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 am a new mommy to this amazing lovey, cuddly 2 year old girl! She is just a great addition to our family and she absolutely loves my two young children which is a major plus!! 🙂
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Welcome! It was nice chatting with you, your future forum posts will not require moderation.
The image link you posted was to your private photobucket album so it can't be shared elsewhere. The Image URL is what you ant to use, which we'll fix for you now. Esse is a beauty!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome to Tripawds.
Tell us more about Esee- based on the bare skin I can see in the picture she must have had her amp fairly recently. How big is she? I have to say that the camera angle makes it look like you have one gigantic dog, or one very small child 
.
Karen and the pugapalooza
so cute - we agree with karen, thought you had a six foot tall dog or a very small little girl... we'd love to hear more about esee and how she became a tripawd sister.. only two years old - she has many, many adventures left. welcome to the site.
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
We just adopted her on friday and I failed to ask how long ago her amp was! Im waiting for a phone call back so i can ask! I am guessing it is fairly recent but not too recent as she seems like a pro at walking/running/jumping.. but i also dont know how quickly they adapt to an amp either.. And thats soo funny now that i look at the picture it totally looks like shes a giant! in fact she is actually really small! I will put up a few more pics to show her size. Esee was a stray before i got her and was hit by a car 🙁 but it doesnt bring her down one bit! She is as happy a can be.
this is her standing right by my youngest daughter. you can she she really isnt that big!
so sweet!
standing up on the computer chair smiling to the camera!
So I just talked to her previous owner (who is also the vet who worked on her leg) and she said she amputated her leg either the end of january or the beginning of february. So its still pretty new for her but she is doing really really good with it 🙂
She's adorable! She looks very happy to be part of the family. I'm so glad you found each other. It's great that she is not an amp due to cancer. Looks like she is adjusting well to life on three legs, as most young pups do. Our pup was young and still VERY active on 3 legs. Many people who would see her running at the beach said they didn't notice she only had 3 legs until she stopped.
It's an awesome thing to be a tripawd pawrent. Welcome to the club,
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
what joy-filled pictures!!! she is just sweet enough to want to gobble up!! so great of you guys to rescue her - thanks for sharing the additional pictures!!
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
Thanks guys! We couldnt have found a more perfect dog for us. So this is kind of unrelated but I havent had a dog in a little over 3 years and I always kept food in her bowl but now with Esee ive read that you want to be careful not to feed tripawds too much so they dont get overweight.. So i was thinking about just feeding her twice a day but im not sure in what amounts? 1 cup, 2 cups? What do you guys think??
WOWZA! Esee is beautiful! You all look so happy!! I'm so happy for you and your beautiful daughter!
On food issue: Yes, we always fed our tripawd twice a day (and still feed our 4-legged dog the same). As far as amount, I'm not sure how big she is in weight but don't go off of the dog food bag or can. They suggest way too much. Maybe someone can chime in and tell you exactly how much. We fed our 38lb tripawd 1/4 cup two times per day as a senior and geriatric dog. It doesn't sound like much but she got treats too, so I adjusted lower as she aged. I think as a youngster, I fed 1/2 a cup a day.
Also, dog food has changed in the last 3 years. Some of the brands that were considered "good" aren't that good anymore. We like Blue Buffalo around here. We used to do kibble but now we do can (the vet's suggestion because my current dog doesn't drink much water). Wellness is another great brand too (they have kibble too). We switch back and forth from Blue and Wellness. Most of here are really high on excellent dog food because we feel there will be less problems down the road.
I might suggest too, getting a raised dish holder (especially for water). It *may* help in spinal and neck issues down the road. My 3-legged dog, Comet (I had her as a tripawd for 12 years – born with a front deformed leg) – developed neck disc issues when she was 10 1/2 years old. I regretted not having her water dish raised all of those years. She liked to lay down and eat, so that didnt bother me, but the bending to get a drink for all those years probably didn't help her neck.
Please feel free to ask questions! We all have so much experience that we are more than happy to offer it!
Sending tons of good wishes to you and Esee!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Thank you so much! So Esee is 2 so do you think i should give her the 1/2cup a day? She is currently eating "precise" dog food which is the food her previous owner had her on and she gave me the rest of what she had. Im about to run out so i sent my fiance to petco to pick some up but they dont carry it there. She seems to like it and it has some good reviews so i was planning on keeping her on that but i dont know where ill be able to buy it. Maybe I will try the blue buffalo and see how she does! And I read I think on this site about the raised dog bowls and since then i have put her dishes on a box for now until i can go get a raised one! She looks so much more comfortable while she eats now!
It's good to know that she isn't a giant!
If she had her amp at the beginning of Feb. then she is 6 weeks in or so, most pups are well adjusted to tripawd-ness by then. And the youngsters really seem to adapt faster. Esee will continue to get stronger and build endurance, but I bet she is doing pretty well already.
As far as the amount of food, I have always found that the recommended feeding amount on the package is way too much. I have small dogs, pugs, one almost 12, and not too active. The other about 5.5 and much more active, each weighs about 16.5 pounds. My older girl gets less than a quarter cup twice a day, plus some treats. My younger boy gets a generous quarter cup twice a day, plus treats, and some play with food dispensing toys.
Thanks for the new pictures- I think both of you have scored!
Karen and the pugapalooza
I'm a bit late as usual but she is beautiful and so is your daughter. Welcome to being a Tripawd parent.
It really is amazing how quickly dog adapt isn't it. I really didn't believe anyone when I first joined this site but our girl has shown us how easy it is for a dog to get on with life.
As for food I can't really help much as Kayla only eats what she wants and no more and sometime I don't think it is enough to nourish a flea!!!!! but I have to agree that most dog food reccommends way to much.
All the best and keep us posted. Any questions just ask we have all been there so no doubt someone will be able to help/
Sarah
we were 'free feeders' with gayle, and she never got overweight...but now, with felony melanie, we've gone to two feedings a day - she is so ready to eat 24/7. we agree with karen again, the amount on the bag seems high, so we feel a little less. we're going grain free kibble (wellness core) with a topping of grain free canned (1/4 cup) and it's going well - keeping both mel and sam healthy (poops, skin, hair, etc). we're anxious to hear what you go with - and by the way the raised bowls are really important for tripawds!
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
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