Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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John is a rear leg tripawd, amputated at the hip. He's been a tripawd for 2 years now and has never really had any problems except for this one. Sometimes when he's lying down on a hard surface he'll have trouble engaging his rear leg to get up. It doesn't last very long and he is fine afterwards but its very puzzling. Does anyone else with a rear tripawd dog do this? Is it just his leg falling asleep?
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Hmmm... How old is John and how much does he weigh? Hard to tell from the avatar picture... but he sure is adorable!!
Could be that his joints are starting to stiffen from the extra weight on his remaining back leg. Is he on any joint supplements?
Angel Jake and Wolfie's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
Cute pup! I like your question and I am going to follow this forum topic since I have a new tripawd (also a back leg amputee) and will be sure to look out for this possible occurrence in the future. Great question, unfortunately I do not have any advice since I don't know...
Did you try calling his vet?
-Chloe's mom
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
I'm doing a little research before I call the vet. I haven't really found a vet who'se knowledgeable about tripawds.
There is an "ask a vet" forum and I think once a week there is an online thing where you can directly chat with a vet through this website (someone who knows tripawds). Good Luck!
-Chloe's mom
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
John is so handsome!
How did he become a Tripawd? Was it an accident?
We do have the chat open every day, someone always stops by. Keep it open, you never know who will show up.
And we do have "Ask a Vet" chats there about once a month depending on who we can recruit! Remember, we're always looking for vets to share the load with Tazziedog (our favorite vet here who is also knowledgeable about Tripawds).
Meanwhile, you may want to check out these videos from California Animal Rehabilitation for tips and advice about exercise.45 minutes a day of hard exercise every day might be a bit much but I don't know your dog. You might want to consider changing things up a bit to give his muscles a break.
What you might need is a board-certified canine rehabilitation veterinarian to assess John and find out what's going on. Where are you located? You can do a search for a licensed one here. Just make sure whoever you pick is properly licensed (board certified rehab vets are best but a rehab therapist working alongside a vet is also good).
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I would try to give him some glucose just it case, it definatly wouldnt hurt.... but i agree, I'd wait on the vet and ask them, (free vet info is always nice) beautiful dog, bordercollie?
Upon getting the call to go to work
MY dog sits proud as I stand at attention
I salute my director
Place my hand back to my side
Then I say in a PROUD and STRONG voice
"Mr.Squishy, reporting for duty, Sir."
chasenthunder said:
I would try to give him some glucose
Glucose or Glucosamine? We're not vets, but you may want to clarify this.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
vets closer than a 3 hour drive. 45 mins is not too much. For John it's the
bare minimum to keep him from going stir crazy. John was approved for herding
by his original vet and was used as a working dog for 2 years before I got him
so he is used to a high level of exercise. That might change as he gets older
but he is only 3 years old now. He doesn't always get exercised that much every
day but again there is no visible correlation between the exercise and his leg
issue. I’m going to pick him up a joint supplement any recommendations? I wouldn't give him any glucose he's got enough energy already. 😉
Thank you for the links, when are the Ask a Vet chats held each month?
Here is John’s story it’s a little long and dramatic:
John became a tripawd when he was about a year old, he was out herding sheep
with his former master in the wilderness near the Oregon/Washington border. John
was sent to chase after a few breakaways while his master and sister focused on
the main flock. His master secured the flock but John had not returned yet. As
they went to search for John a bear ran out close by. Fearing that the bear had
just slaughtered the sheep his master ran to find John, only it wasn’t the
sheep that were harmed. John had protected the flock and had managed to herd
them into a small group, holding their position. But John had borne the brunt
of the bears anger, his right rear leg had been stripped of fur and shattered
all the way up to the femur. He had a large chunk of flesh torn from his left
hind leg, and he had been summarily neutered as well. He was immediately rushed
into the vet who had no choice but to amputate his right rear leg at the hip,
however the vet said he had never seen a dog so cheerful and pleasant after
loosing his leg and his balls in the same day. His recovery took 5 weeks, and
even longer to build up the muscles to herd again. But John wouldn’t be happy
doing anything else but chasing sheep.
Rebel Shepherd said:
when are the Ask a Vet chats held each month?
We have no set schedule for these. You can subscribe to the Live Chats forum to receive updates.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
OMG! That is some story about how John lost his leg to a bear! 
He is definitely lucky to be alive!!! Sounds to me like he is a big hero to his sheep!!! 
Angel Jake and Wolfie's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
Rebel Shepherd said:
I’m going to pick him up a joint supplement any recommendations? I wouldn't give him any glucose he's got enough energy already. 😉
That is the MOST amazing story of how a Tripawd lost his leg here. Wow, John gets the prize for the scariest Tripawd story EVER!
About supplements, here's some information on our Nutrition blog about cosequin and dasuquin. We also like Synflex.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Wow! What a story! Codie Rae bows down in awe! ShepHERDing is the one and only.
We do fish (salmon) oil and Dasequin. Fish oil is proven, Glucosamine isn't, but supposedly can't hurt.
Go John! CR would love to come herd with you!
xoxoxo,
Codie Rae and the Oaktown Pack
Woohoo! Tripawds Rule!
Regulator of the Oaktown Pack, Sheriff of the Oaktown Pawsse, Founding member and President of the Tripawd Girldogs With 2 Names ROCK Club, and ... Tripawd Girldog Extraordinaire!
John sounds like an awesome dog!!
I have had my pugs on glucosamine for years. Maggie started on it way before she was a tri-pug. She was limping a little on her leg (not the one that was later amped). We could find nothing obviously wrong, so my vet recommended the glucosamine. With in a couple of weeks the limp disappeared and never returned. Mag was a long time survivor- lasting 3 years and 9 months as a tri-pug and was on glucosamine the whole time.
My other pug girl Tani is also on it for arthritis in her back. So far we haven't had to do any other meds to keep her moving and happy.
Where in Central CA are you ?(if you want to say). There is a group of us in and near the SF Bay Area that get together once a month or so. We would love to have John come and herd us sometime!
Karen and the pugapalooza
Don't let John hear you it'll go to his head, and he already thinks he hung the moon lol. I wish I had some videos of him herding to show you guys, he's just as fast as his four legged counter parts. I'll post some more pics later so you can see his weird scar.
We're in Fresno which is about 2.5-3hrs south depending on how heavy your foot is. We would love to come for a meet up but I'm afraid it'd be a while before we could make it up there.
I'm familiar with glucosamine's effects but what do Methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) and Sodium Chondroitin Sulfate support? Is there much difference between the two?
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