Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello everyone, our baby girl is now at home with us, we picked her up yesterday and seeing her without a leg was the hardest thing that perhaps I've ever had to see but I tried not to cry in front of her because she was just so happy to see us and of course unaware of what has happened to her.
Amputation is all that we are going to do with her, we were told that her lungs were clear, that her blood work was normal and that her cancer was at it starting stage, perhaps this is not the case but we are praying that with amputation she has a better chance of survival, I don't know that will happen next but we are praying that this will be the end of this nightmare and that she will continue to live a normal life free of cancer.
I don't know what's next, all I know is that it is so amazing to see how strong our dogs can be, ours has lost a leg but she is still just as happy and strong as always, from her I have learned so much, she lives in the present and enjoys just living in the moment. I thank God for giving us the now, the present is in deed a present and that's all that we really have.
Our girl was a big girl to start with, we are now wanting her to lose weight, I want to start feeding her healthy foods that will help her with her condition, I hope that someone can share with me what would be good things to feed her, I will do whatever it takes to help her. Thank you.
WONDERFUL UPDATE!! HOME IS WHERE THE DOG IS!!
(Mu computer may crash in the middle of this...somif it looks a little wonky..that's why)
Happy Hannah is a big chunk of love (empasis on BIG CHUNK) and has not gained weight since the amp....so that's good!! HOWEVER, I've not had he drop a few ponds either...and I am working in it!! She gets around ncredibly well!! Her bursts of energy...highlighted by a little "run" every now and then are poetry in motio !! She prefers more tumm rubs and rolling on her back in the grass...and extra bonus points if she can find deer poop to roll in!!
There are a lot of links to nutrition in here...just search jnder that. Flr now though, I would give her whatever she wants st first just to keep in energy up and restore her strength after this MAJOR surgery.
For s, I use a mixture of home cooking...boiled chicken, broccoli, boiled hamburger ( I try and use organic and lean on everything when K can)...I add a can of sardines (omega 3 supposed t be real good) about every other day. I do some dry food (EVO, Merrick, Castor & Pollix Organic, I'm now using Honest Kitchen dehydrated "raw" sort of.
Sometimes eggs and cottage cheese.
I use Salmon Fish Oil capsules large dogs use avout 3,000 a day and they are really HIGH in calories! I just give her 1.000 a day and I give 400 Vitamin E, Apocaps
, K-9 Immunity
. I keep saying I'm going to add Arteminsin but havent yet. I use good can food to hide a lot of pills...so she gets calories that way too that are hard to cut out! UGH!
You've got a rough week or so ahead...maybe..maybe not! But she's home!! She's in the NOW" She's getting more loving and spoiling than you ever imagined possible!! These are treasured times and a lot of wonderful memories are in the making! Enjoy the bliss!!
Much love and serenity to you...and remember...we are all here for you in amyway we can help. We understand!
Sally and Happy Hannah
You can search around here for alternative treatments too, as well as chemo inof, as well as natural treatments......your plate is full right now with recovery and that's what's moat important!
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!
Glad to hear you're on the road to recovery!
The key to losing weight is always PORTION CONTROL! Every little bite or treat are calories that need to be burned.
Honestly, I feed a high protein, low carb home cooked diet and have no trouble keeping all of my furkids fit and trim. A lot of dog foods have a lot of additives and "junk food" in them that cause weight gain.
Rene was kind enough to write a summary on the nutrition blog back in july and link to my original posts about the benefits of a home cooked diet. Check it out:
http://nutritio.....he-effort/
Either way, homecooked or store bought, choose a food that has a good quality protein listed as the first ingredient on the bag (chicken (not chicken meal), fish, lamb..), avoid "meal" in the ingredients, and really avoid any food that lists a starch like corn or rice as the first 3 ingredients. That should help!
Thanks, Heather & Barret
Barret was diagnosed with Hemangiopericytoma May 16, 2013. Front left leg/scapula/pectoral muscle was amputated on June 11, 2013 and we've never looked back. Follow our story on http://barret.t.....pawds.com/ and read my column on That Pet Blog
That is wonderful she's home! I hope your weekend is relaxing and uneventful. And yes, it is very bittersweet to know that she's not hurting with that bum leg but knowing that life will be a little different now. Just take things day to day and remember that each one is such a gift.
As for losing weight, we have lots of good tips in our Nutrition blog, including Heather's pawesome blog posts and this one from Trouble's Mom. You want to keep your vet in the loop about what she's eating and how much, but thankfully dogs lose weight a lot quicker than people do!
When it comes to weight loss and dog cancer diets, the Dog Cancer Survival Guide has awesome guidelines about how much and what to feed too, it's worth checking out. Here's a great freebie from Dr. Dressler, The Dog Cancer Diet book.
Also, Dr. Sue's radio show that we talked about in our Downloads blog has great diet tips in some of her shows.
I hope this helps! Let me know what you think.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
We did not have cancer to deal with when Murphy had his amp, but following his hip replacement, we knew that he would need to be leaner than he was. Besides cutting back a bit on his regular food, we substituted green beans for part of his meals. He still got to eat as much as before, but it was lower in calories. He got to like green beans so much that he heads straight for the bean patch whenever he goes out the back door.
The substitution of some green beans in our older quadpawd's food has helped him lose some weight, too, and as a result his arthritis doesn't affect him like it used to.
Kathi and Murphy
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
We have also had good luck with green beans (we call them Trouble beans). I have pugs and they are notorious for being food hounds and on the chubby side. My older quad pug has terrible arthritis and keeping her lean now is really important. Fresh beans are best of course, but we use a lot of canned too. Be sure you get the no salt added kind if you use canned. I have also found that by getting the pugs off kibble keeping their weight down is much easier. I use a combo of honest kitchen dehydrated mix, my own proteins, green beans and sometimes some other fresh veggies. I still use kibble for treats and training.
Giving up kibble isn't as expensive with small dogs like my pugs, if you use kibble use a good quality like Heather described.
I'm glad your girl is home and on the road to recovery.
Karen
Glad she's home and things went well! My boy Nosey is scheduled for Thursday, as long as his blood tests come back clear.
I loved hearing how it was when you picked her up - that she was just happy to see you and not really paying attention to what had happened. (which makes perfect sense really.)
Good luck with the week ahead!
kelly
yeaaaaaa!!! glad she is home.. and I am sure you are glad too!
someone should have told you not to focus on the leg.. that's just a little thing.. lol They are just so gosh darn happy to see you, and happy that you are there.. and that takes away allll focus on the missing leg.. Like you said.. she didnt focus on it.. I think they just wake up and say oh.. ok.. leg gone.. let's HOP ON!!!
Definitely a good protein diet.. I found with my Franklin that he was burning off his regular food too quickly, so I switched him over to a higher protein food for just him. Even though with the higher protein, he got less by way of measurement for his supper.. but he didn't burn it of too quick cause tripawds use alot of energy to get around.
The food that he was on was ALS chicken.. it was a good food for him..
Good luck.. and please keep us posted!!!
Christine.....with Franklin in her heart♥
Franklin, he was the Happiest Dog on Three Legs! Diagnosed 09/26/2012 with Osteosarcoma, amputated 12/4/2012. Had a wonderful 5 1/2 months painfree until he ran for the Bridge on 5/15/2013. Always in my heart, and always a guardian angel of my pack... You can follow his Tripawd Adventures, before and after, in my blog, Frank'n'Farter!
Hi there!
My big boy also needed to lose weight after his amp. I have him on Honest Kitchen's "Preference," and I cook chicken in the crock pot to add to it. He dropped the weight so fast! After 4 months I was alarmed at how thin he was and learned about a condition correlated with cancer that causes the body to need extra protein and fat, so I switched from the boneless/skinless chicken breasts we were all eating to bone-in/skin-on chicken thighs and also started adding eggs and cottage cheese to his meals. He looks very healthy now, 7 months post-amp.
I also chose not to do chemo. Instead, we are concentrating on a grain-free diet and supplements including AveUltra, probiotics, enzymes, liquid zeolite, a multi-vitamin without vitamin c, and power mushrooms (ImmPower). I found this protocol in the book Dog Cancer: The Holistic Answer. Neiman also gets a massage with reiki every other week.
Good luck to you and may you be blessed with much more time together!
Just a quick "post hijack" to say great to hear how well Neiman is doing!!
NEIMAN! CONGRATULATINS on seven month amp. and keep 'em coming, okay?
Thanks for the good info. too.
Sally and Happy Hannah
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!
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