Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi Finn and Casey! Thank you for the support. I'm seeing it's all going to be baby steps for a while. Literally and figuratively. Finn is such a big boy! He looks so sweet cuddling with his duck. We wish him a speedy recovery as well.
Hi Arktik and Arktik's human! He's a beautiful husky boy. Aspen has another day or so with the patch, but I think there will be a noticeable improvement when that comes off. The tramadol does seem to keep her a bit sleepy. Even if she isn't asleep, she's just laying here resting.
She hasn't had much energy to try walking on her own yet, but I will see what she does without the sling. Perhaps she'd have an easier time without it.
Lastnight was definitely better than the first. None of the dysphoria fits, just some frequent crying, which was expected. But an improvement nonetheless. Aspen has always been pretty talkative, so the drugs definitely make her even more vocal.
I do have a question for you though, since you're in pretty much the same situation with Arktik being a husky. Are you using a harness with him? If so, which one and how is it working out for you?
Thank you all for checking in on us, and for the advice and support.
I know for Ziva the meds were messing with her big time the first night and the first day. My Vet is awesome and gave me her cell number so I can call anytime. After day one she adjusted her meds as she felt we were giving her too much which made her whinny, and vocal.
Second night was much better, and second day as well. My Vet actually had me tweek her meds again for day three and I know this is not normal for most dogs but she is down to one tablet of Tramadol three times a day and her dose of Metacam once in the am.
Hopefully you guys can find that "magic" cocktail for your fur baby and smooth things out. Good thoughts and speedy recovery.
Hi Shane and Aspen!
It took a little while before Arktik personality came back because of all the pain meds. So don't get to worried about it for now, and just stay focus on the fact that even it is heart breaking to see them like this, it is better to see them a little bit sleepy and quiet for the first part.
The first 24-48hr he was pretty wobbly because of all the drugs (he had hydromorphone the first 24hr). So he was walking but not super solid. You should see an improvement pretty quickly, but if you are concern don't hesitate to discuss the meds with your vet. With the fentanyl patch, Gabapentin, and the metacam (the anti-inflammatory) he was pretty good to walk after the first 2 days.
As I mentioned Arktik was not a big fan of the sling (we tried only twice haha), it was just not working out for us. So most of the time we let him figure out how to get up (which he did fairly quickly when he was on the side where he still had a leg) but the issue was more when he was lying down on the side of the amputation (which unfortunately was his favorite side to lie down). So every time he was trying to get up on this side, he was panicking and crying. Probably more because he did not know how to more than the actual pain. So every time for the first week I helped him out on that side just by lifting him a little bit with his collar at the same time he was trying to get up.
The other times we would help him was when we were bringing him on the second floor for the night (in our room). We just pick him up in our arms (which he absolutely hated every time, and complained quite loudly about it!). But we knew about this as he never like being pick up his whole life.
I started using the harness on day 12 when his wound looked nice enough. I bought the Ruffwear Flagship, if you check on this website you can find it. It is other people here who recommended it. I am very happy with it so far. I believe the Ruffwear webmaster is also good.
The other thing that I have been using with or without the harness (pretty much since the beginning) is a shirt to cover his shaved skin to protect it from the sun. I was just worried that his pale skin that has never been exposed to the sun could burn. So it is just an old under armour shirt with a bit of stretch that I put on.
Here are few videos to show you after 14 days! I will come sooner than you think with Aspen. They are surprisingly resilient. We just have to ensure they don't injure themselves in the recovery process.
Patricia & Arktik
Here's the link for the harness
https://gear.tr......com/shop/
I made a mistake I meant I bought the Ruffwear Flagline .
Ohhhh myyyyy dooooog!! Lookat Artik go! He really looks like he has already mastered the art of three perfecrly!! His gait is effortless and fluid. Nice job!
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!
Hi Steve,
Thank you for the info on the meds. We have an appointment early Monday morning with her vet, so I will make sure to relay her experience and make sure we are on the right track.
Hi Arktik's mom, (is your name Patricia?)
This videos of Arktik are great! He handled the stairs so well. And he looks so handsome in shirt and harness.
Thank you for the recommendation on the Flagline . It is one of 3 that I was looking into. The fact that they don't have to step into it is nice, but it also seems to be the best option for hot weather, which is important where we are. It can reach up to 115 degrees in July and August (not that Aspen would be allowed out in that heat) She usually lounges in the air conditioning or jumps in the pool during the summer days.
You were totally right about the sling. We tried to get into the backyard to see if she'd go potty, and without the sling on, she was able to stand and hop across the yard to finally go. We have success!
Yes my name is Patricia 🙂
The fact that the harness has easy to reach clips to attach it is a big plus for me so yes, it is definitely very convenient. I believe (but I might be wrong) that the other one just has clips on one side so depending if it is on the right side it might work or not. And you are right it is very light and I don't believe it will be to hot for the weather. (I'm in Quebec Canada, we had snow last week (hopefully for the last time 😉 ..but we do get fairly hot summers 85-100 for July-august.)
Hi Shane! I purchased the Ruffwear Web Master for Griffin. Patricia is correct - it buckles on the left side so for right forelimb amputees, it works fine but left forelimb amputees would need to deal with maneuvering the right leg through the straps. The Web Master is definitely thick and would, in my opinion, not be comfortable on hot days, but it fits well and Griffin had no complaints while wearing it. I was looking to purchase a harness with a handle thinking that Griffin would need support moving around, getting into/out of the car, and walking up/down stairs. A few days ago, I went back to using our regular harness, the SENSE-ation, because Griffin wasn't accustomed to wearing a bulky harness and I never really used the handle on the Web Master. We live in an apartment building in NYC, so we use the elevator to go downstairs (except for 4 steps in the lobby) and Griffin doesn't require assistance going up the stairs. He gets into and out of the car easily. I anticipate needing to use the Web Master when we visit family who have internal stairs as Griffin has not yet mastered walking down a full flight and so having the harness with a handle will be useful, but other than that, our old harness is working just fine. I have photos and videos of Griffin wearing both the Web Master and his old SENSE-ation harness in the Griffin's Journey forum if you want to check them out in action. What was Aspen using prior to surgery? Is a new harness needed? I hope Aspen is doing well and I look forward to seeing photos/videos of her recovery! ~ Stacy
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
Thanks again for the recommendation Patricia. I placed an order for the Flagline , so I hope she likes it!
Hi Stacy, thank you for the info on the Web Master. That was the other harness I was considering! Due to the heat here, I opted to try out the Flagline though.
That's awesome that Griffin handles the stairs so well. Luckily, we don't have stairs to contend with where we are right now. I would still like to check out the videos of Griffin, so I will be sure to look them up.
Aspen doesn't really have any experience wearing a harness. I think I might have used one when she was a pup, but a lot of research I did back then suggested not using harnesses for huskies or malamutes, due to their natural tendency to want to pull. (I mean that's what they were bred for, so who can blame them?)
So I found that a martingale worked great for her and that's what we've been using for most of her life. It might take a bit of work getting her used to wearing a harness, but we'll get there.
Hi Shane! Griffin was also a puller, so I've used a front clip harness for most of his life (after I figured out that back clip harnesses made him pull more!). The Flagline sounds like it will work better for Aspen in terms of the weather. I'm curious what other Tripawd parents do in terms of leaving it on all the time or just when going outside. The Web Master was well padded, and definitely too bulky for Griffin's taste to wear indoors. And as I said, I haven't needed to use the handle much, which I why I reverted back to his old harness, although I intend to keep the Web Master for use when visiting family with indoor stairs to assist Griffin with going down. How is Aspen doing? Any photos or videos to share?!? ~ Stacy
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
UPDATE:
Aspen has been doing well. Her appetite seems to ebb and flow. She's drinking water pretty well though. She mostly whines at night and sleeps during the day, but so far her pain seems pretty well managed.
She's been able to lay on either side since Day 1, so I'm taking that as a good sign. She's able to get to the backyard on her own now and although it took a little while, she got up and peed without any assistance from me. Still hasn't pooped though.
Today we took a trip to the vet. She had her bandage removed and they said everything looked good and that it was healing nicely. I removed her Fentanyl patch when we got home, so hopefully things don't go sideways on us when it finally wears off.
Her wound seems to be getting itchy today. I have a t shirt on her but have had to physically restrain her leg a few times from scratching at the stitches. Guess I'll have to sleep with one eye open tonight.
All in all, things are looking better by the day. She seems to be getting stronger and it's getting easier for her to stand and balance on her own. And she's able to hop around better every day.
Thanks for checking in on us!
Hi Stacy,
I actually didn't even know about "No-pull harnesses" until a few days ago! Im not sure if she'll be wearing it all the time inside. She has designated the love seat in the living room as "hers", so if she struggles to get up and down from there, I may leave it on so I can assist. The handle is one of the main reasons I wanted a harness for her. Otherwise it'd mostly be for in and out of the car/walks.
I've been taking pictures along the way of her, but I have yet to set up a way to post on here. I will get working on that!
For Arktik I did train in to use a harness just when dog sledding or ski johring (he knows when he is allowed to pull or not). But most of the time I always just used his collar. So when I started using the ruffwear harness to help him out it was definitely a new thing but he got used to it super quickly. I think he realized that it was helpful.
Also now when I walk him, I usually put the leash on the harness and he did adapt to it super easily. I just find it very convenient.
Hi Shane. I set up a blog on Tripawds just to house my photos. One important thing I learned about uploading photos to a Tripawd blog is to resize them to the smallest (0.25 MP) version before uploading to save space in your blog. Once you post them to your blog, right click on the photo to copy the image address and then just paste into your forum post. Good luck! ~ Stacy
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
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