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!
Hi, We are fostering (hopefully to adopt) a recent tripawd, named Pi. She is a 2 year old lab/catahoula mix and was hit by a car on May 31st. Someone who saw her get hit called animal control, who picked her up and got her to a vet. She had her right rear leg amputated (femur broken in two places) on June 10th, so we are a month into recovery. We have two other young dogs who are high energy-- they run 70+ miles/week with my husband and still want to play after that. Before the surgery, Pi was completely isolated from the other dogs. Two weeks after the surgery (when staples were out), we did leash only brief meetings multiple times a day in the yard, and we are now up to off-leash, single dog, short interactions. Pi desperately wants to play with our dogs, but I am very worried about her injuring her remaining back leg. She does still seem to randomly whimper when just standing every once in a while (I don't know why?), and has also fallen over and cried once when running in the back yard. I have read many posts on here and realize that it could take a year (or more) before she is fully recovered, although since we did not know her before her accident, we have no expectation about what that will look like for her. We are trying to take it slow with the recovery, short walks and core work, but we also need to integrate her into our family, so we can make a final decision about whether we can adopt her. I guess we do more leash walks with the three of them together? I hate continuing to isolate her to prevent dog interactions and potential injury both inside and outside, but maybe that's what we need to do. Does anyone have other advice for the integration of a new dog while also adapting to tripawd life?
Hi Pi and family. You guys are awesome for fostering this special girl! And you ask SUPER important questions! Have you seen our series about Adopting a Tripawd? You may want to check it out.
I'm not the best person to ask about integrating a new dog into the pack, since Wyatt Ray flies solo in our pack. Others can better advise you on that.
As for the exercise, if you are able to pay for an evaluation with a canine rehabilitation therapist, they can give you a pretty good idea about what she will be capable of as she matures and ages, and what is appropriate activity for her. Since your family is all so active I think it would be a wise investment to get a clear picture from an expert.
Thanks for joining! Stay tuned for feedback from others.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
1 Guest(s)