Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Many of you know, Trouble celebrates her 20 month ampuversary today. The poor old girl has had a couple of scares in the last month, but has been doing well since beginning the Rimadyl. I have her leveled off to a minimal dose - 50mg every other day. The off day I can see a little differnce and if it gets more prominent, I'll bite the bullet and give it to her daily. She isn't due for bloodwork until early September, so I won't know until then if the liver enzymes are climbing.
She is beginning to slow down - an age thing. She has cut her parameter check down to 1/2 the yard and she normally takes a rest about 1/2 way. She enjoys being out, so she and I spend some time each evening after dinner in the fresh air - even when it's hot out. She really likes not having Duke with us!
Her diet is going so well. She absolutely loves it, and it really isn't so difficult for me. It stresses me a bit about having to kennel her, but we'll just address that when the time comes. We have a trip to New Orleans planned mid September, and I'm hoping to find someone for her to stay with before then. She loves the kennel and they treat her well, but I hate leaving her to be on a hard floor with her poor old sore bones and joints.
I've ordered some Missing Link (vegetarian) since her food doesn't have all the added supplements of kibble. I'm hoping it gives her a little boost. It should be here later this week.
I'm thankful each month I am able to sit down and write this update. It is so much more than I ever expected when we began this journey. Go, my friends and celebrate the time you have with your fur children. Trouble is curled up in bed next to me. (Duke on the other hand is running through the house barking at the thunder!)
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.
YEA!!! Way to go Trouble!!! You are leading the way and we fellow November Five members are so very happy of your success. Be sure to have your Mom provide you with the usual ampuversary compliment, extra hugs, extra playtime, special treats and ICE CREAM. Dad's green beans are comming in from the garden so they will be remembering you. Mom and Dad also went to Baskin and Robbins for some soft serve cones - just like I had for my one year ampuversary. Same Spot - Same Cones.
Keep on Showing the way.
Spirit Cherry
Awww Trouble, what a lucky girl you are and what a lucky mom you have to have you curled up in bed with her! But tell that Duke he's an idiot!
Spirit Ruthie
 Hip Hip Hooray Trouble!!! Wow 20 months, that is so awesome and so are you. What an inspiration you are for us. I am going to celebrate today with Tasha even more than I usually do in your honor Trouble. Hope you had a wonderful celebration.
Â
 Jo Ann & Tasha
Tasha 8 years old, First cancer diagnosis 6/26/09, Last cancer diagnosis 9/26/09, Amputation 10/01/09, Loving our girl moment by moment.
Tasha lost her battle and became my Angel on May 4 2011. Forever in my heart….
Yea Trouble !!!
And, yea Shanna !!!
Big hugs to you and your girl!
It does give me so much hope when I see kids like Trouble going strong.
I can't remember if I told you before about this chondrition/gloucosomine in ground alfalfa for arthitis. It's actually a horse mix, but the alfalfa also good for arthitis and for stomach issues. We first started using this with our first cattledog who developed crippling arthritis (she was a major tennis ball addict....running and lots and lots of high jumping) anyway, we mix a half teaspoon of the dry mix in with a spoonful of yogurt and yum yum yummy! You do that for the first week or so, then just once a day.....
Not only does it work well, but there are NO BAD side effects!Â
It was an absolute miracle for our Jesse (cattledog)...after a couple weeks, she was back to her ol self, jumping jumping jumping and running running running!
We just got some for Kona, now that she's 9yrs and to fend off arthitis issues, especially with the tripawd aspect now.
I think we got it from "Fellers" horse supply online.
I've got to check.
Â
Anyway, I digress, YIPPEEEEEEÂ TROUBLE !!!
                hugs,
          Denise
Kona turned 9yrs on April 16, 2010.
Kona was diagnosed Memorial Weekend 2010 with osteosarcoma.
Right rear leg amputated on June 4th. First chemo June 18th 2010
Second chemo July 9th, 2010Â Â Â Â Â Third and final (yea !!!) chemo July 30th, 2010
ONE TOUGH GIRL this Australian Cattledog !
***Kona's journey/fight ended late in the evening of December 22, 2010***
                               We Love you so much Kona….always  Â
  Bella 9yrs, albino lab/aussie shep/pit?(abandoned in mts as a puppy) deaf & blind (from birth) in one eye limited vision in other.(laid back, ok lazy 73 lbs)
Cotton, 5yrs, albino hound/terrier of somesort/???(abandoned in mts as a puppy) deaf & blind in one eye(from birth), excellent vision in seeing eye. (ball addict…destroyer of Kong balls…yes,etc), high energy 55lbs knots of muscle)
Kona Kai's pup brother and sister as well as her buddy and playmate cat, Shaymous 12yrs (like Seamus), miss her terribly.
Congrats to you and Trouble, Shanna! What a dog! What a good fight she's putting in on that damn "C" word!
Wahooo!
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Oh Shanna, what a wonderful post, thank you for giving so many people hope and encouragement. Trouble is all that we want our Tripawds to be....hoppy, loving life and kicking cancer's butt! Congratulations on another milestone!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hey Trouble, wooo hoo! I'm so hoppy for you.
I stuck a green bean up my nose in your honor!
Wyatt Ray Dawg . . . The Tripawds Leg-A-Cy Continues!
Read all about my adventures at my Tripawds Blog
Ahhh, Wyatt,
You are a boy with many talents !!!
hahahaa
Now, if you can only make it come out the other nostril!!!
Kona turned 9yrs on April 16, 2010.
Kona was diagnosed Memorial Weekend 2010 with osteosarcoma.
Right rear leg amputated on June 4th. First chemo June 18th 2010
Second chemo July 9th, 2010Â Â Â Â Â Third and final (yea !!!) chemo July 30th, 2010
ONE TOUGH GIRL this Australian Cattledog !
***Kona's journey/fight ended late in the evening of December 22, 2010***
                               We Love you so much Kona….always  Â
  Bella 9yrs, albino lab/aussie shep/pit?(abandoned in mts as a puppy) deaf & blind (from birth) in one eye limited vision in other.(laid back, ok lazy 73 lbs)
Cotton, 5yrs, albino hound/terrier of somesort/???(abandoned in mts as a puppy) deaf & blind in one eye(from birth), excellent vision in seeing eye. (ball addict…destroyer of Kong balls…yes,etc), high energy 55lbs knots of muscle)
Kona Kai's pup brother and sister as well as her buddy and playmate cat, Shaymous 12yrs (like Seamus), miss her terribly.
Congrats! It is dogs like you who give us newbies some encouragement!!!! I LOVE reading posts like this.
As for supplements, we feed RAW, so we have to supplement some things. As my dogs are Great Danes, they have been on hip supplements for years, Alexander since he was a wee pup. A product I have fallen in love with is called "Phytoflex" from naturesfarmacy.com It is all natural, has glucosamine, chondriton, msm, sea kelp, probiotics and lots of other good stuff. My 9 year old Dane gets it every day and she can still hop like a bunny. It is engineered toward dogs with hip issues OR older dogs. They have some other wonderful products, but this is my favorite. It is a powder you sprinkle over their food, mine lick all of it up!
Again, I love to hear these wonderful posts. Alexander goes into the vets office in 7 hours...can you tell I'm nervous? I'm still up!
Keep up with the great work and the awesome posts!
Shannon
Alexander The Great Dane
Suspected Osteosarcoma July 12
Diagnosed Officially 7/16/2010
Amputated 7/27/2010
Became Spirit Xander 2/20/2011
HAHAHA! Sorry Trouble, I can't get past the green bean up the nose to congratulate you!
Â
I'm over it! Congratulations Trouble!Â
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.
Congratulations Trouble!! You and your mom are both pawsome! Sadie and her sister will get a special treat in your honor. While I was on vacation in Alaska, I bought these salmon treats and the girls are crazy about them. Keep it up Trouble!
Hugs and sloppy Sadie kisses,
Sadie & Lisa
Sadie is my 9yr old Rott/Shepherd mix. Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right scapula 1/28/10. Our brave girl had her amputation 2/13/10 and her last chemotherapy on 6/6/10. Unfortunately, a tumor appeared in her back right leg and on 10/7/2010 Sadie's earthly journey came to an end. On 10/24/2010 we adopted Ranger, a handsome Rott/Lab mix tripawd (got hit by a car) I think Sadie sent him to us.
http://ranger.t.....pawds.com/
YAY Trouble !!!!! It is so great to read these posts every month. You and your Mum are an inspiration to all of us tripawd parents. You give us hope that our own tripawd pups might reach such amazing milestones. Keep up the good work 
Tai – 9 yr old lab. Diagnosed Osteosarcoma Dec 18/09. Front right leg amputated Dec 21/09. Started chemo Jan 7/10. Lung mets discovered Sept 16/10. Valiant to the end on Oct 26/10 when cancer reappeared in a leg and we made the decision to set her free. Forever in my heart where not even cancer can take her from me.
Pat, yes there are still days when Duke is an idiot - we just live with it 😉
Wyatt Ray , bwhahaha! you EAT the beans, not snort them! (speaking of idiots - in a most loving way of course)
Denise, you did mention the alphafa once before, but quite frankly I had forgotten - would you PM me a link?
Shannon - you newbies are the reason I keep posting each milestone. This is a difficult journey, and the new folks need to know there IS hope. Not all our heros go the distance, and that breaks my heart, but there are the others that jus keep on tickin'. I never dreamed when we started our journey, age and arthritis would be Trouble's major health concern. And thank you for the Phytoflex info, I will have to check it out. Trouble is on a natural (non-shellfish) glucosamine/HA and when she first started taking it I could see a big difference, but now not so much. Keeping our paws crossed for you tomorrow, you will have such relief when this part is over and the healing begins.
Oh, and a very happy ampuversary to Queen Nova & mom Sue - our remaining November five fighters. You are in our thoughts so often.
And finally - to our spirit heros - you live in our hearts forever regardless of the length of time you spent with us. Peace be with you and your pawrents.
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.
Happy 20 month ampuversary Trouble!!! Hope you had an awesome celebration with lots of ice cream and other yummy treats!!
Angel Jake and Wolfie's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
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