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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You must be so relieved to have him home again, if a little nervous. Remember the journey is a marathon, not a sprint. He will be a little loopy for awhile because of the meds, but that's ok. Nitro wouldn't eat for a whole week at first, that was our first challenge; figuring out how to get all those pills in him. We had to resort to spooning yogurt down his throat - I felt like a monster doing that to him, but we were desperate.
You said your harness is a walking one? Have you considered the Ruff Wear harness by Webmaster? You can find it on this site....truly it saved our lives in the early days of recovery; we used it from the very first day to assist Nitro with getting around better.
good luck, keep us posted.
paula and nitro
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
Alrighty Levi! WELCOME HOME!!!
Yeah, no matter how much you try and prepare, the initial several days, the incision, the whimpering, seeing your dog hurt, etc. Although the visual can be a bi jarring, I think the huge area they shave makes it all that much more jarring! But when Levi does start walking around later, that's such a beatiful sight!!!
My Happy Hannah was quite whiny and restless and very unsettled for at least the first three nights! Not much sleep! She didn't lay on her amp side for almost five weeks! I think that was pretty much a record!
Hang in there! You're doing great!! Once that sparkle starts to come back...and it will...you'll be so busy spoiling that viy, you won't even remember that he ever had four legs!
Stay connected. Nothing like a little first hand experience kind of support!
Hugs to Levi!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
We heard his paws and hopped up to go back to him, and he was standing at the babygate! That dog...haha.
Walked around the room a bit, thought about trying to take him outside, but I think he quickly lost strength. So here he is, situated again (tried to upload a photo, didn't see an option for that. Will try again later).
Levi was diagnosed w/likely osteosarcoma at 7.5 years old in 7/2015 and became a Tripawd on 9/11/15. Loved life until he broke one of his front legs on 2/12/17. As x-rays showed clean bone, we decided to repair the leg. He recovered well, but in June of 2017, started to limp on the same leg. X-Rays showed return of OSA in the front leg. Levi crossed the rainbow bridge on 7/20/17, after over 22 months as a happy Tripawd.
Is that a great sound or what?! Way to go Levi!!
Someone will come and give you the link for pics....I never can seem to "embed" it even if I find the right one!
So looking forward ro his pics!
Yep, just rest, rest, rest and short potty breaks. He's still pretty hyped up on hospital meds too and still woozy.
Sounds like Mr Levi is ready to get this show on the road and start living life to the fullest!!
Thanks for the update...keep 'em coming!!!
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!
Thanks for the update! Sounds like he's doing as well as can be expected. Rest and confinement are all he needs for now. Take things one day at a time and please keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
The great news is that his appetite is just fine! Woofed down dinner, and we're having no problem giving him his oral meds. So, yay!
He was up trying to walk around again, so we supported him to the back door, then I carried him to the grass. It didn't go too well on the grass - he kept almost collapsing onto the incision side, which had us terrified of getting dirt in it or something. He probably wasn't too comfortable peeing with us hovering over him, but he's gotta get used to it!
We can tell he has to pee, as he keeps soiling his bedding (the tech gave us pee pads fortunately!) but I'm not sure how that's gonna work for a few days. We'll manage somehow, even if it takes a thousand pee pads lol.
He wants to do a bit too much at the moment, I'm afraid. Maybe TOO quick of a recover-er. That's what I'll tell myself...
My genius wife figured out a way to turn our ipad and her iphone into a makeshift baby monitor, so we can keep an eye on him without disturbing his rest.
Levi was diagnosed w/likely osteosarcoma at 7.5 years old in 7/2015 and became a Tripawd on 9/11/15. Loved life until he broke one of his front legs on 2/12/17. As x-rays showed clean bone, we decided to repair the leg. He recovered well, but in June of 2017, started to limp on the same leg. X-Rays showed return of OSA in the front leg. Levi crossed the rainbow bridge on 7/20/17, after over 22 months as a happy Tripawd.
Remember what I said above about recovering TOO fast?
Well, he just nearly ran through the house, went outside, peed (while holding himself up completely), came back up the two deck steps, inside, and did a tour of the house (just one floor). We're really afraid he's trying to do too much too soon, and we're looking forward to his next big painkiller dose to calm him down a bit. Yeesh.
Levi was diagnosed w/likely osteosarcoma at 7.5 years old in 7/2015 and became a Tripawd on 9/11/15. Loved life until he broke one of his front legs on 2/12/17. As x-rays showed clean bone, we decided to repair the leg. He recovered well, but in June of 2017, started to limp on the same leg. X-Rays showed return of OSA in the front leg. Levi crossed the rainbow bridge on 7/20/17, after over 22 months as a happy Tripawd.
YAAAAAAAAAY FOR LEVI!!!!! WAY TO GO LEVI!!!!! Wait! I mean...naughty boy Levi! You need to slow down and check yourself young man!!!
But YAAAAAAAAAY FOR PEEING ALL BY YOURSELF!!
YAAAAAAAAAY FOR EATING!!!!
It really is good to see Levi up and walking on his own. Sometimes that can take longer to adjust to three legs AND the meds. Levi seems to be ahead of the game!
You're doing a great job of watching over him. And kt sounds like keeping him slow and steady is a hard job!!
Thanks for the updates! Grinning ear to ear over here!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!!
PS...congrats on the "baby monitor"!
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!
We got through the first day/night! All downhill from here, right?
Late last night he went outside again, and I saw him figure out how to squat without falling once! It was dark, so I couldn't tell if he got anything out, but he was definitely trying. I slept next to him all night, and there was no whimpering or crying, this morning he woke up excited as could be for breakfast (as usual) and scarfed it down.
I took him out on a leash (because late last night he was hopping around the yard about TOO much for my liking), and he peed, squatted, and pooped
Then he came in and had some water, so he's now done all of the big 4 - eat, drink, pee, poop in less than 24 hours of being home! Incredible.
The issue right now I think is he's just sick of us hovering around him all the time. He has trouble laying back down once he stands up - he always wants to sit/lay on the incision side. Once he's there, it doesn't seem to bother him, but we have to help him to get him to lay down incision-side up. That's our biggest issue at the moment, so certainly no complaints here!
Levi was diagnosed w/likely osteosarcoma at 7.5 years old in 7/2015 and became a Tripawd on 9/11/15. Loved life until he broke one of his front legs on 2/12/17. As x-rays showed clean bone, we decided to repair the leg. He recovered well, but in June of 2017, started to limp on the same leg. X-Rays showed return of OSA in the front leg. Levi crossed the rainbow bridge on 7/20/17, after over 22 months as a happy Tripawd.
Wow, Levi is a rock star! The big 4 in 24 hours is a huge accomplishment.
For what it is worth, Ellie would also lay on her incision side. We figured that she knew what hurt and what didn't so we let her. And Ellie also had trouble getting back down once she was up. She couldn't lower herself easily. Sometimes she'd make a real "hard landing" and we knew that hurt because she'd cry a bit. We ended up helping her a bit by using our forearm "around" her bottom (under her tail) and let her lean on it a bit while she went down. Ellie always seemed to appreciate the help.
Denise, Bill and Angel Ellie.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
Thank you, Denise, Bill, & Angel Ellie. So glad you got to spend a great extra 10 months with your girl.
Completely understand the "hard landing" part. That's a perfect description. He's always been weird with his legs - didn't sit or lay like a normal dog, just sort of swung his legs out to one side. We never really noticed before, but of course it was the side where the incision is now that went under. We try to encourage him to "land" on his bed when he does and it doesn't seem to bother him, we're just worried about the incision getting irritated. Like you said though, if it hurt, they know, and he slept on that side pretty much all night.
Levi was diagnosed w/likely osteosarcoma at 7.5 years old in 7/2015 and became a Tripawd on 9/11/15. Loved life until he broke one of his front legs on 2/12/17. As x-rays showed clean bone, we decided to repair the leg. He recovered well, but in June of 2017, started to limp on the same leg. X-Rays showed return of OSA in the front leg. Levi crossed the rainbow bridge on 7/20/17, after over 22 months as a happy Tripawd.
Leashed potty walks only are a top recommendation for the first couple weeks. Find more helpful recovery and care tips in the Tripawds e-books .
Thanks for the update! Sounds like Levi is doing great. Please keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
http://tripawds.....-photos-1/...see if that link helps with photos.
And we have HAPPY POTTY DANCE! Way to go Levi! You are a Rock Star indeed!
I may have already mentioned this, but my beloved Happy Hannah was almost five weeks before she slept all night on her amp. side! So your Levi is way ahead of the game.
Something someone shared with me when Happy Hannah was on her journey.....dogs are used to circling a certain way...making their "nest" a certain way...laying in certain positions...favortie sides, etc. Depending on wnat their habits were and which leg was amputated, this whole routine can be thrown out of whack.
Really glad ro hear Levi is doing so well and having so many victories already!
Applause for Levi...and his humans too!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
Here he is Saturday night, a bit zonked out. Currently, he's acting like everything is pretty much normal.
Levi was diagnosed w/likely osteosarcoma at 7.5 years old in 7/2015 and became a Tripawd on 9/11/15. Loved life until he broke one of his front legs on 2/12/17. As x-rays showed clean bone, we decided to repair the leg. He recovered well, but in June of 2017, started to limp on the same leg. X-Rays showed return of OSA in the front leg. Levi crossed the rainbow bridge on 7/20/17, after over 22 months as a happy Tripawd.
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