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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New to Tripawds, hope this is correct place on website. Long story, will condense.
At 4.5 months Cheerio had both rear legs broke at growth plate. Vet thought they could be pinned. During op,left leg so damaged was amputated. Vet thought right leg would heal okay without pin.
Adopted Cheerio 5 days after op. Was confined for healing period except for short spells outside cage. Amazing to see him walk on other leg with no problems almost immediately.
After about 6 weeks was able to be with the rest of the dogs (4 in the house). They all get along fine. At 7.5 months he stopped straightening his right leg when he walked. He now walks with that leg bent and slightly out to the side, almost like a scoot. Never appears to be in any pain and vet has checked movement of the leg. When he wants he can scoot quite fast.
We are trying a knee brace which keeps the leg straight but because strap goes underneath we have to take it off when he urinates.
Was wondering if anyone has idea why he no longer can keep the right leg straight when walking.
Only thing we thought about was when he had the op he was 17 lbs and now is 34 lbs so his stump is that much heavier and throws him off center. Any thoughts , ideas, suggestions is much appreciated. Thank you and this is a great site.
Hi @turkeydog! Welcome! Hope you don't mind I moved your post here, where we talk about mobility issues.
Has Cheerio been evaluated by an orthopedic vet yet? If not, now is the time. All Tripawds will compensate their gait to some degree, and adjust as necessary. But if he is scooting, he needs to be evaluated to find out exactly why, and figure out what can be done about it.
Also, the Tripawds Foundation can pay for your first rehab visit , so that is always an option too.
For now, make sure your floors have plenty of traction so he doesn't slide around. And you want to monitor his activity very carefully with those other dogs to make sure he is not overdoing activity. Our e-book Loving Life On Three Legs has lots of tips about that, as does our articles about adopting a Tripawd.
I'm so glad you joined us! And that you adopted Cheerio! What kind of dog breed type is he?
Thank you for registering as a member. Your future posts won't need approval so post away!
Does Cheerio walk with his leg bent all the time now or just situationally? If it's constant, I would want him evaluated by my regular vet and maybe a rehab vet.
My tripawd, Loki, lost a rear leg before she was 3 months old. Her vet records show she was just 12lbs at the time of surgery. I adopted her a couple of months later. She's almost 2 years old now and nearly 40lbs. Loki doesn't ever walk with her leg bent. Sometimes if she's running fast or has the zoomies, I think her back leg kicks out a little bit for balance. Or if she's running and takes a turn, I've seen her back leg not fully straighten for a few strides, but no more.
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