Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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You know, as soon as I posted the positive blog update I had a feeling something would go wrong.
Quick background: Tai is a 15 year old cairn terrier whose broken hind leg was amputated in October. The limb tested positive for cancer but no sign of its return to date. She has adapted very well.
So last night Tai could not get herself up off of her bed. She flopped a bit so I helped her up but she could not stand. I knew she had to pee and I was panicking a bit (thanks Michelle for the chat) but eventually she managed to pee outside. It was late and we went to bed; I massaged her a bit and manipulated the leg - she does not appear to be in pain. She did a lot of sitting up and stretching her neck last night also.
This morning she was able to go out and pee and poop and then she ate normally. Her back is tilted to the side (curved out, not up, when I stand behind her) and she doesn't balance on her rear leg the way she used to, though she was able to squat to poop. She is lying on her bed now snoozing on her side.
I am just feeling a little lost. I had taken her to the vet a week or so ago because I was worried about her excessive licking of her front legs. He said she was not exhibiting pain and felt it was just old age catching up with her. He has recommended I look into a cart for her. I was resistant to that idea because I was hoping that with PT she could get along....she had been doing well but TBH I could not afford PT more than once a month. We have exercises to do at home but I know I am not as diligent as the pros; Tai hates doing them and I am too easy on her. Now she is paying the price for that. She is not inactive at all, we go on short walks often.
If I don't see more improvement today she will have to go to the vet, which is always so stressful for her. I was supposed to go to my nephew's birthday party today but may skip it - I don't want her to be alone and she cannot go - too many small kids, too much activity.
I just feel frustrated with everything, she was doing well, I know she is older but she has heart and is happy. I am glad she is sleeping, neither one of us got much rest last night.
I suppose I am just venting; I want her to be well and feel kind of overwhelmed with options. I'm not completely opposed to a cart, Eddie's Wheels is about two hours from me, but I just don't know the right thing to do.
Could she perhaps just be out of alignment? My Dobe Nitro had regular chiropratic adjustments that did wonders for him. My 13 year old Westie also gets them - as his hips and back end are always tilted either down or out. I'm also wondering about her knee....do Cairns also get luxating patella's the way westies do? Good luck on figuring this out.
Paula and Warriro Angel 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
Oh darn and Tai was doing so well! I have no expertise in this sort of thing but a chiropractic treatment or acupuncture may help. I've seen stories here where it both have made a huge difference.
I've taken my cat Mona to a vet for chiropractic treatments and she loves them. Vets that doing rehab, such a chiropractic and acupuncture could determine what would be best step to take such as xray, chiropractic adjustment, acupuncture, more physio. My chiropractic vet does regular veterinary work and keeps Mona's amputation vet informed of her treatments.
It looks like Paula has had great results with chiropractic treatments also.
I hope you find an answer soon. Take care of yourself.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
You have some great insight from Paula and Kerren and their observations seem very plausible. Glad Michelle was able to talk younoff the edge" in the chat roo ! 🙂
The reality is that she's been a tripawd for al ost a year now and she IS fifteen!! Either one of those ....er.."issues" an take a toll, but together they can cause all sorts of havoc! So be real clear in this, okay? Not keeping up with PT as much as you would like most likely would have had little impact on her situation. Most people here can't afford it either, as well as PTs aren't even available in a lot of areas. And if she has some arthritis, which is soooo likely, the PT may indeed hurt her. This could be muscle strain at her neck..her shoulder..her back...disc issues....any of these things. Rest, dose of pain meds a d maybe the Chiropractic adjustment may be helpful.
The Vet will check her out Monday. Is she on Rimadyl or anything like that?
Update us as you can. TRY not to worry.....yeah, right!
Lots of love and 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!
Thanks all for the chiropractor suggestion. I will ask the vet about that, I think it's a good idea.
She is better today but still not quite right but ate her supper just fine.
Sally, she does have arthritis and takes carprofen and gabapentin every day as well as a supplement.
It is hard not to worry and I don't want to communicate that to her either. She is my wonder dog, you know?
Thanks everyone for listening - I think early bed for us both, we didn't get much sleep last night!
I wanted to second, or third the use of chiropractic. Quad pug Tani had terrible arthritis in her back and all four legs- my regular vet sent us to a holistic vet who among other treatments offered chiropractic. It didn't seem to me that chiropractic would help arthtitis, but in fact it really did.
I hope you find an easy answer for Tia (that is, not cancer!)
Keep us posted.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
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