Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi all. I became a foster failure last year with my tripaw, Ellie. She's a boxer, and honestly you'd hardly even know that leg was gone most of the time! Ha! A little back story... I lost my boxer, Maggie, to cancer in March of last year. I was taking it pretty hard, and it just so happened that the day before my birthday two months later, the rescue I volunteer for got a plea to help one state over with this boxer that had been hit by a car. The family had no money, and her leg was dangling and was useless to her. She had been hit 12 days prior... So of course, I jumped for joy at the chance of this spontaneous birthday rescue mission!!! We got her back to the vet and found her femur had been completely broken in two. Since it had been 12 days, there was no fixing the injury, she'd have to become an amputee. She had crate rest for a few weeks, some of which involved breaking out of her crate and jumping TWO gates to be with my other dog... She bounced back from this obvious at one point puppy mill or back yard breeder mother to this amazing, goofy, unstoppable force that never stops playing. So of course I fell head over heels and became a foster failure. 🙂
So about that unstoppable play... she has this thing where she brings me toys and wants me to throw them across the room for her to fetch. That's great. Wonderful exercise, stimulation, etc. The only bad thing is I have hard floors and she wipes out all the time. I've tried socks with tread before investing so much in the ruffwear boots and she was NOT a fan. Maybe she'd get more used to it with time? And they literally came off in less than 5 minutes. I think I'll try the rubber ones like was mentioned in one of the blogs? I've considered a big rug too. I'm just not sure. Any one else that's gone through that issue or has suggestions, fire away. 🙂
I can't figure out how to attach pictures so here are links. Her immediate post surgery. Like seriously that night or the next day and so happy:
https://drive.g.....sp=sharing
About a year later:
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
Congratulations on your failure! Ellie is a very expressive girl.
Traction, as you have found, is huge for tripawds. My pug Maggie was also a rear amp. I used rugs on the slippery floors in my house when she lost her leg. Years later my second pug Tani (a quad pug) was having slip issues and this time I used yoga mats. Honestly I liked the yoga mats better. With Tani I also used the PAWZ rubber booties, Maggie would never tolerate booties. Tani could care less about booties so they worked really well for her. I used them when she went to the vet or visited somewhere that had slippery floors.
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
Ellie is ADORABLE!! And what a difference a year makes! Clearly Ellie is so happy to be with you! She sounds like a incredibly fun dog!.
Yep,the non slip scatter rugs worked best for my Happy Hannah /Bull Mastif 125 lbs). One of our members here,who had a lot of brightly colored non slip scatter rugs, said her floors looked like a clown had thrown up all over the floors!
I know that others are fond of the yoga matts too.
Thanks for adopting this wonderful dog and giving her such a loving forever home. We look forward to hearing more about her journey AND seeing more precious photos!!
Hugs to all!
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!
Oh my goodness, 12 days? Poor baby, so glad you guys jumped in to save her. I recommend the yoga mats too. You can find many different sizes on Amazon. I have one that is 6'x6', it works great on our slippery floor. You can also cut the yoga mats to fit whatever area you want to put them in and they make brown/black ones that may sort of blend in to your floor. I don't know anyone that has ever used these but might be an option also:
http://www.pupp.....wpads.com/
Sally - "like a clown had thrown up all over the floors!" - Hahahaha, that's hysterical!
Mom to Tripawd Angels Jake (2001-2014) and Rosco (2012-2015) and Tripawd Tanner. “Whatever happens tomorrow, we had today; and I'll always remember it”
Thanks, everyone!!! I love her dearly. Our relationship, especially at the beginning is truly symbiotic. I was there for her when she needed me, but she helped me cope with the loss of my girl, Maggie (and recently my old girl, Gabby (also to cancer)). She's a true joy in my life.
Thanks for the info on the scatter mats and yoga mats! I had no idea yoga mats came in such large sizes. I love that idea!
Here are some additional pics. 🙂
She's quite insistent when she wants me to throw a toy for her. Haha
https://drive.g.....sp=sharing
Her one year gotcha day:
https://drive.g.....sp=sharing
Being a foster volunteer for rescue, I like to get creative and take fun pictures of the fosters around holidays. She's quite tolerant and lets me pull her in on the shenanigans. 
OH my dog whatta face!
Here are instructions for adding photos to the Forums. We hope to see more!
I'm so sorry you've lost two furkids to cancer, that's so hard. Glad to know that Ellie is helping your heart mend, you two make a fantastic team! Welcome!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
jerry said
OH my dog whatta face!
Here are instructions for adding photos to the Forums. We hope to see more!
I'm so sorry you've lost two furkids to cancer, that's so hard. Glad to know that Ellie is helping your heart mend, you two make a fantastic team! Welcome!
Thank you for that help! I searched the forums but all the terms I used only pulled up the rules and regulations post. Let's give it a try.
Oh my gosh, what a face! lol
The rugs are probably going to be your best bet. We have the Pawz Booties for Murphy, which work great when we go to the vet or whenever he has to walk on slippery surfaces. But since they are kind of like balloons, you really wouldn't want them to be worn full-time. They fit sort of snug at the top in order to stay on, so I would be worried about her circulation if they are on for too long.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
YAAAAAAAAAY FOR ELLIE! She's soooooo photogenic! Cannot stop smiling at the adorable photos! Those eyes, that expression...the CUTENESS!!! OMD!
I can certainly understand how this precious pup helped you maneuver through the grief of Maggie and Gabby crossing over to the other side of life. I know she was right by your side. Maggie and Gabby are always with you too and watching over you and Ellie.
Thanks for the smiles...and we can wait for more!
Hugs!
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!
She looks really joyful and happy! 🙂 And great you took care of her. I cannot imagine someone would just let Ellie hop around with a dangling leg :(.
Thanks everyone for the kind words! I ended up going with rugs, at least to try out for now. My living room is so big (12x26), that the yoga mats I found were going to be so expensive to cover the area. It's really a living/dining but I just use it for living/dog crate/craft table, so there's a lot of floor space. I got a couple of rugs at IKEA (unfortunately they no longer have the grey like I already had at the bottom of the pic) and placed some anti-skid under them. I've also since taped the corners down because I couldn't get them to lay down otherwise. So far so good! Ellie has chased her toys over them and no wipe-outs so far! 
It's also helped her with coming out of her crate to the back door when I come home. She used to come out and get so excited, she'd fall down from slipping; but they're helping with that.
Pawesome! Thanks for sharing the pics.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I never knew "scatter rugs" could look so good! Miss Ellie has quite a nice layout for her to romp around in!
So glad this is working out well for her. You are such a great human!! She could not have found a better forever home!
Hugs to all!
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!
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