Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My 16yo shih tzu mix has done well after amputation of his left hind leg 4 years ago until a recent injury. He’s very energetic and active and somehow strained his back and hip leaving him unable to put any weight on the remaining hind leg. With rest and laser treatments, he was getting better when somehow he managed to tear his acl. I am heartbroken! Due to his age, the vet is not recommending surgery. Thankfully he’s is not in pain, but can only drag the lower half of his body behind him. How can I get my bright eyed energetic sweet 13 pound warrior mobile again? Any suggestions for harnesses, wheels, or non surgical management of an acl would be greatly appreciated. Thank you
Hello and welcome! We are so glad you decided to post, but sorry you had to! Poor guy. Is your dog taking any pain medication right now?
This isn't terribly uncommon unfortunately. You'll see in these articles with information about remaining leg surgery on amputee dogs that many people have been through this, even with senior dogs. It's not impossible, but it's work, and if you do surgery you'll want a great surgeon and rehab team.
So my suggestion is, do not make any decisions until 1) your current vet provides pain management for your dog (if they haven't already), and 2) you get a referral to a vet specializing in orthopedics. Even if your current vet is one ... getting another opinion is critical for peace of mind and may even help your dog enjoy extra years with you.
Also, you want an opinion from a rehabilitation therapist, because they look at ways to fix these situations without surgery. Ideally you can see a vet who does both rehab and orthopedics! They're hard to find but they are out there and I'm happy to help find one for you (just private message me your location).
Thank you so much!
I am currently seeing a rehab vet who is part of our vet practice.
She is only recommending conservative treatment at this point due to my little guy’s advanced age, specifically:
Continue current meds: Gabapentin, Galliprant, and Methocarbamol
Continue laser therapy 2X/week
Rest, heating pad
Purchase rear support harness
Consider purchase of rear wheel chair from handicappedpets.com
I think the suggestion of a second opinion is good, although I don’t think I want to put him through surgery at age 16 and also think it is cost prohibitive. Always good to get a different viewpoint though!
Hi,
I'm sorry to hear your little guy is having trouble. I've had two rear amp Tripawds and have been through 2 knee surgery/recoveries but the knee surgeries were in one of my quad Pugs.
My current Tri is a little Pug mix named Elly, she lost her rear leg at 7 months old after being hit by a car. i adopted her when she was 10 months old, she is now a little over 9 years old and just under 15 pounds.
When Elly was about 7.5 years old she hurt her remaining hip- specifically the iliopsoas muscle. We saw a rehab vet and did treatment and exercises and over the last couple of years added in some supplements and meds.
One supplement that seems to really help Elly is a muscle supplement called Myos. Our rehab vet recommended it and Elly has been taking it since a few months after her injury. I saw steady improvement once we started using it. I would suggest you ask your vet about it to see if it might help your boy. You can get it on amazon and I found out at our last rehab checkup in November that there is a vet prescription version that has some extra amino acids to help with muscle building (I think that's the addition), we are using that now.
Another thing to keep an eye on is his anal glands. Elly never had trouble with her glands until her injury- then she was not expressing them properly on her own. We have had to go to the vet every 4 weeks to have them expressed- otherwise they get impacted which is very uncomfortable, and they can get infected. Since starting on a new med and adding chiropractic adjustments Elly has been able to naturally express the glands. My theory is that the weakness in her one remaining hip didn't allow her to properly 'push' when she was defecating. She also lost her entire femur on her amp side which means those muscles around her back end don't have proper attachment points- the gland on her amp side was always the most full.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Oh you are doing everything exactly right! 
Sounds like a terrific vet team. Yes, while a second opinion is always helpful, if you are certain that you wouldn't change the course of treatment than stick with your team. I like their protocols for him, and I'm glad they were the ones who recommended the wheels. Our Wyatt Ray
had a set, and the wheels gave him a lot of mobility he wouldn't have otherwise had. But he still couldn't do the long walks he used to do, and it required training.
Later, I also found that a dog stroller gave him more freedom, because he could go many more places with us. If you can't swing the cost of both, I like how a stroller opens up a dog's world so much more.
Might want to look into acupuncture too, as that can be really helpful in addition to what he is already getting.
Try not to feel too down. Many times these conditions can be managed and even healed! It happened to our Jerry and he ended up doing really well with conservative management. Keep us posted on how things are going.
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