Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Well the days are just flying by, Friday got the official Osteosarcoma diagnosis. Tomorrow I will drop my sweet Kara off at the vet to remove her front right leg. The Mast cell tumor on her back leg and the bumpy mass in her mouth. A lot at once, but the vet feels like she can handle it. She is strong and very healthy besides the nasty cancer. As I live in a rural area, and my vet office is small. They know I will give her the best care, so she will be coming home that day. I know she will sleep a lot the first couple of day. Will I need to make some kind of sling to try and help her up? I am most worried about keeping my 5 1/2 month old chocolate lab away from her. He loves her so much and is his main playing buddy. I’ve heard of people putting a t-shirt or baby onesie’s on there dog to keep them from messing with the incision. And hints on size a 70 lbs boxer would need.
We are sending the power of the Tripawd Nation to you and Kara for a speedy recovery!
Will I need to make some kind of sling to try and help her up?
They are pretty dopey the first few days, so she shouldn't be doing anything other than going outside to do her business. If she is wobbly, a DIY Tripawd Dog Sling can help. Also, check out the Tripawds Recovery Shopping List for more ideas that will help.
Good luck tomorrow! Keep us posted in Treatment and Recovery OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hey Kara 🌺
If you have a look at Amazon or other internet sites for dog items they should refer the measurements for harnesses.
I used a t-shirt under the harness until stitches came out and it worked really well.
Have you got your floor sorted out if it is slippery?
Boxers have bundles of wonderful energy so you'll need to make non slip paths for him, runners or yoga mats do the trick beautifully.
We'll be thinking about you both tomorrow and sending lots and lots of pawsitive energy 😘😘😘😘🐮💫✨🌟🌹
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Hi there! Best of luck tomorrow. I am using a t shirt on my girl because the cone collar just drove her nuts! The t shirt has prevented her from scratching and licking her incision (also front leg). She is now a 156 lb and she is wearing an XL T shirt if that's any help. When I brought Maddie home we used a sheet to help her up and steady her. It worked great because we could walk her right back to her bed and just let it drop under her and didn't have to worry about getting it back under her the next time we needed to get her up. She stayed in the hospital for two days so really did not need a lot of help to actually stand, hers was more help steadying her because she is so large and needed time to adjust her center of gravity. IT's amazing how fast they adjust to three legs. Kara will amaze you!
Bobbi & Maddie a/k/a ManiacMads
Front leg amputation 10/17/17 due to Osteosarcoma
She's Madeline, She's Madeline
Sending warm fuzzy thoughts for sweet Kara tomorrow! Just remember to keep breathing and work on your house prep! Good Luck!
Cheers,
Kat, Rosie and The Astronaut
Wishing you a smooth successful procedure and a healthy recovery for all of you!
Hugs
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
Hi Kara and Mum!
hope all went well with Kara’s surgery. She really is dealing with a lot all at once isn’t she?! Poor darling!
For our 110lb Bernese/Rotty cross, we used the diy dog sling recommended by Tripawds for the first couple of days, until Stewie figured he could do more without me standing right by his side. Once he gained a bit more if his Tripawd legs’ we switched to the extendable leash with a collar. He is also a front leg amputee and his harness was in the way, until he got his stitches out.
Stewie also wore extra large Tshirt tied up at the top. But this was after the first four days, as you can see he was wrapped up until then. His biggest issue was the seroma that formed and his subsequent licking. No issues with his stitches. We had to remove a few early in order to drain the seroma .
this picture is of Stewie a couple of days after his amputation, outside enjoying some fresh air...
Keeping you in our thoughts ❤️
Remember...“live in the moment!“ 
hope Kara is doing well in recovery.
we used a T shirt not tight but not too loose or they will catch it with their back leg and trip them up. we found a cone called the Elizabethan collar if im not mistaken it is made of fabric with stiffiners in side it to keep it sticking outwards and its soft enough that it will flex a bit when they run into something or lay down and you can fold it backwards like a cape when they are eating or drinking or just to give them a break from the weird megaphone ecco. soft ice packs wrapped in a towel { not right on skin} a few min at a time for swelling. our dogs were long hair and we found keeping the area cool was more comfortable for them. watch out for their back leg wanting to do a quick scratch right across their incision. the other dog may take a few days to figure things out but they usually under stand pretty quickly that she is hurting. make sure not to show too much favoritism to kara { ballance the scales } so her playing buddy doesn't get jealous. its hard not to give Kara every thing she wants, but its easy to spoil the crap out of both of them... you clearly love your fur-kids to no end so that's gonn be the easy part.
wishing many tail wags and sloppy kisses in your future.
Terry , Allison , * Cy , * Mya , * Macleod.
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