Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My 11-yr. old, retriever mix, Angus, became a tripawd in May due to osteosarcoma. He is 2/3 of the way done with his course of chemo and so far, so good. Thumbs up or down for adopting a brother or sister for Angus at this stage of his life?
We've had him for 11 years, since he was a puppy and have never had another pet. He is fine with other dogs. But, not good with other dogs on-leash. His primary vet, vet surgeon and vet oncologist have all given the thumbs up for adding another dog if we want to. We would only do it if Angus liked it. With all he's been through, we don't want him to feel DISPLACED or ANNOYED with a new addition.
I'm not familiar with forums, chat rooms, blogs. Don't know if this is the right place to ask this question. If not - please let me know.
Hi Angus & Family,
Thanks for joining us! You did good posting here, sorry we missed you in the chat. We wondered where you went, you disappeared. We'll have it open for a while today, feel free to stop by.
Angus sounds like he doing really great, congrats! We pawsonally don't have experience introducing a second dog into the family but I know there's lots of folks here who have. They'll definitely be able to help.
The only perspective I can give is that our Wyatt Ray is really leash-aggressive too, and like Angus, is fine off leash. There are lots of good controlled ways you can introduce dogs to eachother to see if they get along. I would read up it and try the introductions a few times with the same dog you're thinking of. Before you commit to a new family member, make sure that both dogs get along well.
I always liked other dogs, but I never wanted them staying overnight. I wanted to be the center of attention! So that's why my folks never got another pup.
We can't wait to hear more about Angus' adventures!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
We adoped Duke a year ago, Trouble was 11 and had been a tripawd for 7 months. We were both a little apprehensive, but thought it would keep Trouble moving to have another dog in the house. Duke knew from the beginning Trouble was different. He is very respectful of her - most of the time. If he gets the pitbull zoomies, we have to act as a block, in zoomie mode he forgets she is fragile.
I think if you introduce them slowly (we did so over several weeks), keep the new one on a leash for as long as it takes for him/her to understand they are to respect the elder, and all should go well.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
I had been looking for another dog as a companion for Magic off and on for about a year or so prior to him being diagnosed. Then my 17 year old kitty in kidney failure took a bad turn and I lost him during the time Magic had been diagnosed and had his amp. I decided that for us, getting a kitten was a better option...the kitten was for ME, Magic always liked kitties and I just had to monitor the kitten's annoying behavior so that it didn't go on too long and make the old guy grumpy (although I never saw him grumpy with the kitten). When Magic was getting worse, the last days, the kitten mysteriously knew to leave him alone.
I had decided NOT to get another dog actually before the diagnosis mainly because he had been an only dog for about four years and I wouldn't have gotten a puppy and thought at his age he deserved my attention....I was glad that I had not after the diagnosis, but that is me. I felt that with Magic's cancer as aggressive as it was, with something new going wrong weekly, it was a good thing there wasn't another dog to wonder why HE wasn't getting tri tip or all the attention or the trips in the truck or all. I would not have been able to cope. But, it sounds like Angus is doing fine so heck, go for it...follow all the suggestions given and look for one that will be very respectful of Angus and his needs.
We added our beagle when our old guy was 10 (not a tripawd) and he did really, really well. She kept him active longer than I think he would've been on his own. About two years later (3 years ago) we had found a little guy in desperate need of a home. We waivered on whether or not it was the right thing to do, we visited him many times and then went one day with the intentions of taking him home with us, and he was gone (hopefully to a forever home, not knowing eats at me!). Shortly after our big guy got sick. While he never had bone cancer, he did have all sorts of issues for the last 2.5 years of his life, and we ultimately lost him to kidney failure. At that time I was so glad we didn't end up with the third dog as much as I loved that dog and as much as we could've been a happy home for him with lots of love and kindness - Our big guy needed all we could give him those last 2.5 years, without the stress of a new, more energetic dog who would take time away from our old guy for training and working with him and vet appointments, etc.
I honestly think there would've been some regrets for us in the end, either that we neglected the new dog due to our guys issues, or that we didn't do enough for/with our big guy because of the new dog.
Everyone is different though, but for us it was definitely the right choice not to add a new dog at the time, and especially more so once he got sick.
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