Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Harry is feeling better he wants out of that room! lol Great picture!
Purrkins hated being confined in his room, once he started feeling better thats all he wanted was out of the room.
I dont know what others advice will be ,I think we all do things a little different. I personally would guide him to the steps. Once he sees its easier for him he will use them. We wanted to lessen any potential mishaps if possible .We also wanted to protect Purrkins remaining front limb from the strain of jumping down. He uses his steps or furniture spaced closer down to get down. On a rare occasion that I saw he jumped down and it didnt go so smoothly. As far as I know he hasn't done that again.
As for his business I helped cover his in recovery. It will take Harry a little longer to cover things up. I wouldn't worry about it but thats me. You aren't hurting him by showing him how, he knows how, its exhausting for him right now to cover. He will build up more muscle in his remaining leg in the next few months. Watch it and you will be amazed how much bigger that leg gets to compensate . Things will get easier for him it just takes a little time to get stronger.
You will see big changes when his stitches are out and off his medications and not in pain! He's not sad he's drugged;)
If Harry hasn't been affected by his meds on appetite at all. You can start measuring and cutting back a little on his food. Go slow and measure everything he gets. Its not fun you will get a lot of protesting, be strong and know your helping him !
2 more days and Harry is a free of stitches and onward and upward! You guys made it thru yeah to you both!
Hugs
THAT is a pawesome photo! I would love to share that in our TriKitties gallery if you don't mind?
You and Harry have made such great progress, this all sounds so normal and indicative that he is indeed getting his sparkle back. I agree, if you can watch him while he's exploring, give him just a little more freedom to get his bearings, he'll start feeling normal again. You might want to wait until stitches are out though. Two more days, you can do it!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I don't mind at all, if you share! Just wish it wasn't so blurry.
Stairs and the slightly higher bed have gone well. He's using them to get down and sometimes to get up. I suspect that he fell off the end of the bed while I was at work today though....he likes to curl up under the blankets and I found him under the tail end of my quilt on the floor at the end of my bed and wonder if he rolled out not realizing the end was there or having that other "arm" to catch himself with. :/
He seems more and more like his usual self, as we slow down on the meds. It's so nice to see. I'm just wary and taking it slow this time.
I'm not fussed about the litter box and am covering or scooping his stuff as soon as he uses it most of the time. He is seeming a bit constipated today......not sure if this is a meds thing or a change in food thing. He is finally liking the new fancy vet food, so we're moving towards making that his only stuff. Then the vet will tell me exactly how much he should be eating. It will actually be more than he has been eating, in volume, because it's lower calorie than the store stuff, so I don't anticipate too much grumps over it.
I can't believe it's two days to go! I can't wait...until it's over. Lol. He will have to be sedated again, and I'm dreading taking him back into the vet, but hopefully it'll be quick. I'm also a bit anxious because I want to ask some questions about the cancer, now that we're getting over this first major hump, and that scares me some. I want Harry to have a lonnnng happy tripawd existence.
Yeah I agree. He just hunches up and growls and hisses. He lets them scratch his head, but if they go anywhere else they usually get a swipe or a bite. There is one excellent vet, in our home town, who can do more of a physical exam on him before getting to the point, but even she would probably not get him to lie there while she snipped and pulled out stitches...sigh
ADORABLE PHOTO!! Harry is a very smart kitty! 🙂 🙂
Is it possible to leave Harry in a small room where he could be safe and he wouldn't have the stress of the cage? Obviously, you would have to practically take everything out of the room though!
How about a bathroom and blocking off anything he could possibly bump into or get his cone caught?
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!
Harry has been isolated to my bedroom, which is actually pretty big. I took everything out except the dresser which is too high for him to get up to, and the mattress which I put on the floor! I just added the box spring back to my bed yesterday and a set of steps. He has been so good at using the steps to go down, though he jumps up sometimes. 🙂
I was putting his cone on when I went to work, but since I figured out how to sew onesies so that he can't get out of I have just been leaving him in those.
Friday it will have been two weeks! Saturday his stitches come out. I think I will still leave him confined when I'm at work for a little while.....
How long have others kept their little ones restricted for? I realize cats are probably different than dogs but am still curious. He needs to learn how to manouvre but I'm afraid to let him do too much too early, especially to get in situations where he could fall and hurt himself ....
Mona had free run of the house as soon as her stitches were out. Actually she kept taking free run before that whenever she could escape. I watched her quite closely and showed her ways to go down and she usually tried them on her own. She quickly realized the boxes were for her to go down and would swat at my other cat if he was sitting on them.
I didn't restrict her from going outside to sleep in the garden which is her favourite thing to do in the summer.
Mona did a few face plants and made a few jumps that made me cringe but I think she quickly discovered better ways to get off of things. She never hurt herself. Over time I would see her decide the best way down. I didn't baby her but gave her lots of encouragement and praise.
I'm sure Harry will adapt quickly and hope the stitch removal goes well. I don't see any reason to restrict Harry from doing what he always enjoyed. You may just want to add the steps to places he enjoys going.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
Yes, Mona went back to the way she lived before. Although she can go in and out of the house when she wants she tends to stay on the front step or on the deck and in the garden. She does not venture far and can run really fast. I don't think of her as agile and she has a bit of a buddha belly. I did do exercises with her to strengthen her core by getting her to sit up like a meerkat. It took only a few times of holding her food bowl above her to get her to sit up. She now does it every meal time while I prepare her food and she also does it for head scratches. Here's a photo of her doing it for the first time (she finally got annoyed and just grabbed the food bowl):
lol, cute! I will have to try that. I've been meaning to ask what sort of exercises people have done to help their tripawds adjust/strengthen the different muscles they'll need to use. I am probably being over cautious, but I'm okay with that for now.
Yesterday and today I'm finally feeling like his usual self is starting to peek out. Here he is, hopping along!
WOW! Go Harry! You are doing GREAT!
Here's a post about exercises for front-leg Tripawd kitties:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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