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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I *really* hope that I manage to post this correctly. I’m new to this site, and thought I should introduce my 3-legger Bosley. But while I’m new to Tripawds, I’m not new to having a tripod. I adopted Bosley just over 3 years ago, when he was about 9 months old.
The story I was told at the shelter was that he was in rural area in the south, was in a car accident, was rescued/amputated at about 7 months old by a very small rescue group there, and then transferred here (the Chicago area) once he was largely recovered to be put up for adoption. So I’ve never known him with 4 legs.
Bosley does amazingly well as a tripawd, and most people don’t even realize it right away when they meet him. Also at home on the furkid front are Molly, my 13 year old yellow lab (I have a thing for yellow labs…), and 3 cats (Basil, Sage, who thinks he’s a dog, and Ginger).
I’m looking forward to taking advantage of this site as I learn my way around it more (I have to confess, it’s a bit overwhelming as a newbie), but in the meantime, I’m wondering if anyone can point me in the right direction to find information about what is recommended in terms of proactive/preventative care for a dog that will hopefully live a lot of years as a tripawd – 7 months is pretty young to be an amputee, and I want to be sure I do as much as I can now to make things as easy on him as possible as he ages.
Bosley gets glucosamine/chondroitin/MSM supplements and Omega-3 capsules daily, and I take him for hydrotherapy (aka swimming) once weekly for some good non-impact exercise.
He also does agility – we do that for confidence boosting (he’s pretty fearful, especially around new people), but it’s good for him from an exercise perspective as well. And I keep him lean (and feed him a high quality, grain free diet).
But I’d love some insights as to what more I could be doing. Thanks everyone, and I look forward to getting to know all of you fellow tripawd pawrents and your furkids.
Hi Bosley and family, welcome! Weren't you at the Tripawds Chicago Pawty? Thank you for joining us! Yes, there's a lot of info here but you'll find your way around eventually. We'll do what we can to help.
Your post came out great, the only thing I would suggest is that if you want to type it in Word first and then paste it into here, use the "T" button above (see the icon with the T & the clipboard?). Just click on that and past your text into the popup box. Doing so will eliminate formatting from Word and will make it look nice here.
I think you're doing everything just right when it comes to making sure he has a great life on three legs. For more ideas check out our blogs;
Each one of these has articles and ideas that can get your wheels turning about new ways to have fun and stay fit.
Based on our experience and what I've seen here, I think the hardest part and greatest responsibility that pawrents have is to make sure their Tripawd isn't overdoing exercise. Also, staying lean and svelte is also a challenge but it makes a huge difference in mobility, especially as time goes on.
I know others will chime in, so I hope in the meantime these ideas will help. Thanks so much for jumping in and saying hello, we can't wait to get to know you and Bosley!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Many thanks for the welcome. Yes, we were at the Tripawds Chicago Party, our first one, and we're already looking forward to the next one! As for posting via copy/paste from word, I used the "w" clipboard and not the "t" one - oops, lessons learned, thanks for the tip.
I'll take a look at the blog links you provided, thanks so much for providing those. I'm looking forward to learning and sharing here.
Welcome Bosley! Did he lose a back or front?
I had a neighbor that adopted a very young Rottie that had a back leg amputated at just a few months old. He pretty much only knew life as a tripawd. I lost track of them since I moved, but last time I heard about him he was doing well.
He also does agility – we do that for confidence boosting (he’s pretty fearful, especially around new people)
After I lost Tripug Maggie I adopted a 4 year old pug boy who did not have a good start in life. He was fearful of everything, wouldn't even go outside by himself. I took him to an agility class and it really seemed to help. We practice agility in the back yard every now and then and he still seems to like it. He is still afraid of a lot of stuff, but better.
Jerry gave you lots of good information to read through. I'm glad to hear you hooked up with the Chicago crew- Tripawd parties are the best!
Karen and the pugapalooza
Welcome Bosley!! He sure is a handsome fella! I'm glad you found us and I'm glad he didn't lose his leg to cancer. Wow, you have a house full of fun going on there. Sounds like they keep you busy. I just wanted to say hi and welcome to Tripawds.
All our Best,
Suzie and Rizzo
Jack Russell born in 2001. Mast cell cancer found Dec 2009 and right rear amputation. Five rounds of chemo done before all treatment stopped. Living life to the fullest!! Read my story at http://rizzo.tripawds.com
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