Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
so Scooby is almost 2 weeks post amputation- been a hard 2 weeks but slowly returning to normal. He had his stitches out today and his first chemo session which all went smoothly.
Last night I noticed he was limping slightly on his back right leg which stressed me a bit as you can imagine. Mentioned it today at the vets and they had a look. Said it was probably a strain from readjusting to 3 legs, could be linked to a genital hip issue or unlikely but possible,could be a secondary bone tumour. Of course now I'm totally stressing out (like I always do!) and imagining the worst.
Has anyone else had experience of their newly three legged dog straining one of his other legs??? They have given him some anti-inflammatories (Metacam) and said it should improve over the next few weeks. Praying that they're right x
Bless your heart!!! I can't imagine what you're going through. My quad-paw Melody will limp from time-to-time and I will immediately lose my freakin' mind worrying. Harmony's limp started the same way.
Now here's the logical side of me jumping in to tell you to not feed any more energy into such negative thoughts. This is the "Come to Jesus" meeting I have with myself nearly every day. After losing Harmony the way we did, I've had to do alot of reprogramming of the heart and mind. If I didn't, I'd never let my two bat-$hit-crazy furbabies out of my sight.
xoxoxo
pam
Harmony became a Tripawd on 10/21/14 (MCT). She left us way too soon on 11/1/14.
"We miss you so much; our love, our heart, our Harmony."
- Pam, Ron and Melody, Meesha, Doublestuff and Mariah Carey
Glad to hear things are hoppin right along!
Try not to panic. We've seen this many times and the vets are right, it's usually a matter of the dog doing too much too soon. What kind of activity is he getting? How long are his walks? Does he roughhouse with other dogs?
He should still be taking it easy and instead of his usual walks it's a good idea to spend time focusing on the types of core-strengthening activities we talk about in the Tripawds Gear blog and our e-books. It's a lot of work getting used to that new gait and stronger core muscles will help him get there, while better distributing his weight over the 3 legs.
The Metacam should definitely help but to avoid keeping him on it for good, focus on fitness. Have you considered taking him to a rehab vet? The Tripawds Foundation will even pay for your first consult.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I took him out for 5 mins yesterday on the field next to our house as his new ruffwear harness had arrived!
he was absolutely fine then.. No limping whatsoever. He tried to do a wee and cocked his left leg twice but overbalanced and nearly fell over on to his right hand side but didn't quite. He then squatted to finish off. Hoping that this is what has caused him to have a limp on his back right leg. Not sure I can cope with much more.. Feel totally stressed out.
You've EARNED the right ro be stressed out! Good job! Getting to this poi t IS stressful and exhausting! We pass out a "Certificate" right around the two week mark for the successful completion of our "Totally Stressed Out" course! CONGRATULATIONS for successfully completing this difficult course!!
The good news is, as the recovery subsides and the sparkle comes back bigger and brighter than before, you start to worry less and stay in the bliss of the moment!!
Absolutely, we see dogs limp off and on quite often during the recovery period and beyond! Adjusting to three legs causes sore muscles and strains quite often!
Really glad he's already showing signs of improvement! 
Sending lots of love!
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!
Scooby's limp/discomfort in his hip seems more pronounced this evening and I can't help feeling really negative.
I don't think I can cope with putting him through more scans and treatment 😔
Holy-granoly, how can help but not feel negative!? Scooby can't tell you what's going on. He can't just look up at you and say, "Mom, chill, I'm just not feeling my oats today." He can't tell you, "I think I need to have a talk with the dogtor." All he can do is trust that you have his best interest in mind. And that's what eats at us; the trust they convey to us with the wag of a tail or a cock of the head. Sometimes when we speak on behalf of our furbabies we suffer the side-effect of actually hurting for them as well. It just can't be helped.
All I can tell you is take a deep, cleansing breath and cut this elephant down to a bite size chunk. At this moment, don't think about the scans and the tests. Think about how sweet your Scooby is and how he would rather be nowhere else in this world than right under your loving hands. Think about the endorphins he releases with each stroke, or scratch of the ear.
At this very moment, Be More Dog .
xoxoxo
pam
Harmony became a Tripawd on 10/21/14 (MCT). She left us way too soon on 11/1/14.
"We miss you so much; our love, our heart, our Harmony."
- Pam, Ron and Melody, Meesha, Doublestuff and Mariah Carey
Hang in there. I know it's hard not to feel that way, but Scooby needs you to be a strong pack leader. Our animals mirror our emotions so the stronger and more optimistic you are, the better he will feel.
To Pam's insight I'll add, he needs time to recuperate from this. When he goes outside, are you assisting him at all with the Webmaster's handle? That's what its there for. You don't need to carry him, just gently guide with a slight lift to help take the weight off the legs.
One hop at a time, that's all we have and right here, right now is all we have control over. Don't focus on the future, it's not even here yet and nobody know what it will bring. This journey teaches us that lesson and it helps our lives in so many ways.
You can do it!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I hope Scooby is feeling better! And you too. I agree w/ what everyone has said. It is so easy for a new tripawd to over-do it. They are adjusting and working new muscles in new ways. I know it hurts when they hurt. I get that. But they're a lot tougher than we think so try to stay positive.
Denise
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
As usual, good advice from Pam, Jerry and Denise.
Rereading how you described his "maneuvers" to try and lift his leg to pee. That sure sounds like it was the perfect storm for a tiwst, sprain, etc. And it would make sense that it's even worse today. Sore muscles, etc. usually feel worse before they get better.
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 can't even begin to tell you what your posts and reassurance mean to me. Of course I get it from friends and family too but sometimes all you want is to talk to people that have been through it too. You might be on the other side of the world to me but I really want to thank you all for taking the time to post back to me.
scooby has had a good evening and lots of cuddles and kisses from us all. Tonight when I came home from work he had been scratching at his incision- stitches out yesterday so probably itchy as it heals - so that was a bit scary for my children seeing some blood. Wasn't too bad when we cleared it up and we put a bandage on it. One step forward two steps back sometimes but we will plod on (I did speak to our vet who told us to do this btw).
a few tears from me tonight as l got myself into a bit of a stress but feeling better after reading your posts.
thank you
nicola & Scooby xxx
Yep, getting those stitches out can cause a bit of itchiness.
Yeah, we may have different addresses, but we are all family here living under the same "tripawd roof". We sure do understand like no others can!
One or two drops of blood can spread over a biiiig area and look soooo scary!! Hmmmm...I'd put this in the category and two steps forward and a half an inch back, if that much!
Routines, normalcy, do return. In fact, it looks like Scooby is already there! He's just waiting for you to join him!
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!
1 Guest(s)
