Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi everyone, I first just want to say thanks to everyone who contribues on this site as it has been super helpful! My beautiful 5yo Irish Wolfhound girl (Luna) was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her left hind leg at the end of April this year. There was some ambiguity in her diagnosis and after oncologist review plus CTs/biopsy/etc we went ahead with an amputation in early June. She is also having follow-up chemo (has had one dose already, another due this Friday) with no serious side effects so far.
Luna has mild hip dysplasia and has had relatively minor bouts of arthritic pain for about a year. The oncologist and orthopaedic surgeon assured us that her condition was definitely compatible with an amputation, and for the first few weeks she did amazingly well.
We have floorboards in our house which Luna has struggled with occasionally in the past (even with 4 legs!). For the first couple of weeks, she did great with no issues. About 3 weeks ago, she had a couple of slips and started becoming very nervous about walking on the floorboards. This is exacerbated by our other IW who, when Luna slips, panics and starts telling her off by growling and barking at her! Luna ends up scrambling and panicked until she gets back on to carpet.
We have now put down quite wide rugs and runners all through the house so she does not have to walk on the floorboards at all, but she has still been increasingly scared - now refusing to walk to different rooms unless we take her on the lead, and sometimes not even then. The last couple of days she is also sprinting through “scary” places, even though she’s no longer slipping as there is carpet everywhere.
Also starting a few days ago, she had some pain and was very reluctant to stand. When we did finally get her to her feet, she whimpered. Since then, her remaining hind leg occasionally looks weak and almost buckles under her at times. I cannot tell if this is pain or anxiety. Luna is a pretty anxious dog in general so I think it’s possible some of it is mental rather than physical.
We have been giving her Mobic daily since she exhibited some pain on Friday last week, and will continue this until her oncology appointment on Friday. She is also having remedial massage every two weeks.
Does anyone have any advice or experience with issues like this? I am disappointed because she was doing so well and now seems to have regressed over the last few weeks.
Thanks in advance for any help/guidance you can give me.
Hi and welcome 🙂 Your future posts won't need approval so post away.
Poor Luna! I'm so sorry she is having these issues. Yep, slippery floors are a Tripawd's worst nightmare. I'm so glad you put carpet runners down, good job! It sounds like there are two issues going on: her fear of falling again, and a potential muscle strain.
Has she been seen by a physio therapist yet? Is the massage person a credentialed physio? If not, now is the time to see one. It sounds like she could have pulled a muscle by slipping on the floors, and it may take more than massage to help with the situation. A physio can diagnose the problem and assign different modalities to alleviate the pain.
Meanwhile, you can do some things to alleviate her fears:
Make a gentle reintroduction to those areas where she is fearful. Make it fun! Is she food motivated? Toss the most unbelievable tasty treats just barely into the room where she is afraid to go. Use different treats each day. Gradually increase the distance into the room where they get tossed so that pretty soon she finds herself in the middle of the room. Now if she's not food motivated, what does get her motor running? What will she do ANYTHING for? Do the same thing with whatever that is. There's gotta be something!
Also, you may want to consider a product like Dr. Buzby's Toe Grips. They will give her renewed confidence on any surface. If she's foot phobic your vet may need to apply them.
We had to use similar methods for our Wyatt Ray , only his fear wasn't floors, it was open staircases (stairs with no backing behind them). He finally got over his phobia, and so will Luna!
Stay tuned for feedback from others. And feel free to share pics of Luna, we are just ga-ga over Wolfies! Here are instructions for adding images to the forums.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hello and welcome!
First off- is Luna on any supplements or meds for her arthritis? She may have been able to cope fine on four legs but with her new gait she may be showing more soreness. 6 weeks in is not long actually- it takes quite a bit of energy for new Tripawds to get around so some weakness at this point is not unusual. Jerry's suggestion for PT is a great one. Core and leg strength is critical for Tripawds and getting an exercise program will get you off to a good start.
As far as a sensitive/anxious dog- I'm right there with you! My current Tripawd is a little Pug mix who was hit by a car when she was 7 months old, she lost her right rear leg as a result. If that wasn't enough trauma for a puppy I was her 4th home when I adopted her at 10 months old. Between the accident and re-homing Elly was a very fearful and anxious dog. Understandably she was afraid of moving cars but she was also afraid of traffic noises. We could not cross the street (like in a crosswalk) in front of a running car. She was afraid of leaves blowing down the street, plastic bags, gloves, anyone who wasn't me.... you get the idea. She wouldn't walk under chair or go through a dog door. She has severe separation anxiety mostly related to vehicles.
Elly is 5.5 years old now and almost 5 years past her amp. She is so much more confident now, not afraid of vehicles or any of the other things I mentioned. She is still shy around new people but not afraid. And I have the sep anx under control to some extent.
All that history to say that there is hope that Luna will overcome her fear of the floors/rooms!
I would not force her to go through the rooms if you can help it- of course you may have to go through them to get around your house.
If you can avoid the rooms then start slowly with her favorite treats or toys. Reward if she just breaks the plane of the doorway. Just do a few reps at a time. If she prefers cuddling or petting then sit just inside the doorway and when she comes for a pet then throw a party! It's best if she can gain confidence on her schedule but if you have to go through then make it a party! Lots of treats and praise and happy voices. It would probably be easier too if your other dog is in another space. It's really important that you are upbeat and positive. Luna will feed off your emotions- if you are tense she will be too and more scared. Elly is super sensitive to my moods, voice and touch. She starts to shut down if she senses frustration on my part we have to stop whatever game or training we are doing. And it's really important for us that we always end on a victory. So if we are stuck on learning something new then I go back to something really easy for her like 'high 5' or 'spin' so she gets a reward and we are both happy when we stop.
Looking forward to pictures!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Thank you both so much for your quick and detailed replies! This has definitely alleviated some of my major concerns. I have been so stressed about her seeming to regress. The amputation seemed like such a major decision to make and we really wanted to make sure she retained her quality of life, and the last couple of weeks has been so much more difficult than the first few post-op. It is encouraging to hear that this is pretty normal and hopefully she will improve again.
I will definitely try the grips, we were considering using them already so great to hear that you recommend them. The massage therapist is qualified but is not a physiotherapist - luckily my normal GP vet only 5 mins from my house has a rehabilitation program with hydrotherapy and qualified therapists, so I’ll make enquires about going there for some rehab. I’m in Aus so the certifications may be different. When we asked, the orthopaedic surgeon said that rehab was not necessary, which seemed odd. Obviously she could only benefit from a rehab program!
Thank you also for your specific advice about reducing anxiety. At this stage, we are using treats/the lead to coax her in and out of rooms with a fair bit of success. I’m not insisting she go anywhere in particular as long as she is not outside in the cold (it’s middle of winter here for us). She does need Trazadone before going to vet due to her anxiety so it can be pretty bad sometimes. I’ll continue to explore options to manage her anxiety now that she is exhibiting more extreme signs in the home.
And yes, Luna has been on 4cyte joint supplements for close to one year, ever since she was diagnosed with the hip dysplasia. She had occasional flare ups of pain even with four legs, so we started the supplements as well as the 6-monthly courses of pentosan, which is due again in September.
Awww, Luna sounds like such a sweetheart❤
You've gotten great advice and sounds like you are on the right track to helping her.
I have a four legger who recently went blind. She's handling things well, but can easily get spooked and panicked with anything unexpected. One time she was going out the door to her ya4d at the same time I happen to drop something that made a loud noise. She would NOT come back in thru that door for hours. She is VERY food mot and even that wouldn't work. I had to start putting g the good morsels away from the door, move them closer and closer and eventually she went thru the door!
This type of "fear" in her happens with whatever the "unexpected" might happen to be. Some of the behaviors you describe in Luna...avoidance, or sprinting past the "danger"...she replicates. I have to walk beside her often when she equates something unexpected happening on her normal path thru the house.
Patience, treats, happy voice praises like Karen and Jerry mentioned....she'll get there. And sometimes I just wait go about my business and wait it out til she comes thru the other side.
Another thing to check with the Rehab on Luna's weak leg. Make sure she doe have a cruciate logament tear. That can happen with any dog, but Tripawds especially.
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!
Aww you are so welcome! Sally and Karen both have dogs with similar dispositions as you can see, so their insight is wonderful.
When we asked, the orthopaedic surgeon said that rehab was not necessary, which seemed odd.
Your instincts were spot on! It's crazy how so many practitioners still aren't aware of the benefits of rehab / physio therapy. The field is now 20 years old but many vets still don't know. That's one reason why we started the rehab reimbursement program, so that word gets out. So many Tripawd injuries could be prevented if the pet parent was able to go to rehab and learn how to keep their dog or cat strong and minimize the risks of injury. It's practically more for us than them! Anyhoo, if the team you use has practitioners who are credentialed, the Tripawds Foundation may pay for your first rehab visit . The link has more info.
we started the supplements as well as the 6-monthly courses of pentosan, which is due again in September.
I had to look that up. In Australia, Pentosan is known as Adequan here. Many Tripawds with arthritis use it. We've been using it with good results on Tripawds Spokesdog Wyatt Ray . Many people report it worked for their dogs too. One interesting thing we learned recently is that you can safely boost the injection intervals, with your vet's guidance of course. For example, Wyatt was getting injections 1x monthly, and now that his arthritis has worsened, I spoke with his orthopaedic team who said it was safe to boost to 2x monthly. We've just started doing that and I'm already seeing good results. Something you may want to discuss with your vet now that she's a Tripawd.
Let us know what helps her overcome her floor fears OK? Good luck!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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