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.
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I adopted a german shepherd tripawd the end of January, she had just had her surgery a few days before the adoption. She was living with a homeless man when she was hit by a car
. Her right front leg had to be amputated, she gets along just great. What I am concerned with though is her lack of weight gain. She was super skinny when she came into the rescue, gained a bit while there and has gained a tiny bit since we adopted her, but she is still skin and bones, you can see her ribs. She is now 10 months old, eats twice as much as my other two dogs and still can't gain weight. I don't want her obviously to gain a bunch, but she needs some. I worry that because she is working harder with only three legs she may be burning up more fat then she should be? We go on nice hikes through the canyons every day. I wonder if there is something more I could be feeding her that will put on a healthy amount of weight, or if I have to cut back on her exercise? I really hope I don't have to do that cause hiking is her favorite. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!
Does she have any diarrhea or soft stools? Parasites could be a problem if she was living on the streets. Shepherds are also prone to a condition called Exocrine Pancreatic Insufficiency (EPI). This is fairly uncommon but causes weight loss and sometimes soft stools because the dog can not digest the food properly. A simple blood test diagnoses it and a pancreatic enzyme sprinkled over the food is the cure.
Pam
I cannot add much to the technical discussion and am so very glad that Pam has addressed that so very well. Many of us were fighting cancer as well as the amputation, which made the issue of weight even more of a balancing act. Miss Cherry was never heavy and most often tended toward the slight side, but never skinny until the chemotherapy when she lost all her appetite. I was always trying to put on the weight because I knew that when the cancer did reappear, I would be grateful for all the weight I could get.
As far as the hiking, like you this is something I would not give up unless absolutely necessary. We always need to be aware of the health of their spirit and she loves the hikes, then I too would fight to keep them going. Bless you for adopting this girl. We have a number of TriPawd German Shepherd Dogs within this community that became TriPawds because of accidents, abuse, or neglect. They are wonderful dogs and enjoy their lives very much. I am sure that you will hear from them soon.
Spirit Cherry's Dad
Yay for Pam and her expertise!
It sure does sound more serious than a normal case of being too skinny. If it were normal, I know puppy food is sometimes recommended until the dog reaches a healthy weight (unless of course she still is a puppy and on puppy food). I had to get Gerry's weight up to be ready for his amputation while I was fostering him (I later adopted him) and the only tip I have from that is that when you're feeding your dog extra to fatten her up, separate it into more meals throughout the day to avoid bloat. I was giving Gerry three or four meals then and often spoiling him with boiled chicken and rice mixed in.
Good luck and welcome to Tripawds!!!
Gerry has been a tripawd since 12/16/2009.
He was a shelter dog with a mysterious past and an irrepairable knee injury.
Videos and pics of Gerry's pawesomeness can be found at: http://gerry.tripawds.com
Here at the Oaktown Pack we have two tripawd GSD's, Codie Rae and Travis Ray. Both are rear leg amputees and arrived here at about eight months of age. Both were skinny, and both dogs had trouble putting on weight initially. In both cases it was parasites, and fortunately neither one had EPI. Travis has been here since November and his digestion is just beginning to get into the groove where we don't have problems on a regular basis. Another possiblity is a precurser to EPI called SIBO (Small Intenstinal Bacterial Overgrowth) for which we treated Travis with Tylan powder sprinkled on his food for a month. I would suggest starting with the parasites and working with your vet to the next possibilities if that is not it. GSD's are notorious for digestive issues, so it is always a bit of a battle to keep the digestive system stable. We also have all our dogs on Dogzymes, which help with digestion, but are not the same as the enzymes for EPI treatment. We have found that after a few months with the Dogzymes we get overall improvement in digestion.
We try to go easy on the exercise, and keep the dogs slim to reduce strain. Our goal is enough exercise to maintain fitness, but avoid long-term impacts to joints.
Welcome to Tripawds and I hope this helps.
Ralph
Welcome Lilamay!
Bless you for adopting! Yeah, my first thought was parasites! Glad others helped you out, especially Pam since she is a vet.
That's a beautiful picture by the way!
Comet's mom
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Welcome and thanks for joining! You definitely want to keep tripawds on the trim side, but if you're pup is clearly underweight you might want to review these posts for some helpful product suggestions ...
Building muscle strength in three legged dogs
K9 Fuel is a protien powder for dogs that will help build uscle with regular exercise.
Treat Tripawds to Honest Kitchen Goodness
Ice Pups treat mix powder provides additional nutrition to water, or freeze for healthy cool treat!
Finally, what kind of food does your dog eat? Check dogfoodadvisor.com or review the links on our Tripawds Nutrition blog Diet page to ensure he's getting all the nutrients he needs without excessive fillers.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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