Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi, all. As you know, my Brady became a tripawd two weeks ago due to Osteosarcoma (grrrr). Ginger, his sister has been acting funny, ever since.
Brady was away for two nights for his amp surgery, and Ginger was clearly depressed and confused. When he came home, she would lay with him and not go too far from him...which is something she never would have done before. She's always been kind of "the boss" and never got too close to him to cuddle or anything.
Now that he is feeling better, she's starting to act out a bit. She now tries to eat her poop and the neighbor dogs' poop when she's outside (we've never had this issue before). She is also seeming more needy...she will sit, stare, and grumble at me if I am sitting on the couch reading, she is constantly in my face, crawling all over me, and following me everywhere. I know she knows that something is different. I try to act completely normal around them as to not stress either of them out. She's constantly standing under the cookie jar on the counter thinking I'm going to give her treats all the time. She's just goofy. I love her so and I'm wondering if anyone else has had something like this go on after your pup became a tripawd???
Thanks, everyone 
Sounds to me like Ginger is feeling a bit neglected. By necessity the first few weeks after surgery our new Tripawds demand a lot of attention. When Maggie had her surgery the other pug in the house was her little sis Tani. Maggie was clearly the alpha dog, but Tani challenged her sometimes, even attacking Mag the first day home! With two girls I had to really be careful to keep thing 'fair'. It got to the point that if I picked one of them up they would fight when I put her down unless I was really careful. So when Mag was recovering I had to be careful to give Tani lots of attention, and very importantly lots of exercise and get her tired out. Luckily my dad was willing to take Tani for long walks, or stay with Mag while I took Tani out.
I would suggest that if you can take Ginger out for long walks and some alone time with you (if the weather allows) or maybe give her a bone or chew toy away from Brady in the house. Maybe one of those games to stimulate her mind- one of my pugs likes twister and tug-a-jug. It was a constant challenge for me to get Tani enough exercise while accommodating Maggie's needs.
In an odd twist, I find myself in a similar situation now! Tani is 13 with lots of medical challenges, and my younger pug Obie is only 7 and needs lots of exercise and play time.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Don't really have anything to add, other than a lot of that just sounds like "normal behavior" at my house
As much as you're trying to make sure your energymis "normal", I'm sure she has sensed the underlying stress these past several weeks. Perhaps Ginger feels like she has to "take care of you" and stay by your side as she feels she must takeover being thepackleader while she perceives you to be in a "weakened" state. just throwing stuff out there in the "for whatever itsworth" column!
The poop eating? I have no idea! It seems that Ihave heard it's a sympton of a vitamin deficiency, but I'm no vet. I'm thinking that this is just coincidence that it start since Brady's been home...especialy if's a deficiency of some sort.
Would love to see some pics of that "goofy" Ginger! She sounds like a delightful character!! Ginger! Poop is not a treat!
Soooooo glad Brady is doing well! And it contiues to get better and better!
Hugs to all your pack!!
Sally and Happy Hannah
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!
In our house, Gus has always been the alpha dog. He was seven when we got Murphy and had been an only dog for about four years. He very quickly established his number one position and hasn't given it up even when Murphy surpassed him in both size and strength.
When Murphy was in the hospital for the three weeks before his amp, Gus was quite happy being back to on,y dog status. The day we brought Murphy home, you could just see the look of disgust on Gus' face. It was like he was saying, "Oh crap...he's back". He never did try to dominate Murphy, but was very insistent on getting his share and more of the attention that was happening.
The other night I looked over at them. Murphy really wanted the elk antler that Gus had. Gus didn't want it, but he didn't want Murphy to have it, either. It was between Gus' legs and Murphy was laying there with his head on Gus' toes but woukdn't dare take the antler that was about an inch from his nose. Wish I could have taken a picture.
As far as the poop eating goes, is it Brady's poop Ginger is eating or her own? If it is Brady's, could it be that it seems different to her because of a change in his diet? We fed Gus pumpkin in his food for quite a while when Murphy was young. It seemed to deter the poop eating. After the seven months on the leash, the desire for those backyard goodies wasn't there any more, thank goodness. Deer poop...elk poop...all those other wonderful things still sound good to him. And they make it unbearable to be in the room with him after he has had them.......GREEN FOG!!!
Kathi and Murphy
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Here are a couple relative links from the Tripawds e-books you may find useful...
forums/hopping-around/tripawd-siblings-feeling-left-out-depression-etc/
2010/09/24/how-do-canine-siblings-react-to-new-tripawds/
Search the forums above for "siblings" or "packmates" for more results, or search all blogs here.
Hope that helps!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
KATHI! Loved hearing about Murhy and Gus and how they interact! Great visual! My little Fourteen pounder Bodie told Hannah what to do and when to do it! Same thing, Bodie may not want "whatever", but he took great pleasure in just giving Hannah the"step away" stare!,
And it's hard to believe that Sweet Gus even kows how to growl!! He just looks sooooooooo gentle!
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!
I don't really know if this helps, because I have cats and we all know how spiteful they can be. But, when I brought Jill home after her amputation, she was pooping outside of the litterbox.........OR SO I THOUGHT!
I thought it was her and she was just having trouble getting into the litterbox due to her uh now not having four legs. But then I caught her big brother in the act! Jack, my other cat was the one doing the deed.
I figured he was just pissed and confused about her getting some extra attention and he was also quite depressed when she was away for three nights at the hospital, so I tried giving him some extra quality love. He LOVES cardboard boxes, so I went out and got one for him to play around in and also paper bags. Once I started to pay him some extra attention, the behavior stopped.
Hope this will maybe help in some way and Brady's recovery continues to be smooth!
Erica
Jill is a 9-year-old tuxedo kitty. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in June 2012 on her toe in her right hind leg. Her leg was amputated on 12/12/12 and she completed four rounds of chemo (2 of Carbo, 2 of Doxy) in April 2013. "Like" Jill's facebook page: https://www.fac.....tty?ref=hl Proud member of the WINTER WARRIORS!!!! Her blog can be read at http://jillsjou.....ipawds.com. xoxo
JAAAAAAAAAACK! 
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!
Gerry's been eating poop on and off for the last couple years (and I've had him for about four). I haven't seen any correlation with being on a probiotic or not, change in diet or not, giving him pumpkin or not, or whether there seems a likely cause for stress (like roommates moving in or out) at the time or not. So, for my own sanity, I've had to take the view (until further evidence) that he simply discovered other dogs' poo is incredibly tasty and will not be convinced otherwise. I hope this will not be the case for Ginger, but keep the possibility in mind so you don't get too frustrated, if no recommended remedies seem to help.
I don't have any experience with the other issues, and have only had one dog at a time so far, but it seems reasonable that (barring anything like diarrhea or vomiting on her part) that she's just adjusting to the new normal (with some stress-eating perhaps). Our pups take so many of our human life's stressors so easily that it's easy to imagine nothing will ever phase them - until it does. Good luck!
Gerry has been a tripawd since 12/16/2009.
He was a shelter dog with a mysterious past and an irrepairable knee injury.
Videos and pics of Gerry's pawesomeness can be found at: http://gerry.tripawds.com
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