Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi guys, cant believe its been nearly 2 years since I've been on here :-O
Dont know if any of you remember Gildas story. She has been doing really well up until a few months ago when she had to have her spleen removed, she became very poorly and we were lucky enough to catch it just in time, since then she has slowly got better but now she appears to be quite weak, she doesn't have allot of muscle and we are finding her legs are giving way form time to time, she has also become less active. The vet has advised to give her a muscle building supplement to increase her muscle mass which will help to support her. She is 6 years old now and i think hoping around on 3 legs has taken its toll over the past 3 years.
Has anyone had anything similar happen with their dogs and if so how did you help them, I hate seeing her looking so fed up :-/
thank you x
Hello there! It's so nice to hear from you! Of course we remember Gilda!
I'm sorry to hear she's feeling off since the surgery. I moved your post here so more folks can offer their input, I hope you don't mind.
At six years old, she is still quite young. Whatever is affecting her might be resolved with more comprehensive pain management and physio therapy support. I'm not a vet, but I do know that there are many other things that can help her feel better. My question to you is, has she been seen by a veterinary physio therapist? If not, that's what I would do next. It sounds like she is in some kind of pain and these professionals can help get to the source. At the very least, a second opinion with an orthopedic vet may reveal information your first vet hasn't discovered.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
GULDA!!!! So excited to hear from the gorgeous Miss Gilda!!! Heck yeah we remember Gilda!! She's UNFORGETTABLE!! 🙂 🙂 A d I remember the video Jerry posted! 🙂 It brpught me tears of joy then....and it did the same this time around too! I just love seeing Gilda and friends so darn HAPPY!! 🙂 🙂
And because of your update today, I went back and realized I missed that DELIGHTFUL video you made of Gilda and her progress! Not sure how I missed it the first time around, but this one also brpught me tears of joy! 🙂 And clearly BRUNO MARS (one of my all time favorites!!!) wrote that song just for her!!! 🙂
Just something else to add to the always great insight offered by Jerry. In addition to the muscle weakness, has your Vet checked her out thoroughly with xrays to determine if she has any arthritis creeping in? And I agree, an Orthopedic Surgeon kr a Rehab Specialist may be the best ones to go to as a resource for her situation.
And just throwing this up against the wall....she's been checked for any tick relsted disease, as they can cause weakness too. Guess everything has been cleared as far as anything related to her spleen issue??
Clearly Gilda has played full out almost from the get-go after her recovery. And on a front legger it can definitely take its toll! Check out the blog Jerry just posted on Wyatt today (part two...it will link you to part one). That dog has had tip tip care as far as strength building, joi t protection, etc, yet he is showing muscle weakness from all these years as a tripawd. There is a lot of good info in there! IF there are signs of arthritis, I would check into Adequan injections.
And as Jerry mentioned, yoh may want to check into some pain management ...maybe Rimadyl, something like that, or a Ittle stronger like Tramadol.
You may see if you can interest Gilda into some of the doggy "mind game puzzles" to help keep her from being bored if it's too much effort for her to do a lot of walking for now. A little R&R may be a good thing!. Update us when you can! It was just great hearing from you!
Just curious if Domino is still around, as well as her "senior" buddy?
Keep in touch and uodate when you can!
Lots of hugs 🙂
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
Heloooo great to hear from you two, i hope you and your doggies are well. My memory's not as good so i cant remember your stories, sorry :-/ but i do remember all the great support you gave me and Gilda when she had her leg off, your both amazing.
Just a bit more info on the lady.
When she had her spleen removed she also had a very bad anal gland infection which proved to be very difficult to clear up. She was put on steroids to help her recover. We took her off the steroids and she went very quiet and was very reluctant to even get up and go out at all, so we put her back on them and very slowly reduced the dose. We have now got her down to 1.5 mg a day and she has started to struggle, meaning by the time her next dose is due she is looking quite depressed, she no longer comes up the stairs either, which she always did on a daily basis. In the afternoon she is always bright and eager to come to the yard with me, she will have a potter around and then just lays in the back of the car watching what goes on, but shes happy.
Occasionally her back leg would go and she wouldn't be able to weight bear, she would also kick her leg out to the side, really odd, almost like she had cramp, but her muscle didn't feel hard, well the small amount of muscle she has, it usually passes after a few hours, its really odd.
She is booked in for xrays and bloods on Monday to check for arthritis and to see if there's anything else going on we can spot.
But the vet is convinced its a weakness rather than pain related, she hasn't got allot of muscle at all and obviously needs it to support her as shes quite a big girl.
We thought we might also try taking her swimming again to see if that helped at all.
I know a very good osteopath that has already treated her, we will also take her to see him, he is very very good and we also have a lady who wants to use her as a case study, she practices cranial, so hoping that will also help.
We also need to find her a muscle building supplement, but not sure which one to use.
We are desperate to get her off the steroids because of the side effects it causes.
Looking back at the video she was so full of life an she looked so strong, I want my baby back 🙁
benny.... yes we still have Domino, he is such a baby and so full of energy, hes the snuggliest boy ever.
and Lizzy the oldie, she is still with us at the grand old age of 22, shes loosing her sight, hard of hearing and a bit pottery first thing in the morning, but she still gets about and is eating well. She has the odd accident but then again she is 22 years old. 🙂
Thank you ladies lovely to hear from you both xxx
Hi there!
I'm sorry that I don't know Gilda's whole story but I wanted to chime in with my two cents. My dog Izzy was a front amp - lost her leg to OSA at the ripe old age of twelve-ish (I don't really know exactly when she was born). She started having an issue where one of her back legs would kick out - much like you, I thought it was a spasm or something because to was really odd. She'd be hopping along and KICK! Leg would go straight out. She didn't seem to want to put weight on it and sometimes, when she did step it was "floppy toed" ... that's a VERY technical medical term there. I mean to say that she'd step and it was like her toes got caught and she ended up on the tops of her toes, which were folded under as it would on a human hand with a closed fist. That didn't happen too much, but the kicking is what sent me to the vet with her.
In our case, it was a ruptured cruciate ligament (CCL). The did a complete neurological exam and all was normal but her knee was unstable, which is how they arrived at the diagnosis. While I pondered what to do with my then nearly 13 year old pup, she was put on pain meds but she still would RUN so she didn't have to use the leg. Let me tell you, it's quite a sight to see a dog run on just two legs. It did the trick for her, but she needed help to stand still and to potty both before and immediately after her knee repair surgery.
Like your pup, Izzy took daily steroids for over a year and they took a dramatic toll on her muscles. I started her on GorillaMax, which is a protein powder for dogs (made by Bully Max). I didn't notice a huge difference but she liked it and so I kept giving it to her. I can't say if it did any good, but she lived til nearly 14. Realistically, you could use any lean protein ... boil some chicken breast or turkey, etc.
I'd definitely ask the doc to evaluate her knee. It's just so similar that I think it's worth a look. Hope it's nothing serious, but just thought I should put that on the radar to ask the vet.
Amy & my angelic angel pup, Izzy
Momma to the world's most beautiful American Bulldog, Izzy!! Lost her front leg to OSA 9/18/15. Diagnosed w MCT in June 2016. Celebrated her 1 year ampuversary with knee surgery on 9/18/16! MCT recurrence in Dec 2016. Happy & hungry til nearly 14, earning her wings on 7/31/17.
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