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 Max,
It is good to hear you are feeling better. From what we have seen, things should just keep getting better from here. I had my surgery yesterday and am expecting a few rough days ahead, but from reading posts like this I know that it should get better soon and I will be back to my happy old self!
Cheers,
Max C
Hi Max C - so good to hear your pawrents decided on surgery - it has been the best thing for me. I am a 6 year old Golden Retriever called Winston - also a back left leg amputee and with hip dyslplasia. I am doing very well indeed - yesterday I was swimming in the lake and yelling at my mom to throw me more balls ( she is sooooo slow...). Get lots of rest, eat all your meals and try not to overdo the painkillers.
Love and licks
Winston
Slainte Max, way to go! I'll have a dram for you tonight. Well done (huge round of applause on human paws); do you live in the Scottish countryside?
All love
from Winston:
"also a back left leg amputee and with hip dyslplasia."
Hi Winston,
We actually have a trip planned for Lake Arrowhead next month so I hope I can go swimming by then! I'll rest up until then as you advise and see how I feel. It sounds like we have a lot in common. How long have you been a tripawd? Has your dysplasia bothered you at all? I'm a bit older (guessing 11).
licks back at cha,
Max C
Max C said:
Hi Winston,
We actually have a trip planned for Lake Arrowhead next month so I hope I can go swimming by then!
Hi Max C - I have been a tripawd for exactly 6 weeks today. The first couple of weeks I was getting use to 3 legs and both mom and me were taking things easy - short walks, always leashed, and I used a harness ( as I kept forgetting I had only one back leg and kept trying to pee by lifting my only remaining back right leg... and fell over once or twice.) No big deal - Ive got the hang of it now.
I think we all recuperate at different speeds but I would guess that you should be fine for swimming next month. Sounds fun! No problems with my hip dysplasia so far - its mild according to the vet. Im a chunky golden too - 96lbs when I had four legs -now about 91lbs I think. Mom says I ought to go on a diet - but secretly I know she loves chunky dogs ! Take things slowly, one day at a time.
Love and licks, Winston.
Hi Max, I'm Dee - I'm a tripawd since 13 May 2008. I can relate to your recovery - I was also upbeat for the first 2 days, then sank into a bit of a depression for a week or two and after that jumped back again - even with my arthritis - and are now my old new self! I enjoy sleeping on the bed, chewing my grandma's new bedding and just being the boss of the house now! My mommy is giving me a special diet and just loving and caring for me as much as she can. Hope to still hear alot from you! Lotsa licks, Dee xx
winstonsmom said:
( as I kept forgetting I had only one back leg and kept trying to pee by lifting my only remaining back right leg… and fell over once or twice.)
Ha, that is funny! I was doing the same thing on my bad leg before the surgery and stumbling around. I am about 70 pounds so hopefully I will do just fine. I should be coming home today!
Keep on Hoppin' - Max C
Definately feeling more like my old self - my skin is healing nicely and my fur is growing back too. I'm not on tramadol anymore - haven't had any since my staples came out...
The histology from the tumour came back... nothing that we didn't expect - it is malignant - on a scale of 1 to 10 (10 being bad and aggressive) they put it at about a 2.5 I'm not going to dwell on that.
Hopefully I am on the up again now - still no walks for me at the moment - I have a nice big farm courtyard (grassy) so can hop outside when I like - just taking it easy at the moment and my new Tuffie bed arrived yesterday.
(Anyone in the UK - Tuffies are made in Scotland - (No connection to me I hasten to add - just that I would highly recommend them ) they are very comfortable and are so easy to keep clean. I am very hairy and other beds soon get covered in dog hair - and are not as easy to keep nice. http://www.tuffies.co.uk a bit expensive but they will last you forever. I have a couple now ! )
And yes Lalla, we are very lucky to live in the Scottish countryside - it's very nice and peaceful here - lovely fields to play in - I can't wait till I am fit enough to play with my ball again - that will be amazing and make everything worthwhile.
Hope you're doing well Max C (Cool name!) the first few days were rough for me too - you just have to keep telling yourself that it is a big operation and it will take time to get over it. After my initial behaviour when I first got home (too good to be true) I had a week where I did not want to get up at all - my back legs were so stiff - but I'm definitely more comfortable now and quite enjoying all the fuss. My mum's still sleeping down stairs on the floor with me - we're not sure about stairs yet! I think I'd get up them ok - but coming down may be tricky - so until my wound has fully healed up and I can wear my new ruffwear harness I'm not allowed up there.
Winston and Dee - you are leading the way - great to hear how well you're both doing - lots of proud pawrents I think...
It's quite tricky typing with just one paw so I'll say bye for now.
Big licks to you all...
I'm a proper member now - have to use my posh name - Maxwelll
Just over 2 weeks now since my amputation.
What a difference - every day I feel better. Mum and dad are amazed. Yesterday I was jumping around on the grass playing with my chewy. Leaping up the steps with so much energy. They had to settle me down - the surgeon said 6 weeks of rest!!! I am more of a menace than ever with food - when my paw was hurting I sometimes could not be bothered to hunt for food (in the kitchen) now every time I hear the fridge door open I am there - just in case there is a treat for me! This morning I went for a stroll outside and could not be bothered to walk the long way round so I just stood up on my back legs and tried to open the patio door - like I used to -
When faced with the options - amputation, painkillers until the end or Euthan.... after a lot of tears and research and second opinions, we opted for this - thank goodness we did. We have our happy lad back again - he has not been this good in months - loving life and playing around with the pack. Anyone who is reading this story we hope it helps you to decide what to do for the best.
We followed the advice of our surgeon - who had no hesitation (at all) in telling us that this was the right thing to do. Anyone out there in the UK - facing this - we were attending the animal hospital in Glasgow - they were fantastic.
I love that motto - more and more - that's exactly how it is - I could not put it better myself.
So much better to hop on 3 legs than limp on four...
Max
Hey Maxwell...glad to hear that you're doing so well...and I've found out that when we're happy our pawrents are happy too 🙂
You are so lucky to have your mum and dad who take such great care of you. Mom said it was such an incredibly difficult decision to make, but we do just fine don't we? Actually, I agree...much better actually - I wasn't in as much pain as it sounds like you were, but I was surely getting there and once the initial recovery period from the operation was over, i was like - "wow...let's go!!!"
Have a great weekend pal ~
Love, Zeus
Heather and Spirit Zeus - Our life changing journey…from the earth to the heavens…one day at a time…always together
Yeh the pain thing - was bad - I couldn't have my paw operation as soon as I wanted - because I had an emergency op (to remove my spleen) to deal with first - that took 2-3 weeks to heal first. Ironically if it wasn't for my really bad limp, the torsion wouldn't have been found when it was - I would have been dead a month ago. Life is strange sometimes - I bet nobody has seen the positive side to getting Cancer before!!!
Zeus, I am having a great weekend - even played with my ball (my absolute favourite) yesterday - although nobody would throw it for me...
Best wishes to you too.
Hello gang! I have been m.i.a. for a little bit now but only because my mom has had so much work that she doesn't get home until late and then it is playtime, feeding time and relaxing time. But today I told her she had to check out the site and see how everyone was doing. It is sooooo good to hear that you are all doing well and recovering nicely.
I am still doing wonderful. I already had 2 of my chemo sessions and so far no side effects and feeling great! I play, run and love life more than anything. My mom still makes sure that I get my special diet and my supplements, and takes good care of me. I had some bloodwork done this past week and it came back good so I will have my 3rd chemo session the week of the 23rd. They were going to do the sessions every 3 weeks but we decided that if we waited to do every 4 weeks my platelets and white blood count did much better so the vet decided to give me the extra week.
It is funny how my mom has also discovered that some of the things she could do before, now that I am a tripawd they don't work very well. Like taking me and my two brothers for a walk at the same time. NOT!!!! It does not work as before as I need to keep a faster pace so that I don't get tire that much faster. Slow pace does not work for me too well. I need to keep a pretty fast pace (yep like my mom needs to jog a bit) but heck it is good exercise for her.
My hair is also coming back and my Dad is sooo happy with it as he feels like it is so shinny and smooth (like it wasn't before ----- duhhhh!) don't know what he is thinking. So that is my update up to now ....doing great and enjoying life! Great to hear that you are all doing well also....lots of licks.
Kellie
Gosh, I miss the Scottish countryside. You're very lucky to have the Glasgow animal hospital; it's considered very good!
All the best
Oh Kellie, sounds like you are definitely on the right track!
Isn't it funny how fast we have to walk? Boy, our humans definitely have a fun time trying to keep up. Now who's walking who?
Good to hear that all is going as expected! Keep up the great work.
Love,
Jerry
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Yeah, I know what you mean Kellie - no one would throw the ball to me either for awhile...hard to keep an active dawg down even when we're supposed to rest! I love now that we can run and play...everyone has a hard time keeping up with me and it just dawned on mom reading this that yes...I do have to move faster to keep my momentum up...DUH MOM (she was wondering why I suddenly like to run on my walks). Sometimes these humans aren't as smart as they think they are!
We're glad to hear that chemo is going well for you...my last treatment is on June 25th. Mom is so relieved that it's coming to an end. I haven't had any side effects and all my test results are great (no mets), but it seems like it's been a bit emotional for her me having to go through chemo. Probably because I'm doing so well and then we go for a treatment and she's reminded again that I have cancer. It's OK though...it could be a lot worse right?
Stay in touch when you can - we're thinking of you!
Love,
Zeus
Heather and Spirit Zeus - Our life changing journey…from the earth to the heavens…one day at a time…always together
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