Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Yesterday, February 1st, we adopted Holly a purebred English Setter whose left front leg was amputated. We do not know much about her, and we have never had a Tripawd before, so any help would be greatly appreciated. We were told that Holly was found 2 weeks before Christmas along the highway near Danville VA by a good Samaritan. She was spotted limping by the road and ran into the woods and curled up. The driver stopped went into the woods, picked her up and took her to a shelter. Holly had no use of her left front leg and was emaciated at 35 lbs. The shelter called a woman in North Carolina that rescued Setters and she came and took Holly so that she would not be put down. After getting her to put some weight on, she had her leg amputated and was spayed at the direction of the vet on 1/22. We were planning to adopt her after she had completely healed from her surgery, but due to the rescuer having 13 dogs on the premises in addition to Holly, both the rescuer and us decided that Holly would probably recuperate better in our house.
Our main concern at this point is getting control of the swelling around her incision as well as getting her to eat. We have been hand feeding her lunch meat and shredded chicken, but she does not seem to be eating enough. For the swelling we have purchased a thunder jacket that allows us to create some compression to reduce the swelling. We have also used ice packs for 15 minutes at a time in the hopes it will help. My wife is a physical therapist and we are using the techniques she would use on her human patients. We would appreciate and advice that would help us through the healing process with Holly.
Thank you,
Kevin and Michelle Newsom
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not require moderation.
You are wonderful for adopting Holly!
Us the swelling a seroma
? There is some info on seromas here: http://tripawds.....s-in-dogs/. I'm not sure compression helps with seromas, the body has to re-absorb the fluid. Is Holly really active already? She should still be pretty quiet at this point, not yet two weeks past surgery.
Is she on pain meds? Sometimes pups don't eat much with a lot of meds still in their system. Many here have had to keep trying different foods until they found something that worked. Sometimes the stinky stuff works during recovery- canned food, tuna or other fish.
There is more information on amp and recovery here: http://tripawds.....ding-list/, the Required Reading List.
If you have any concerns about her incision don't hesitate to call your vet. If there is swelling with a little clear or pinkish discharge you are probably OK, but if there is red or smelly discharge have her looked at, better safe than sorry.
What's the guess on her age?
Karen
Welcome Kevin, Michelle & Holly! Bless you both for taking on this challenge to save Holly. I'm fairly new here as well and have learned so much in a short time from this community.
I can't add much more than Karen has already said. Our Libby is 2 days post amp and thought she was going to have a problem eating this morning. Karen is right, the more aromatic the food, the more tempted they are. Hand feeding also helps. We have been feeding Libby half her kibble with shredded chicken, brown rice and sweet potatoes. I slow cooked the chicken breast in low sodium chicken broth and used the broth to wet down all the food. This created some tempting aromas for Libby. She gobbled it right down.
You have come to the right place to find all the info and support you need.
Liberty (Libby) was diagnosed with OSA on 1-22-13. Right front amputation on 1-31-13. No IV Chemo. Metronomic Therapy started 2-19-13 along with supplements and some home cooking. Lungs clear until 1-06-14. She's still her happy, hoppy, bossy self. Living the dog life to the fullest and a proud Winter Warrior. :) RIP my Libby 4-21-03 to 3-19-14
Thank you both for your replies and support. The links were very helpful. It does appear that she has a seroma . We have an appt with our vet set up for Monday so he will be taking a look and hopefully help with the swelling. Since we put the compression bandage and thunder shirt on her, it appears that the swelling has gone down some. She has also now eaten a cup and a half of rice and chicken, so we feel better about her eating as well. The vet that performed the amputation estimated her at 3 years 1 month, but we do not know for sure. The lady we adopted her from gave us the last 4 pills of tramadol but we have not given her any as she does not look like she is in pain. The toughest part of all of this is we have no idea what she was like before so we don't know how her behavior has changed. I feel better now that she has eaten and we look forward to a successful recovery. We know she loves are kids already as she wags her tail whenever they enter the room.
Thanks again,
Kevin and Michelle
You are taking on a big job but it will get easier. I'm in a similar boat. I adopted Cora, about 1.5 weeks after her amputation. Cora is just a pup and she's also blind so she has some big challenges but I definitely found it hard since I had nothing to compare to. All I can say is it will get easier.
You are also dealing with a double whammy. Not only is Holly recovering from the surgery but she's also dealing with adoption. It is not unusual for newly adopted pets to go a day or two without eating or going to the bathroom. Since Holly was a stray she may have some history she's dealing with too.
If you think about what she's been through in the last few months, it's pretty dang overwhelming. She was alone and injured, she was at the shelter, she was at the foster, she had the surgery and now she's at your house and trying to adjust to life on 3 legs. She will get there, but this is a time when patience is a key.
Good luck.
Wow, thank you for adopting Holly and giving her a great home. You are all off to a good start. The recovery can be ruff for a while but it does get better. Since Holly is dealing with recuperating from the trauma of being hit by a car, as well as the amputation, she has extra hurdles to overcome but with your help she'll do it. And what a lucky girl she is to have a momma as a PT! Many canine rehab practitioners we've met started out as human PTs, so yes, many of the same therapies do apply to both species. Check out our "Best of the Tripawds Gear Blog" to learn about many of the exercises and recommendations PTs give to Tripawds.
Soon you'll start to see that sparkle in her eyes and you'll know that she is feeling good. Go with your instincts, try not to worry so much and let us know how we can make it easier for you OK? We are here to help however we can.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome, Holly and packmates! You're lucky to have found us and for reasons other than cancer. What a wonderful, heartwarming thing you've done. Thank you for taking her in. She sounds so sweet! I've nothing more to add, besides a list of foods Jackson enjoyed and enjoys while he recovers (we're over a month post-amp) and goes through chemo: boiled chicken breasts, white rice, ground beef and ground chicken, boiled beef liver, winter squash, sweet potatoes, brussel spouts, beets, bananas, broccoli, and red peppers. We tried cottage cheese, which he liked, but it did things to his poo, so that's no longer in his diet.
Time will heal and your new pack will be stronger and bonded in no time!
~ Katy
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
Welcome to you and Holly. You are very sweet for taking her in. We didn't have to deal with a seroma , so I don't have words of wisdom on that. The first couple of weeks can be tough, but once the pain meds are done and the staples are out you should start to see her personality emerge. (Of course, with her also being new to your house, it might take a little longer for her personality to truly shine. Our rescue laid low for a good coupla months before relaxing into our home enough to really let her true crazy little self show!)
All the best with her. Can't wait to see pics!
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!
Thanks again to everyone. Holly did have a seroma and a slight infection, but after 2 trips to the vet this week she is now doing fine. The seroma is gone and now we are dealing with the wound healing from the inside out. There is a fairly deep hole that we have to keep moist in order for the healing to take place, but the vet and my wife assure me that it will fill in now that the necrotic flesh that was around the wound is gone. We have started to see a little of her personality and she is a very intelligent dog. She is great with our kids and we are lucky to have found her.
Kevin
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