Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Thank you, everyone, for the warm welcome. Detour has an appointment for his right front leg amputation on 9/21. The leg will be removed at the shoulder joint. I don't believe they will need to remove the shoulder blade. I have been looking at the various harnesses on the Tripawds.com website. So far, I am leaning toward the Ruff Wear Web Master harness, but I have some questions. Do you think it can be used to bring him home from the hospital, or will the harness rub on the surgery site? If anyone has personal experiences with any harness, I would love to hear your opinions.
Harvey & Detour (the soon-to-be tripod dog)
"Outside of a dog, a book is Man's best friend.
Inside of a dog it's too dark to read." -- Groucho Marx
Hey Harvey & Detour,
We recommend waiting until the stitches are out before using any harness, especially for a front legger. The area around the incision site can be sensitive and although the straps might or might not rub, it's best to play it safe until the stitches/staples are out. Until then we recommend placing a t-shirt on the pup and using a canvas grocery bag with the sides cut open as a sling (use the handles to help support him when he's getting his bearings).
Afterward, the Ruff Wear harness is a fantastic assistive aid to help any Tripawd get around!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I would echo Jerry's advice - we are new to the tripawd thing and worried about a harness on our front right amp pooch too. Samdog was an 86 lb golden before surgery, so a pretty big boy. The harness didn't rub directly on the incision - but he was so swollen and bruised, we know it would have hurt.
Our biggest fear was how to get him in the car when he was released from the hospital. He was able to hop under his own power out to the car and while it wasn't graceful - he was able to hop in with assistance and no injury. We had a sling borrowed from the hospital if we needed it. But we didn't need it. We just took our time.
Since getting most of his stiches out this week - he's been wearing his roughwear harness and it is brilliant! Jumping up for Sam hasn't been too hard, but jumping down from any height was scary before I could get my hand on him and assist his descent. We won't be getting into the car without it, ever again. It is now part of his leash. One really great feature for righ-front amps is the way the buckles work. Front right amps don't need to step into the harness! It just slips under the chest and buckles. Left leggers will need to find a way to hop or be lifted into it.
Good luck with surgery - we are sending all our healthy energy your way. I'm sure Detour is gonna do great!
Hugs from far away friends,
Samdog and his mom
Samdog was a 10 yr old Golden and retired SAR dog. We found a bone mass on 8/17/12, needle biopsy showed sarcoma 8/22/12, amputation on 8/23/12, post-amp biopsy confirmed osteosarcoma on 8/28/12. Sadly, we found lung mets on 11/27/12 and my Spirit Sam earned his wings on 12/2/12.
We didn't know where we were headed and we don't regret a single step along our path. It all happened too fast, but he left a legacy of love that we will always cherish. Good bye my heart.
You can find our story at http://samdog.t.....ipawds.com
Hi all,
I am looking to purchae a harness ASAP. Because Zambor is such a large dog, I wonder if he is beter of with the Ruff Wear Web Master
harness or the AST Get A Grip harness
. Can anyone perhaps help me decide
Another issue : I have already checked and I can get the Ruff Wear harness
in Belgium, but I can't seem to find a shop for the AST harness in Europe. (if possible I want to avoid the extra charges for transport from the US) Can someone help me locate a shop in Europe.<img class="spSmiley" title="aw-shucks" onclick="spjEdInsertSmiley('smiley9.gif', 'aw-shucks', 'https://tripawds.com/wp-content/sp-resources/forum-smileys/', '
');" src="/wp-content/sp-resources/forum-smileys/smiley9.gif" alt="aw-shucks" />
The decision one which one to buy depends on what the Tripawds community considers the best option in Zambor's case: Large breed with right front leg amputation.
Thank you all in advance for your advise.
Krizzy & Zambor
Jerry wrote this Tripawds Gear blog post to help anyone decide which harness is best for their dog.
Which harness is right for my dog?
Hope this helps!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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