moment with a hoppy one and each time it happens, you'll recover a little faster.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm glad to hear, too that you are feeling a tiny bit better. That's the way it works. There's just a tiny, tiny bit each day of joy until one day - you remember the good times more. That's why you have to take grieving, one day at a time. It so hard when your used to having a shadow follow you everywhere and there isn't one anymore.
That's wonderful about his cheeseburger and scrambled eggs fix on his last day! That's how I want my last one to be! (maybe not McDonald's but a southern made chicken fried steak with gravy and a really BIG piece of homemade chocolate cake with homemade icing!
)
Jerry's advice is great! I know that my husband and I would wait until we weren't around Comet and talk about Rugby and all of his antics. We even found humor in his 'Comet's poop eating' that drove me nuts when he was alive! (not funny when I would catch him and why only Comet's?!) 
And just know, a week is a short time so it's very, very raw right now. I don't even think I was out of the shock stage at a week! Looking back, everything was a blur.
Hang in there!
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.
Thank you so much for sharing Max's story - and your photo tribute was very beautiful.
Max is obviously a much loved companion. What a lovely and expressive face he has. I love the picture where he's holding paws/hands across the table in the trailer. It is such a gift to share a bond of love with a soul as deeply as you have with him.
I picked up Sophie's ashes today (my 12 year old Golden Retriever). She passed away July 22nd - I hope she has found her brother, and the Tripawds who went before her, at the Rainbow Bridge.
You've certainly come to the right place - you will find many, many people who have travelled down the road ahead of you - beside you - and who are coming up behind you. They understand the depth of the potholes you encounter along the way - and they are the best ones to celebrate even the smallest of victories. And in the end, they understand the magnitude of the hole left in your life.
I'm very sorry for your loss.
Tana
Sophie (1998 – 2010)
"Going Dog" def: living every day in the moment
"It came to me that every time I lose a dog they take a piece of my heart with them. And every new dog who comes into my life gifts me with a piece of their heart. If I live long enough, all the components of my heart will be dog, and I will become as generous and loving as they are."
–Unknown
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