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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Hi there. This is my first post. I adopted a small shih-tzu cross July 2012 who had a left rear leg amputated due to some unknown tragedy. No info was given to me. I'm a physio and so I think about biomechanics and the issues she might have, but there have been some things come up that I hadn't foreseen. I have always seen, maybe rarely, but a 3 legged dog in the park who is really pretty hardy. They are a little bigger, very agile and doing all sorts of things. Maggie, my little tripawd, is not as agile as that. She doesn't walk well on stones and will definitely re-route around tree debris. Going to a park is impossible. Only pavement and flat grass works well. I don't know if I should try some shoes to give her some more stability and if so, should I try them on all 3 feet or just the back one? Has anyone tried this with a small tripawd? All the postings I see are all about bigger tripawds and they just seem more capable. Also, I use a harness with her. She did come with some issues, mostly trust issues. She has made alot of progress learning to trust us and know that this is her furever home, but there is still alot of work to be done. I feel like the ring and the back of her harness, unless I hold the leash up and away from her back, will constantly bang into her spine due to her hopping gait. Can someone suggest a harness that works well for a hopping dog? Thanks and I appreciate all the advice. I have alot to learn that I hadn't thought about before. Cathy
cat06 said
This is my first post.
Welcome! Your future forum posts will not require moderation.
Are you a human physical therapist or canine rehab specialist? Either way, you should appreciate professional rehab and exercise tips in the new Tripawds e-book, Loving Life On Three Legs now available in the Tripawds Library. The vast majority of small dogs we see here recover quickly and adapt well to the three legged life. Unstable surface work and core strengthening are some of the best exercise to begin with to help Maggie regain her confidence and improve mobility.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
It could be that it's not a mobility issue b/c of her size, but rather b/c of her confidence levels and muscle imbalances/weaknesses that have built up over time. A year of compensating for her missing leg, and a year of avoiding things, can build up bad habits.
Have you tried PT with her? It might be a good way to not only start to correct some of those habits and give her increased confidence, mobility, and musculature, but also a good bonding experience and help build trust between the two of you.
"Let us think the unthinkable, let us do the undoable, let us prepare to grapple with the ineffable itself, and see if we may not eff it after all."
-Douglas Adams, Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency
"May I recommend serenity to you? A life that is burdened with expectations is a heavy life. Its fruit is sorrow and disappointment. Learn to be one with the joy of the moment."
-Douglas Adams, The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul
my 13 lb mutt had her LRear leg amputated 2 yrs ago. She's adapted well, digging, running & jumping, altho not as high of jumps as she use to do. We have hardwood floors & that gave her problems initially. I tried the "boots" but they didn't fit/too lg. She's ok w/ the floors now, altho if running too much & trying to "dance" & swirl like she use to, she'll take a sprawl, which makes me nervous. She goes up & down steps ok, but sometimes it seems she has to think about it first. But she's 10 yrs old & has some slight cataracts so that could be causing some depth perception issues. There's a flight of stairs inside that she rarely goes up now, altho if everyone's up there she will. Sometimes she seems a bit uncomfortable in some positions which I think is due to the amputation, but otherwise, not a huge problem.
I previously had a dog w/ high stress due to previous living conditions & it was years before she became comfortable in some settings/situations. (ie: she was extremely fearful of men & water) I gave her small doses of exposure w/ comforting. Don't know if your situation is a physical discomfort or related to "memories" but continuous exposure of short duration could help.
Maggie's luck changed for the better the day yo adopted her!
It mist be difficult not long the cause or how long she's been a tripawd. It very well could be that she never had the proper support when she first became a tripawd a d never fully developed the right muscles I. the right way as mmrocker said.
I'm sure the nails, the paws, etc. have all been thoroughly checked out. Does she do any better WITHOUT the harness? Just throwing anything out there I can think of! I'm sure you've already checked for pulled muscles, punched nerves, etc
Wishing you the very best and hopefully you can find some answers.
Sally and Happy Hannah
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!
Thanks everyone for all those helpful ideas. It makes me feel better knowing other people have little tripawds that are doing most everything they want to. I'm sure some of these issues are either from her past memories, not having the right support,ect. Considering she has been with us for almost a year now and she has become more trusting with us, I was thinking about trying some swimming rehab with her. She doesn't particularly like the water, but it might be another fear that would be good for her to work on and like it was said earlier, things like this would be great bonding time for us. It's good to know there are other little 3 legged's running around in the parks without boots. It makes me think more and more that it really isn't as much a physical limitation as it is an emotional one. I'll keep broadening her boundaries. Thanks again for the posts! Cathy and Maggie
We have a chihuahua tri (missing front left). He is hesitant with new hard surfaces if we go someplace new. We tried boots, but he wouldn't walk at all then. He always works it out though. I have no idea about harnesses though. We use a regular collar. I found this site while I was looking for some kind of jacket that will work for him without getting twisted around.
He is very capable little guy though.He jumps off the couch, the beds, and our side porch. He goes down to the barn when we go to take care of the chickens. If we go to a street festival event, he goes on his leash. He will get tired and a little overwhelmed by the crowd after a while. I just pick him up for a bit and put him back down when my arm gets tired. He goes out with the big dogs (weimaraner and german shepherd) when they go out, and will run all over the 2 acre area they have access to. I think not babying him too much has really helped him be a confident dog. He's 8 and has been a tri for 7 years. Good luck! Patience will pay off.
zprface said
...He jumps off the couch, the beds, and our side porch.
Be careful with all that jumping, especially jumping down with only one front leg.
Rehab vets we have interviewed described how the extra weight absorbed on remaining limbs causes hairline bone fractures over time, and on more than one occasion we have heard from members reporting injuries caused by jumping.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
zprface said ...He jumps off the couch, the beds, and our side porch.
Be careful with all that jumping, especially jumping down with only one front leg. Rehab vets we have interviewed described how the extra weight absorbed on remaining limbs causes hairline bone fractures over time, and on more than one occasion we have heard from members reporting injuries caused by jumping.
Oh, it is not encouraged. Stopping him is the trick! The porch is only about 18", and he jumps into the nice fluffy weeds . The steps are 4 feet away. and there are only 2! As far as the couch goes, if I'm going to get up and be away for a while, I put him down on the floor. It's when I just walk across the room and I'm coming right back, that he decides he must follow me. The bed is another story. He's jumped off of there twice. To be honest, I never, ever expected he would do that something like that. The first time he did it, I didn't see him do it. I had just walked into the kitchen, and I heard him cruising down the hall. I thought I must have been wrong about where he had been. I sat him up on the bed, and sat on the couch across from the bed. There is a really fluffy large dog bed about 2 feet from the bed. He looked over at me and then just LAUNCHED himself off the bed and landed like a belly flop on the dog bed! He looked like a flying squirrel. He ran down the hall headed for the kitchen, like it was nothing! He's not allowed up there alone EVER anymore! Never ever! I don't think he has any idea that he isn't big and 4 legged.
Your last post made me laugh!
My little pug Maggie was a rear amp who had issues going up, but had no fear going down. I made little stairs for the bed and couch, she wouldn't try to get up them, and she avoided them going down (stubborn pug!). I too had to put her down from the furniture to keep her from jumping down on her own.
I love the flying squirrel image . He must make you laugh all the time.
Karen
1 Guest(s)