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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Hi we are new to forum and thought we should share our story, we adopted a dog from a rescue almost 4 weeks ago. When we first saw him he was dragging his front leg but seamed very happy we went and saw him as much as we could for a week then decided he was the one for us, we found that the problem with his leg was radial paralysis and vets said to see how he went for 6mths to a year, sadly after only a few days at home he became very poorly and we rushed him to the vets, they said it could be a infection in his leg after another week of care and meds he was very sad, didnt want to go for walks and we had to do daily bandage changes which he hated, we decided to go ahead and have his leg amputated, i felt very guilty and wondered if we where doing the right thing.
2 weeks after the operation he is a diffrent dog, the pain was hard to get on top of and the meds gave him a very up set tummy but he is so much happier and gets round so much better than before.
Its good to know there is other people out there who know where we are coming from.
Sara and Smurf 
It sounds like Smurf found a wonderful loving family. I am sure he will bring much joy into your life.
So glad you found our little group. There is a huge amount of information here and lots of support. Welcome!
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Welcome to the family, the whole process is usually harder on us than it is our buddies. If your past that first 2 weeks, your on cruise control baby, it just gets better from here. You'll be amazed that with a little time the only differenc is they hop instead of walk, and you'll love it, it gives them character. One nice thing for you guys is your not dealing with cancer, which is the reason most of us are here, but having said that, this is a great place to be, you'll find all the answers you need on a journey like this. Good luck, paws up, Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
Thanks for joining Sara! Why would you feel guilty for relieving Smurf of his pain? 
Many members have found the book Without Regret to be helpful in coping with such feelings. We sure did.
Be sure to bookmark Jerry's recent post linking to the Best of Tripawds with lots of information and answers to the most commonly asked questions about amputation, recovery, and care for three legged dogs. You will find more advice and helpful products in the Tripawds Featured Blogs too!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
ARoooooo! Sara & Smurf. Glad to see you found us. This is one of the best places to be for your Tripawd. Lots of good advice, compassion and friends, all knowing what you are dealing with. Smurf will soon be a totally new dog and much happier now that he is free of pain. Keep us posted on how he is doing. You are on the downhill slide from the amputation surgery, don't feel guilty about helping your new friend. He got the best mom & dad ever!
Chuy & Eleanor
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
Welcome Sara and Smurf! Would love to see a pic!
It sounds like you the absolute right thing by amputating! If it was a bone infection it was probably super painful and that would have taken months and months to heal, if at all. And being on a dog, almost impossible.
As you can tell we our community made up of mostly cancer victims but we do have info on being three legged. Chuy and myself aren't cancer dogs and we have a few others. You can scan thru this great topic to narrow down your focus on having a tripawd without cancer:
http://tripawds.....nd-cancer/
And I would like to add, the reason we don't have a lot of regular posters that are non-cancer 3-legged dogs is because they go off and live a normal happy life - which is great! There are a lot of 3-legged dogs out there! But we'd love to have you be a regular poster or start a blog !
Comet's mom
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.
Hi Sara and Smurf,
Welcome to tripawds! We're sorry to hear about Smurf's leg, but are so glad you found us! As others have said, you're already past the worst of it... and Smurf will just continue to amaze you. We'll keep fingers and paws crossed for continued success with Smurf's recovery.
Hugs!
Holly joined the world of tripawds on 12/29/2009. She has a big little sister, Zuzu, who idolizes Holly and tries to make all of her toys into tripawds in Holly's honor. And she's enjoying life one hop at a time!
http://anyemery.....ipawds.com
cometdog said:
And I would like to add, the reason we don't have a lot of regular posters that are non-cancer 3-legged dogs is because they go off and live a normal happy life - which is great!
Hey! Waddaya mean no non-cancer regular posters? What am I chopped liver? Oh wait, you would have gobbled me up if I was chopped liver. 
We try to be here as often as possible, life just gets in the way sometimes.
Chuy
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
Shhhhhhhh! Chuy, I'm trying to make the non-cancer dogs feel bad so they'll come and post! There is only you, me, Shelby, Rosie and Buddy - we need more! Heck Wyatt doesn't even post! 
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.
Ahem!
Comet, I think MB kicked you in the head, how quickly you forget all of my witty and memorable posts. Plus, you seem to forget that we've also got other non-cancer Tripawds in this community like:
Gerry
Travis Ray
Codie Rae
Three Legged Max
Chewie
Cotton
and a whole LOT of other non-cancer dawgs! Their pawrents are just busy busy I guess and don't post in the forums much. We'll have to harass them and get them back over here! As for my Mom, she's always busy channelling Spirit Jerry and doesn't have much time to dictate my thoughts! Hmph!
Sara, you and Smuf make a great team. As you can already see, he's going to be just fine. Don't feel guilty OK? Remember, we dogs don't even know what that means! Smurf is just so hoppy to be out of pain, and in a home with a loving pawrent like you.
Can't wait to follow your adventures.
Wyatt Ray Dawg . . . The Tripawds Leg-A-Cy Continues!
Read all about my adventures at my Tripawds Blog
Oh no! I forgot about Gerry and Travis and Codie Ray! Sorry, you guys! (I don't know the others)
But now we have Smurf!
how quickly you forget all of my witty and memorable posts.
Jerry posts: 360,987 Wyatt Ray posts: 60
I just don't know how I could forget!
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.
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