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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When your dog joins the Tripawd community, one of the most helpful things you can do is ensure that the floors in your home are slip-proof. Even if you are just able to create a path throughout the house for your Tripawd to follow, this will give your pup tremendous confidence with his new body structure.
When I became a Tripawd, one of the first things my pawrents did for our home was to cover the hardwood floors with pre-made carpet floor runners. They covered our hallways and my favorite parts of the house. But this wasn't cheap, and since then they've discovered other ways in which pawrents can affordably slip-proof floors.
Here are just a few recommendations:
Interlocking Child-Friendly Floor Mats
12" x 12" x 3/8" thick puzzle pieces.
2' x 2' Interlocking Tiles. 5/8" thick. Corners and Border pieces available for a finished look.
Non-Skid Eco Friendly Floor Coatings
Add an eco-friendly, safe clear coat to your concerete, tile or wood floors.
Also, check out "No Skidding, Floor Safety Products."
And visit HomeExpo.com for a directory of anti-slip flooring companies.
Do you have a favorite no-slip floor solution for your three legged dog? If so, please share it below in our Comments section or in this Discussion Forum Topic.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I have a couple ideas that worked for Maggie.
When she first had her amp I had wood laminate floors in the kitchen and dining area. I had a couple of rugs, but for a small dog there was lots of space in between.
This one is probably only practical for small or medium dogs: I used the non-skid padding you buy to go under rugs. It is pretty cheap and you can cut it into what ever size you need. I actually made trails all over the rooms for Mag because she was so tentative on the floor. She diligently followed the trails when ever she traversed the kitchen or dining room. When she got stronger and got her balance back I was able to get rid of the trails. I have a couple of extra rugs in the kitchen, and now she goes from rug to rug. (I also replaced the laminate with tile, that was for me not her though).
Last fall Mag started slipping a lot again on the tile floor. Actually that is what led me to this site- I was looking for some 3 legged dog non skid ideas. What solved the problem this time was just some grooming. I now trim the fur around her toes and pads, and use Musher's Secret
Out back I have a deck I built out of Timber Teck- one of those ' fake wood' materials. Mag does OK on it, but was slipping coming up the one stair on each end. I built the stairs for her- extra wide and only about 6″ high. I got a couple of cheap outdoor rugs (about $2.50 each) and put them on the stairs. She will not come up the stair unless she sees her rug there.
Karen
Here's my setup for Comet I glue gunned the corners of throw rugs on the ceramic tile:
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.
We have carpet runners in the kitchen and down the hallway to help Trouble on our tile floor. She pretty much sticks to her pathway. It isn't the prettiest solution, but it's worth it for her to be able to confidently move about the house.
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.
Dash has a hard time standing up in the bathtub when I give him a bath. I started out just using a towel on the bottom of the tub, but got tired of wringing out the water from the towel afterward and also having that awful mildew smell if I didn't wash it right away. We went to Walmart and bought a really cheap rubber bathtub mat (we got the type with suction cups on the bottom to help it stay put) and that works perfectly for him. He used to get anxious about hopping into the tub before because he knew he would slip, but now that he's used to the mat being there he jumps right in.
Oh you guys, thank you for the pawesome ideas! You're all so right...not pretty solutions, but hey, aren't we worth it? 😉
And Dash, I didn't even THINK of the bathtub idea, since my pawrents always gave me a bath outside with the hose (plugged into the laundry sink of course, so I have warm water!). But I can't imagine being so eager to get a bath...Dash, are you serious? You jump right in? Wow! Whata good dog you are!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I have a lot of hardwood floors in my home so what i did was buy a few yoga mats and put them in the high traffic places for my dog. They can be hosed off and work pretty well, not too expensive, I only had to buy a few
My dog had her amputation just over 2 weeks ago. The first week was pretty rough, but she is doing great now. However, we have hard wood floors that make it difficult for her to get around without slipping. We have placed an interesting array of rugs and mats throughout our house, but am wondering if anyone has a good product that she can wear on her foot to better grip the floor. I would appreciate any suggestions.
Hello and welcome.
Besides the ideas in this thread you might look through The Gear Blog, here are search results for 'traction' under the review section there.
Also- please consider starting a separate thread to introduce yourself and your girl!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Glue gunning the carpets down. Oooooo.... that's one I haven't tried. Cora is amazing at kicking up the throw rugs. It's one of her special gifts, just like getting into a water bowl... any water bowl, no matter how well it's defended.
blackdogcompanion said
Glue gunning the carpets down...
Another option to avoid gluing carpets to the floors is to apply silicone and let it harden, to create no-slip rugs as described in this Tripawds Gear blog post...
Make These Affordable DIY No-Slip Tripawd Traction Rugs
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
These are all such helpful ideas. My 8-year old boxer mix, Roman, is in his first week of recovery from amputation surgery and we are lucky enough to be recovering in a friend's basement that has carpet. Roman and I live in a 2nd floor condo that has luxury vinyl tile floors and now that I've gotten through those rough first few days (although I'm not so naive as to not expect more challenges), I'm starting to think ahead to bringing Roman home and I'm worried about those slippery floors. I'm going to look into the interlocking floor mats or carpet tiles. I was also interested in the carpet runners but I can only find the ones big enough for stairs, not that would cover an entire flooring area.
My main question is: should I expect to have these floor mats covering the floor for the rest of Roman's life, or are these just precautions for while he's learning to get around post-surgery? Of course I will do whatever is needed to make him more comfortable, I'm just wondering what to expect. Thank you!
Hi Sylvia welcome! I'm sorry Roman lost his leg. Yes unfortunately it's to his benefit to have some type of traction available indefinitely. We have LVP floors and they can be pretty slippery. A series of 6' long carpet runners placed in paths where he walks will be helpful, you don't have to cover up your floors completed. Most dogs figure out that it's helpful to walk on carpeted areas instead of slippery ones. Usually Costco and Walmart have those long runners.
What are your stairs like on the second floor? Do you have an elevator he can use to get into your place?
Please consider starting a new topic in this forum so we can help you through recovery and beyond.
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