Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi friends,
We made it 9 days post surgery and Kinzi is making great pawgress. She seems happy enough, getting lots of snuggles, eating and pooping pretty regularly.
It's super short but I'm excited about this video below. This is her joyful jaunt over to dinner. I filmed this on day 7.
This is her playing her brain tornado game:
All small wins at the moment.
I'm a bit frustrated that our house has stairs at the front and the back. Something I never thought about before this happened, but alas, we'll figure it out. Anyone have good luck with ramps? Don't know if that might help her. We are carrying her for now.
Hi Ashley! Kinzi looks so happy in that video, bouncing around in anticipation of food! And look at her go with the tornado puzzle! So glad to hear she is doing well! As for the issue with the stairs - have you let her try the stairs and she can't do them? As a front leg amputee, she should have an easier time going up the stair when her back legs can power her than going down, but depending on how steep they are and how many there are, she might have an issue both ways. It might also just be an issue of her needing more time, although she seems to be moving well in that first video. I included a video in Griffin's blog showing him going up the stairs at about 2 weeks post-op, but it is still a challenge for him to go downstairs. Keep doing what you are doing - Kinzi is clearly doing so well! ~ Stacy
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
She is absolutely adorable! I just want to snuggle her. And great job on the puzzle!
Ditto to what Stacy said regarding the stairs. Do you have a harness with a handle. The Webmaster Flag line is great for front let amps. You can see it in the gear blog.
Keep the videos coming. She looks like she is doing great, and most of all she looks happy!
My Beautiful Beloved Brownie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma on February 26, 2019. With all odds against him he lived an additional one year and eight days with amputation, love, and prayer. I was honored to be his mom, and I have never been so proud! He will live forever in my Heart!
04/01/2007 - 03/05/2020
"March Saint"
Oh my dog these are BIG WINS! Yeah! She is walking so well and looks super sharp playing her new brain game.
How many stairs do you have? If it's just a couple and they are non-slip with traction , she should be able to do them on her own after a few weeks. If there are more steps or they're slippery, a Ruffwear Flagline harness would be an ideal tool to help her use the steps.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
She'll put one paw on the stair and then sit down. She has also learned how to gesture for us to pick her up and she'll lift up her body and look at us.
She did confidently jump on the couch today like it was nothing though, so I am pretty sure she could get up the stairs if she wanted to. I may have her try a few steps for a treat.
I should note though that we have stopped her from jumping on the couch 99% of the time. She just snuck through today. 🙂
Follow up, the steps are 4-5 steps made of wood but shouldn't be too slippery. I can see about adding traction and we are looking at harnesses!
CUTENESS ALERT!!!! ADORABLE ALERT!!! These videos had me grinning ear to ear😊 She is doing so well!! And she reclaimed her couch too! Love it!!
Stairs can be hard for most dogs this early on at first. Ot takesalot of confidence amd she may not have that rock solid determination yet that she can do it. If you can build a ramp, that maybe your answer. You would want to put rails on the side to help her feel more secure
Thanks for the delightful update and videos. Keep ''em coming!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
My cat Mona is a front-leg amputee. Her legs are shorter than each step. I added carpet treads and she can run up the stairs easily using the carpet but when she comes down she is slow and uses the floor next to the wall. I think a number of the dogs like to lean on the wall coming downstairs. Here's a photo of my stairs. Mona uses them every day.
Kinzi is so cute and I'm sure she is very smart and will figure out how to work the stairs.
I don't have a video but she did make it up the stairs today!! She took a bit of a running start and flew right up the back porch stairs. I think knowing that she'd get breakfast after helped.
I think we'll hold off on going downstairs for now, she seems very unsure and I don't want to push her and have her get hurt. Thanks for all your advice and help with this, folks. 🙂
I do have a video of another brain game that Kinzi is working through. She loves brain games, I'm so glad I read about them here. This forum has truly been a blessing.
It is long but I was crazy impressed that she learned how to open a drawer to get to treats on her second try! She's a smartie and I'm finding she's less mischievous when we play brain games with her.
Hi Ashley! That video was so much fun - look at her puzzling through that game! Kinzi is a smarty pants! And, yay for making it up the stairs! She is really doing amazing in her recovery - way to go! Griffin has never really loved the brain games, although he tolerates the tornado one. I have seen other dogs simply flip the game, like Kinzi tried to do, to get at the treats, which is still a valid way of puzzling in my opinion! Kinzi looks so happy and playful - clearly her sparkle is back. Kudos to you for taking such great care of her! 
Stacy
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
KINZI!!! OMD!! You ARE smart and I'm not kidding!.
I love how she got to that last one and basically had enough silly games and was ready to dump that thing over and get her treat! And if dumping it over didn't work, she would chew her way to the yummy😎! She is so darn cute!
And a big YAAAAY for going up the stairs Cutie Pie! Good job!!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
She is SO SMART! This is so much fun watching her learn the games. What's the name of the second game? I have to put these in the Tripawds Gear blog , these are winners.
I'm so glad you found the magic of brain games. We tell people about them all the time and you went out and got some and now look how much fun she's having! YAY! 
What I love about them is that when a dog is old and cannot physically do a lot of things anymore, these are a great way to keep them engaged.
Pretty soon Kinzi is going to learn how to open the refrigerator and front door if you're not careful 😉
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Haha I know! My husband was joking that we'll have to train her to open the fridge and bring us a cold beverage. 😉
She would prefer to just destroy the toy to get to the food, but with me there, she mostly gets through it without chewing too much or just flipping it over.
@Jerry- the game is the Trixie Activity Poker Box Strategy Game. I bought it on Chewy.com!
Go Kinzi!! If you can't open it just break it!
Another great thing about these puzzles is that she is working her core strength and working on her balance without her even knowing. I'm working with Elly right now on a couple of new puzzles. She is having some trouble with one of them, it's such a great challenge for me to work on my training skills 
Do you have the bone/peg things for the Tornado game? If so how does she do with them? I had to add string to mine because Elly couldn't grip them in her teeth to remove them.
I think you are smart to wait on the stairs- I've had some really sensitive dogs and when something goes wrong (like falling on the stairs) they are really reluctant to even try again.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
That's a good tip Karen! She has not done well with the bones in the tornado game. She tried to swallow one whole recently, so I just removed them altogether. But she did catch on to pulling the string to open the drawer in the poker box game so I bet she'd handle that better.
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