Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello,
We purchased a puppy a few days ago and she seems to have a front paw "collapsed". we took her to the vet and she has worms and her belly is big, so he wants to wait and see how she does after her belly shrinks some. i have looked everywhere for info, please help. she doesnt seem bothered by it, walks with a little limp, but no pain when messed with. she seems to actually favor that side when walking. i feel so bad for the poor thing and were glad we got it away from the breeder (by the way is there anything i can do about the breeder selling us a puppy with a bad leg? you can tell he didnt take care of his puppies by the way she looked, her paws are supposed to be white, but are yellow stained from urine. has a limp and worms) and of course hes saying it was fine when we got her, but we never saw her walk til we got home. has anyone out there heard or have had anything like this. we just want the best for her and no pain or suffering. would like not to amputate but if it has to be done well do our best for her. let us know please. thank you
WeHeartHuskies
Welcome and thanks for joining, sorry to hear about your pup. Not sure what you mean by "collapsed" but it seems the paw is the least of your worries right now. Did the vet give you any idea why her belly is "big" or if/when the worms may be under control?
Hopefully you'll hear from TC, she has a huge pack of huskies and may be of better help. Check out our videos and posts about Calpurnia, her 16 year old three legged working sled dog who only recently passed away.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
the vet checked her over, she was dewormed when we got her but she had a worm in her stool the vet told us she should be passing more than just a few worms and gave her another dewormer and gave us some stuff called Laxatone for her. It's for cats and hairballs, but it has white petrolatum USP in it and mineral oil which he said will lubricate her bowl.He said worms can bind puppies up and make it difficult for her to pass stool. She has a few times for us but it was always real hard and no worms in it that we could see but didnt break it up. We have a 6 month old Husky also hes in great shape and can tell shes not feeling good. He trys to muzzle her along and help her stand up. Shes eating more today and actually walking around the house which is good on tryin to get her to pass a lot of stool and worms. Hopefully she'll improve even more tonight and tomorrow. The vet did tell us to get back with him in the next few days and see how shes doing. And when i mean collapsed its like she has more paw on her left side than right and the left is the side she favors. its kind of hard to explain. i suppose imagine your right foot walking on the front balls and toes of your feet and your left is the whole foot on the ground. its just concerning to us. shes happier today to. greets us and wags her tail. first time shes actually been happy i believe.
Thank you
Andrew, Brittany, Pax, and Marley. (WeHeartHuskies)
Hi there Andrew and Brittany-
A few questions first. 1) how old is the puppy? and 2) where did you get her from (breeder? pet store? shelter?)
Sometimes pups can have strange defects that they grow out of as they age, so if she is not in any pain, I wouldn't make any decisions about amputation right away. I think it is wise to keep working with your vet and see what he has to say. They may want to take xrays after you get her worm issue taken care of, and maybe after she grows a bit more, to see what is going on with the bones in her foot/leg. That will give the vet a better idea if it is something that can be fixed, or something that can be managed as-is, or something that needs to be amputated.
shes 7.5 weeks old, weighed 5 pounds at the vets office, and we bought her from a private seller, he was in the classifieds, so i dunno if he was a licensed breeder or not. we are just concerned about her, shes so sweet and we feel so bad for her because she doesnt feel like playing around like any puppy especially a husky wants to do. its weird because she doesnt put any weight really on her right paw which is the one that looks normal, just her left one. could her putting all her weight on it have something to do with it?
Thanks for your help and knowledge on the situation.
Was she like that when you got her? What did the breeder have to say about that? Really, pups shouldn't be placed until they are at least 8 weeks old - she sounds like she was pretty young when you got her.
I think it is wonderful you are trying to help this pup out, but I think you also need to get some answers from the breeder. A responsible breeder should not sell a sick or injured pup, and if they place that pup, they need to give you all the information on what is going on with the puppy, the health of the parents, etc. You need to have that health history as it may be important to the vet for the care he is going to provide.
thats what we was wondering about if we could do anything. the only thing he is saying is she was fine when we got her. like i said we never saw her walk until we was an hour away, she walked but looked like a baby deer walking, we though it was just being a puppy. we did see her belly but we thought she had just ate and nothing else. we looked at the vet records while we were there and she was dewormed and everything "appeared normal" according to her but she also gave the dog a 3 out of 5 on the way she looked overall, which i dont think makes much since because if everything "appeared normal" she would have gotten a 5 out of 5. once her belly didnt subside i knew she had worms and we looked her over and saw her odd looking paw. the breeder isnt very helpful at all. hes actually not telling us anything. we want to do something about him too, because hes clearly in it for the money, not for the love of the animal. we knew she was young but we got out other husky at 6 weeks and hes doing great. honestly i dont think this puppy would have made it much longer, she clearly wasnt getting the attention she needed.
All the excitement of a new puppy and then to have her be sick must be such a disappointment! Well, you are getting good advice here and I hope she's bouncing around like a little puppy should soon.
http://tate.tripawds.com/
August 16, 2006 to November 28, 2011
TATE ~ Forever in our hearts.
yes thats what we thought too. such a disapointment but so glad to have her. at least we know shell be taken care of here. thanks for the well wishes. she is doing somewhat better it seems as the hours pass, we just need her to pass all her worms and we feel she'll feel ten times better. i had looked at other forums but after reading this one thought this was the best one and we have gotten good info from here. thanks again
The state of Nevada where I live regulates breeders. You have to have a breeder's license. I would call animal control and ask them about what can be done and you suspect neglect. Animal control will go out and check.
I wouldn't even hesitate since the breeder needs to be inspected.
I'm glad you have the little one! I hope it all works out for the best!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
I would love to get an update on this pup. The way you described the "collapsed paw" sounds just like what my baby has been doing since his other arm was broken. Just curious did it resolve, did you find out the reason he was favoring that paw and not using the "good" one as much?
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