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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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Schofield, WI
Member Since:
13 August 2015
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20 June 2017 - 10:17 am
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Great update!  Glad she's a eating, drinking and figuring out her mobility.  Such a beautiful smoochable face she's got!  Do keep an eye on her incision though.  The last thing you want her doing is licking it when she's not being monitored.  Although she may well be like Sally's Hannah and never mess with it I think as it starts to heal it it itches and pulls and most can't leave it alone.  A lot of people here would use boxer shorts for rear amp and t shirts for front ampers if they weren't using the cones.  Sounds like things are moving along splendidly!  Great job guys!  Keep us posted!

Member Since:
15 June 2017
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21 June 2017 - 8:12 am
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Things seem to keep progressing well.  During this morning's lay in the grass she hopped up and yelled at the garbage truck!

She's getting there.  We're starting to see our old Beast.  She is much more attentive and wanting to see what's going on. She is still very excited about her chicken meals.  Hopefully we'll be able to convince her that dry kibble is still tasty...  Not so much worried about the food intake at this point but slightly concerned about the output.  No poo yet.  I'm sure it's just the pain killers locking her up and we'll have a hefty load to deal with shortly. 

I think we're doing a great job of showing her our caring sides and hiding the stress sides.  Much easier to do now that the stress is waning.  Thanks for the advice and support.  

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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21 June 2017 - 8:35 am
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Get that garbage truck Beast Ann!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Good job!!! 🙂

Yeah, poop can take many days. You might try a tavlespoon of pure, natural pumpkin puree (no added spices, etc). I think some have had good luck with a bit of olive oil.

Glad to hear things are settling down and you CAN see progress:-)

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

Schofield, WI
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13 August 2015
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21 June 2017 - 8:36 am
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It can take a while to get poo.  A lot of us added some pumpkin a tablespoon or two to help things get moving.  The pure pumpkin purée in the can NOT the pumpkin pie mix in the can.  Most dogs love it.  Adds some fiber and helps sooth is he intenstinal tract. 😀 

On The Road


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24 September 2009
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21 June 2017 - 8:45 am
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Now THAT is a good sign! Bet the garbage man is back on his game 😉
You ARE doing a great job! Seriously, you have a really good attitude and I like that you're not worried about the poo. There's no reason, she'll get regular soon. I agree the pumpkin mix helps. Here's a dog-specific pumpkin mix we wrote about in the Tripawds Nutrition blog :

http://nutritio.....cats-dogs/

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

On The Road


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21 June 2017 - 8:45 am
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Now THAT is a good sign! Bet the garbage man is back on his game 😉
You ARE doing a great job! Seriously, you have a really good attitude and I like that you're not worried about the poo. There's no reason, she'll get regular soon. I agree the pumpkin mix helps. Here's a dog-specific pumpkin mix we wrote about in the Tripawds Nutrition blog :

http://nutritio.....cats-dogs/

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

Member Since:
17 June 2017
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21 June 2017 - 2:50 pm
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So glad things are going well! Keep us updated!

Member Since:
14 February 2016
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22 June 2017 - 5:07 pm
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You'll get back to kibble eventually.  I think the pain meds mess with their appetites.

Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016.  Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016.  Lung mets August 25, 2016.  Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016.   Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.  

Wherever they are, they are together.

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15 June 2017
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27 June 2017 - 2:48 pm
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All seems to be going well.  We're still waiting to hear from the oncologist on our vaccination schedule.  

This weekend the whole family made a trip across the state to visit some extended family.  Beast Ann seemed to be a little off her game but handled it as well as can be expected.  Her incision became a little puffy and red which we are guessing is a seroma .  It is not weeping or smelling and she does not seem to be in any additional pain.  It's definitely settled down in the past couple of days.  We're keeping an eye on it and will consult either MU or our usual vet when the staples are removed later this week.

She is pooping regularly and still only interested in home-cooked meals.  We tapered off and stopped the Tramadol completely yesterday morning. We're still giving the Gabapentin and finishing the antibiotics.  We will most likely cut the Gabapentin soon as she seems to be in good spirits.  Hopefully getting the meds out of her will turn her appetite around and improve her interest in her usual food.  We are keeping her food and water on an elevated table ~13" off the ground, just high enough for her to dip her head down a bit to eat and drink.  Does this seem like a good idea?  What has worked for other large breeds out there?

She pops up every time we walk in the door and has no issues with the couple of steps to get into the yard, although we are still controlling her access.  She's definitely itching to get back to her usual spot on the sofa!  It's so great when you start to see the flashes of her usual puppy-self.  Once she gets the whole body wag down I will know we're at 100%. 

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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27 June 2017 - 4:05 pm
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Beast Ann seems to be right where she needs to be recovery wise. Nope, she's not 100% yet and she's still just wanting home cooked food and doese feel like running a marsthon...yep, sounds pretty "normal" at this point in recovery.! 🙂

And YAAAAAAAAAY FOR. poopicon_png

There was actually a post here recently avout measurements for food bowl heights based on height of dogs. Hopefullya techie can find it!

Yeah, sounds like she had a little fluid pocket form. Sometimes an extra vit of activity, even though it's not much at all, can make them form fairly auicke, and disappear pretty wuickky.

You're doing an EXCELLENT job of caring for Beast Ann and her sparkle WILL come back! I think I alreaw mentioned it took me avout three weeks before I started to see Happy Hannah's sparkle start to come bzck. And once the little sparkling routines started coming back, then they came back fairly quickly 🙂

Hugs to that sweet girl! 🙂

Hugs to all!

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

On The Road


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24 September 2009
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27 June 2017 - 5:11 pm
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beastann said
We are keeping her food and water on an elevated table ~13" off the ground, just high enough for her to dip her head down a bit to eat and drink.  Does this seem like a good idea? 

Yes! clap

How to Measure Raised Pet Food Bowls, and Why

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

Member Since:
15 June 2017
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29 June 2017 - 2:50 pm
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She's accepting kibble now as long as it is hand fed to her.  She can be a brat but she's worth it.  We had an appointment with MU to get her appetite and pain meds looked into while also getting her staples removed.  Since she's eating kibble we've opted to cancel that visit and just visit our local vet to get the staples removed.  Will make it back out to MU plenty once the vaccine is ready. 

So we've been using pillows and blankets on the sofas to act as deterrents to keep her from hopping up.  After all these years, she's still working on figuring out that she can simply move them...  Well, today someone forgot to replace one of the blankets on the sofa and sure enough Beast was back in her usual seat by the window big-grin.  I didn't have the heart to tell her to get down and I think she's probably good for full activity anyways since it has been 13 days.  We've cut out the pain meds entirely and think she is doing alright.  No whining or yelping and content with hopping up with a slight nudge or poke.

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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29 June 2017 - 4:32 pm
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YAAAAAAAAAY FOR OWNING THE COUCH AGAIN BEAST ANN!! As large as you are, it can't take much effort anyway!

YAAAAAAAAAY FOR EATING REGULAR KIBBLE.....and if being hand fed is what it takes, so be it!! There does seem to be something magical about dogs being ha d fed when they are recovering.:-)

Sou ds like just going back to your regular Vet for staple removal is just fine.

GREAT UPDATE! KEEP EM COMING!! 🙂

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!

Member Since:
14 February 2016
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29
29 June 2017 - 5:48 pm
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The day Otis got his staples out I took all the pillows off the couch.  He was up there in an instant and so happy.  Fortunately, for the bigger dogs it's more a step than a jump to get up and down.  

Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016.  Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016.  Lung mets August 25, 2016.  Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016.   Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.  

Wherever they are, they are together.

Member Since:
15 June 2017
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30
17 July 2017 - 9:01 am
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Update - Sorry it's been too long.  Just been filtering out the minor ups and downs over the last few weeks.  Beast Ann finally started enjoying her kibble again and no longer requires to be hand fed.  She may have overeaten a bit yesterday but that is OK.  She is making up for some lost meals.  

She's doing just about everything she used to but we're still limiting her to the first floor of the house.  It is amazing how after 7 years she is finally realizing that she has just a bit of control over her back legs.  She always used to be a bit of a loose cannon with her back half.  She is so much more graceful on stairs than she ever was before.  Still lacks confidence going down at times but once she is going she is going. 

As for treatments, we have not had our first vaccine yet as the cancer was taking a bit of time to develop.  After two weeks they decided to restart with a second sample to see if they would get better progress.  At three weeks, which is when the vaccines are typically ready, they started warming us up to other treatment options so that we do not lose our window.  We opted to hold off another week because we feel this gives Beast Ann the best fighting chance.  On Thursday afternoon we got the great news that they were getting the progress that they wanted to see and we should have a vaccine this week!  Yay!  We feel it is also good that she has had a bit more time to get healthy before getting her back in for some more treatments. 

Thanks for following.

Beast Ann relaxingImage Enlarger

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