Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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We live in a small house, and have no space for the dog crates upstairs.
I think Chloe could handle being alone for a short amount of time fairly soon, but she's a very naughty puppy when left alone inside the house. It's in everyone's best interest (even hers!) that she and Jenson are kenneled when we leave the house.
So, when do you think it's safe to try the stairs to the basement? How would we help her, since she can't wear a harness yet? I don't want her to overdo it, or be injured. But, eventually we need to figure it out. We can't have one person stay home at all times, forever.
Anita - mom to two human kids and two dog kids.
Chloe the white boxer - tripawd on 2/16/16 at age 6.
I should add - she's doing the two steps onto our deck (to go out and come in from pottying) with ease. Naughty girl has also jumped up onto our son's bed, onto the couch, and once into our suv. These were not approved activities, but Chloe was an expert at pushing the limits of what we liked as a 4 legger, and it seems she may be just as determined as a Tripawd. 😂😀
Anita - mom to two human kids and two dog kids.
Chloe the white boxer - tripawd on 2/16/16 at age 6.
Hmmm. That depends, do your stairs have any kind of traction ? If not I would be really leery. In this situation, if she already has a harness you can put a t-shirt on under the harness so the straps don't rub on her incision.
We had to do that with Jerry, he had 18 steps to go in and out of the house just to go potty and carrying a 75 pound dog wasn't gonna happen. He was fine with our help, but we would never have allowed him to do the stairs so early on without his handy Webmaster harness and our hand on the handle.
If you have to take her down the stairs I would just try to stay close to her, walking on the amp side and guiding her against the wall/railing. I would also gate off the stairs at the bottom so she can't race back up when she hears you coming home.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Yeah, ditto Jerry!
It sounds like Chloe will definitely try and "push the limits" if left alone and with a set of stairs to ponder about climbing!
Maybe, as Jerry said, try blocking off the stairs once you get her down there. But I would do it while you are home to see if she tries to knock it down or climb over it or through it!
Keep on rockin' sweet Chloe!
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!
Good thinkin' Sally!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
We live in a construction zone. 🙂 LOL. Our basement is unfinished. We've been working on it, but our bathroom plumbing fund was re-named into the Chloe Amputation Fund. So our stairs were rebuilt last fall, and are bare wood. I don't want to put something on them permanently that will impact our eventual plans of finishing them with carpet, but I'll look into the traction stickers to see if those might work. The side walls are framed, but only the top half has drywall on the walls. She and Jenson do fine on them (pre-amp) but our kids don't go down them alone since it's basically open on the sides from about half way down. Standard, straight stairwell though.
Maybe Joe and I will get a babysitter to come hang out, and we can tackle the basement stairs in the next week or two.
She's closed in her crate when we are away, so she couldn't race up them if she heard us, but we will have to be slow and deliberate letting her out of her crate because she normally tears up the steps and out the back door. The door is always closed- has to be, with young kiddos!
We don't have a harness for her yet - the vet wanted us to wait until her stitches are out. But that happens on Monday 2/29, so I should measure her up and order one. I'm nervous with her curvy boxer figure, but I saw another thread buried a few pages back about a boxer and that recommended harness, so I'm sure it'll be customizable enough for her.
Anita - mom to two human kids and two dog kids.
Chloe the white boxer - tripawd on 2/16/16 at age 6.
anitalynn said
We live in a construction zone. 🙂 LOL. Our basement is unfinished. We've been working on it, but our bathroom plumbing fund was re-named into the Chloe Amputation Fund.
You made me chuckle with that one! I think the stickers could work well.
Yeah we usually recommend waiting on harnesses until stitches are out too, but in some cases a t-shirt underneath is fine. Let us know if you need any help deciding or measuring.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
What kind of domestic woman am I? I only had a cheap paper tape measure, that only goes up to 25". So, using that, I measured her at 32.5" in the widest part of her chest. I'll have to go get a real soft tape measure to do a more precise job, since that puts her right between two sizes. I was hoping she'd be decidedly in the middle range for a particular size so I could just buy without a precise measurement.
Anita - mom to two human kids and two dog kids.
Chloe the white boxer - tripawd on 2/16/16 at age 6.
Do you have any string or small rope? You can 'measure' with the string and then lay it out with your tape measure.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Anita....the harness will definetly help you out with the stair situation; we used the harness from the very moment we picked Nitro up at the vets after surgery. He wore a t-shirt under it (he is also a front amp) and it never bothered the incision. I was reluctant to have him do stairs for a long time (looking back, it may have even been a couple months); but we didn't have to have him do more than the 2 steps out the back porch. When I finally got brave enough to have him try the stairs to the basement, my husband walked along side him, using the handle on the harness. Nitro was a little hesitant, but did well. Now, 20 months later, he goes up and down by himself (with me hovering still, lol) like a champ. Chloe will get there too - and probably act like she's lived with only 3 legs her whole life!
Paula and Nitro
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
jerry said
anitalynn said
We live in a construction zone. 🙂 LOL. Our basement is unfinished. We've been working on it, but our bathroom plumbing fund was re-named into the Chloe Amputation Fund.Let us know if you need any help deciding or measuring.
Ok, so she's 32.5" at her biggest around her chest. What size would you go with?
Anita - mom to two human kids and two dog kids.
Chloe the white boxer - tripawd on 2/16/16 at age 6.
For the Webmaster harness that is a large, but barely.
For the Tripawd Convert harness it is also a large for most dogs, but for longer bodied, burly dogs it could be a XL (the two sizes overlap). I think she'd be safe with a large.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I think you got so great advice on making your stairs safe. I too would wait until the stitches are out.
There's a great video of Abbey, also a front leg amputee, doing stairs 3 weeks after the amputation at her blog http://abbey.tr.....for-abbey/
You'll be amazed at how well Chloe will figure it all out when she's ready.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
Stairs: the bane of human and animal alike.
I have fallen up and down stairs my whole life. In fact, I took a tumble down them this morning. No worries, I'm used to it. I've only broken one thing (other than my pride) and that was my ankle when I fell down the stairs at work. Whatever!
Any-hoo, my girls, Meesha (aka Crazy Girl) and Melody, slip, slide and tumble as well. Even though they're quad-paws, it's asses-and-elbows when they're running around the house.
So, to keep them off the stairs, I bought one of those pickup truck bungee cargo nets that I hook around the spindles under the banisters. It keeps them off the stairs and is easy enough for the hub-a-dub and myself to step over.
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
Ohmygosh Pam! I'm so glad you are OK. Maybe you need some Ruffwear boots for traction ? 😉
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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