Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Today would be Dakota's second year ampuversary. I wish he could be here to celebrate, of course. But I don't want the day to go by without reminding people here what it means to be part of a community as broad as Tripawds or as narrow as the February Furballs.
Two years ago today I sat in CSU's waiting room while Dakota had his leg removed. I spent two nights in a hotel room as he was tended to and launched on his tripawd journey.
I wrote my first blog post from that hotel room and was immediately welcomed here by Jim and Rene and many, many of you. Some of you had lost your dogs, but you still welcomed me. I was not scared or nervous, but it helped immensely to know that I had resources available if I needed them.
A few days later, I learned that Micki had a dog, Rio the Woo, who'd undergone amputation on February 8th. And I found out that Angel (just a half-day away from me) had Bud, and Bud lost his leg the day after Dakota. There were others from the same week, and we became the February Furballs.
Rio earned her wings a couple of weeks before her first ampuversary and Dakota earned his in December. I hope it doesn't put too much pressure on Cowboy Bud to represent, but I think he's up to the task. The great relief is that Bud does not have cancer. The great hope is that Bud lives a long life and grows old with his family. I'm hoping he's here to help us celebrate many more ampuversaries.
So this is my point: When you join here, you think you are doing it to get advice or to quell the anxiety or to find out how to keep your tripawd from slipping on floors, or even how to tell nasty relatives to support your decision or shut up. Little do you know that you are doing something more like getting married. You are becoming a part of something bigger than you imagine. You are enlarging your family, and you're doing it through your dog or your cat (no llamas yet). At first it's for only you, but soon you are celebrating vicariously through the survivors, cheering on the ones having a setback, mourning the ones who can't go on. And you will get as much as you give. Everyone here has a huge heart, so give generously! Your heart is big enough to hold the love of all these special dogs and cats, trust me.
Remember Rio and Dakota, but please don't forget Bud tomorrow. Lift your glass to him and be deliriously happy that he is in a warm house with children and a monkeybutt roommate, swimming in the summer and snowpawing in the winter.
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
Love ya Shari. I am thinking about you today and I will be celebrating Bud tomorrow. I don't think I could ever forget anyone of you that has helped me through Sassy's journey. You are right this is one huge family. I wish Dakota was here for you but he is watching down. God Bless everyone one of the Feburary Furballs and their families. Bless each & every person for taking time to be apart of this wonderful "family"
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Dakota Dawg said
So this is my point: When you join here, you think you are doing it to get advice or to quell the anxiety or to find out how to keep your tripawd from slipping on floors, or even how to tell nasty relatives to support your decision or shut up. Little do you know that you are doing something more like getting married. You are becoming a part of something bigger than you imagine. You are enlarging your family, and you're doing it through your dog or your cat (no llamas yet).
So well said Shari. I do think of you and the others as family now. You are an inspiration to me, you always know how to so eloquently put things into words and Dakota was so very lucky to have you as her Mom.
I will celebrate this month in her honor as well as Rio and Bud.
Jill is a 9-year-old tuxedo kitty. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in June 2012 on her toe in her right hind leg. Her leg was amputated on 12/12/12 and she completed four rounds of chemo (2 of Carbo, 2 of Doxy) in April 2013. "Like" Jill's facebook page: https://www.fac.....tty?ref=hl Proud member of the WINTER WARRIORS!!!! Her blog can be read at http://jillsjou.....ipawds.com. xoxo
Well said Shari! You are so right about all the reasons we come here and how this community becomes a family. I don't know what I would have done without this place when we were going through Chili Dawgs battle with cancer and I needed you yet again when we lost Finchy to his battle last Monday. This is a great place to come for celebrating or comfort or mourning. We will remember Rio and Dakota and we will celebrate Bud 
Diagnosed with OSA: 5/2/2011 Ampuversary: 5/11/2011 OSA returned in hip: 8/26/2011
Chili Dawg crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 8/30/2011 & is now pain free. He was my heart dog, and I miss him every day.
Three paws up to Bud, Dakota and Rio, and Tripawds everywhere. Hoppy Ampuversary, now and always.
Thank you Shari, this was so beautifully said I won't even try to add anything except thank you, thank you.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
All I can add is "ditto" to everyone else's comments. Beautiful critters.
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
Dakota Dawg said At first it's for only you, but soon you are celebrating vicariously through the survivors, cheering on the ones having a setback, mourning the ones who can't go on. And you will get as much as you give. Everyone here has a huge heart, so give generously! Your heart is big enough to hold the love of all these special dogs and cats, trust me.
Remember Rio and Dakota, but please don't forget Bud tomorrow. Lift your glass to him and be deliriously happy that he is in a warm house with children and a monkeybutt roommate, swimming in the summer and snowpawing in the winter.
Yes, Shari. Yes. I love, I cry, and I seek help myself. This community is a treasure. Cheers to Dakota, Rio, and fightin' Bud! You three are warriors and blasted a very important path for us all here. Jackson and I love you!
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!
Yes it has been two years,
Two years ago I received a phone call that Bud's followup appointment had gone horribly. I picked up my children from school. I drove and sobbed, trying to "keep it together" all the way to Denver. I found my husband with Bud in the ICU. I sat on the cement floor and held Bud's paw. The husband was adamant that we were going to amputate Bud's leg. Myself, I wondered "Is this the right thing to do?" Would it just be kinder to release him from this life, no more pain. That night to ease my mind, I stayed up researching amputation online. As you all know, this lead me to this place. The place we all are now. Bud had his amp surgery the next day. The surgery that was suppose to take minutes took hours. The recovery took months. In those days and months, I found some really wonderful folks. Folks, I mostly knew by a picture of their pets. Folks who reached out across miles to offer knowledge, support, encouragement, humor and most of all hope. I found friends, people who not only offered those things in Bud's recovery but also in my life.
Thank you Jim and Rene for creating this place. Thank you to everyone who has posted advice or encouragement in one of my forums.Thank you to everyone who has ever posted in ANY forum adding to this community. Karen thanks to spirit Maggie who really was the first February Furball "before it was even cool". Shari, thank you for reaching out to us and uniting us and giving us our fantastic club name.
Micki and Shari, thanks for sharing this journey with us. I am not going to lie. It is hard to be positive and celebrate when I know you both are hurting.I try not to add religion or politics to posts but today I will. I went to a funeral a year ago for someone who was a friend that was family. Her brother a Greek Orthodox priest led the service in which there were many prayers, mostly in Greek. He stopped and said "As a priest, I am often asked why we pray for the deceased? If they are up in heaven, no worries, no sickness, no pain where everything is beautiful and they have found true peace...why...why do we pray for them? The answer he said, is really quite simple. WE PRAY FOR THEM BECAUSE WE LOVE THEM. We prayed for them in life because we loved them, we pray for them in heaven because WE LOVE THEM!"
So yes, tomorrow Bud will be spoiled! Really, he is pretty spoiled every day but we will "do it up right".
But tonight, we light two candles and we say an ammpuversary prayer for Rio and Dakota. Not because we worry about them(even though we do worry about you) but because WE LOVE THEM!
Hoppy Ammpuversary in Heaven D Dawg!
Happy Ampuversary in Heaven D Dawg! You are a hero to all of us
Thank you, Shari, for being such an important part of this community!
Joan and Lily
Our beautiful Lily was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her front leg on 12/14/11 at age 8 and had amp on 12/16/11. She completed 5 rounds of carbo. She was so brave and kicked cancer's butt daily! She lived life fully for 4 years, 3 months, and 15 days after her amp. My angel is a warrior princess. I miss her so much.
Happy Ampuversary Bud, and to Dakota Dawg and Rio too. It's an honor to have Maggie remembered as an honorary February Furball, she was at the Bridge before you guys started your Tripawd journeys. I know she welcomed Rio, who was after all part pug, and I can easily see her napping in front of the fire with DD.
It's hard to think of anything to add to what you guys have said. I remember when I joined this site I was surprised by the people hanging around after their pups had passed. But when I was here awhile I understood. This is a family, we celebrate the milestones, we mourn the losses. There are family members we don't see so often, there are some of us you can't get rid of! We are forever bound together by the journey.
Karen and Spirit Maggie
Today is Bud's day! What a ruff start he had on his tripawds journey, but what an amazing life he's having now! As awful as his illness was, his mom now knows enough about MRSA and dogs to teach a class. Because of Bud's experience, others have benefited. Of course Bud couldn't care less. He just wants to make sure the cookies keep coming and his roommate Daisy doesn't knock him over.
Hoppy, happy 2 years, Bud!
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
Hoppy Ampuversary Bud. Two years is a long time. I hope you have many more years & ampuversaries to celebrate.
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Hoppy ampuversary, sweet, sweet Bud... You and Dakota (and your peeps) helped me hold it together when my world was falling apart, and I will never forget the kindness and support I received from this community. We didn't celebrate Rio's date with the surgeon this year -- it's one of many days that I would rather put behind me in favor of remembering the days when she was happy and healthy and filled with such a zest for life. Although, the fear and heartbreak and defeat I felt that day is something I'd rather try and forget, I definitely will continue to celebrate the days when Shari and Angel and all the rest of you wonderful people came to be part of our life. I couldn't have made it through such a difficult time without the support and generosity of spirit that I received from the folks here at Tripawds. And for that, I'll always be grateful.
Rio's momma (forever)
 |
~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
Hoppy Hoppy Ampuversary Bud! You are such a survivor and a hero to so many. Keep on fighting and lovin' life my friend!!!
Micki, that is such a beautiful picture. Celebrating the good times is a great way to live.
It's really such an honor when folks come back to Tripawds after their Tripawd becomes an angel. To be there for newcomers and provide insight into what to expect both during the journey, and when it ends, is priceless. We are beyond grateful for your participating in this community. Thank you.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
DID SOMEBODY SAY RIBEYE??????
I'm pretty sure my dad left a tupperware with my name one it.....especially since it is my 2 year ammpuversary day!
Maybe I will share a taste with Daisy iffen she can behave herself (seriously who are we kidden!)
Anyway Thanks to everyone for raising their glasses, treats and all of their warm wishes!
Thank you Thank you
Your Pal,
Bud
ps... Jerry's mama, I am digging my laking it up photo!
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