Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi Everyone,
I'm so happy to say that after having his right hind leg amputated in April (he had a huge tumor), Stephen Dog is doing really well! He's got tons of energy and he can now walk about three miles at a time and wags his tail the entire time! That being said: we're urban folks and we walk a lot on pavement. I have been watching his left back paw and I'm really worried because his nails are getting worn down so much that he actually started bleeding yesterday. I bought him some of those hiking dog booties and he HATED them. I saw the review in the gear section for alternatives, but I'd love to get some advice from you all about what to do. As winter approaches, I really want to make sure I have something to protect his paws. Please share any wisdom with me that you have - I'd much appreciate it!
- Stephen's Mom
Welcome Stephen and Mom!
Sounds like you have the tripawd lifestyle down!!
We are always curious- so what kind of tumor? How old is your boy?
My pug Maggie was a rear amp, but I can't say we ever had the problem Stephen is having. Mag would not wear booties either.
Is he bleeding from his nails or from his pads being worn? If it is his pads I would recommend Musher's Secret to keep his pads supple and less prone to cracking. I used it on Mag to help with traction . It is helpful in cold weather too.
I'm looking forward to hearing more about you and Stephen.
Karen and the pugapalooza
p.s.- from now on your posts will show up without moderation as long as you remember to log in. Just a new member's first post or a guest's posts have to wait.
Sounds like he's doing fabulous! Glad to hear he can go so far on his walks! But the nails/pads...bummer.... Have you tried other types of boots? Which one's did you try? How about turning it into a fun clicker training experience/positive training experience - where you slowly introduce the boots to him and feed him treats during this timeframe...so eventually he knows the boots means great treats are coming his way and make it a positive experience for him? Or how about using maybe a lighter weight bootie at first and then graduate to something more rugged later? To get him used to them? If you are walking alot on pavement, I would guess that a bootie would really be a necessary evil? Especially with a rear amp with how they shuffle that leg back and forth? It seems to me, IMO, rear amp dogs would have more wear and tear on their paws/pads on that rear foot than a front amp dog....because of the nature of the beast of having to power off so much on that one rear leg...
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
He will have to wear some sort of bootie/foot protector or his nails will keep bleeding. You can try to apply New-Skin (you can buy it at the grocery store) to protect the nail ends and encourage healing. Any chance you can walk him on grass or a trail?
Pam
Welcome, and thanks for joining! One thing we recommend is to get pups used to wearing dog boots by putting them on for short periods indoors with lots of positive reinforcement. Also, consider shortening the walks and working in some core strengthening exercises. Walks do not develop strength, only endurance.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Just to add to Admin's comments about core strength...I really cannot give it enough PAWS UP! My dog, Maggie, gets weekly sessions - about 3 per week - but now with winter coming on, that means more inside time, so then I will up her weekly sessions. And the sessions are very short really...we're talking maybe 10 minutes or so. She loves it as it involves TREATS! Yay!
I am also working with Debbie Saunders, a PT in CT right now long distance with my quadpawd, Haley, who has a shoulder injury right now. Haley, too, loves her PT work - the eggball, the balance disc, walking up/down a ramp and zig zag walking, etc.
There's so much we can do for our Tripawds(not to mention quadpawds) with just a few PT tools and alot of great treats. My dogs love their nightly sessions - it's too dark at night now to walk anywhere here in Northern Maine! And pretty darn soon, there will be SNOW 🙁
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Hi Everyone,
Thank you all so much for the great ideas! Stephen dog had a huge benign fatty tumor. We adopted him and by the time we figured out what was going on it was an emergency amputation. Tripawds was incredibly supportive to me back in April and then I just remembered what an amazing resource this is. I hope to be able to help other people out who are going through the same thing we went through. The people on this site are inspiring! Stephen just ran in his first 5K this weekend (we ran with him!). It was a benefit run for doggie cancer - we couldn't think of a better cause to get us all out running. We were SO proud of him for making it!
Stephen's nail is the issue. He's worn them down on his back leg so much that there's not anything really protecting his tender under-nail. I think we'll have to buy him booties. I like the idea of getting the sock-type ones to start and then working him towards a tougher long-term solution like the gortex ones. He really didn't seem to like them when we tried them over the weekend. I'll look at the gear reviews and pick one of those sock-like ones to try for now. He'll wear through them pretty quickly, I'd think, but at least they're more flexible than the hiking booties - they made him walk in a weird way.
You are all the best. Thanks so much!!
-Stephen the Dog's proud Mom
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