Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello 🙂
I would like to ask if anyone has had similar situation:
I am the owner of Brita, who became tripod on 16.10. due to the accident she had in summer. The first night when we came from the vet after the surgery, she ate her food, went to her bed and slept through out the whole night.
Since the second night, she started to jump on my bed, with her front paw only (her front left was amputated). This is not completely new behaviour, she does this when there is storm and she is scared, but that is the only case. First I thought she was in pain, but now I am not sure. Her stitches are also out. Since the second night, she jumps on the bed every night multiple times. It doesn't seem that she would like to jump to the bed completely, she just puts her paw on the edge and waits for my reaction, sometimes she licks my face. She does this only during the night.
Yesterday I told her to jump to the bed completely, to see if she wants to stay with me in the bed (she has never slept in my bed nor couch, not because I am opposed to it, she is just not interested). So she jumped to the bed, lied down for a minute and jumped down. I asked the vet what she thinks and her opinion was that her bed was not comfy and Brita was looking for better option.
To get her orthopaedic bed was my plan anyway, however, in the meantime, I would like to find out how to stop her jumping. I haven't slept in two weeks due to this and I really need my sleep since I am a single owner and it can all be overwhelming.
Do you have any ideas?
Thank you for reading
Hi Veronika, welcome to you and Brita! I'm sorry she had to join our club but it sounds like she is doing so well otherwise.
She sounds like she may be having some anxiety, but the question is, why? Is it pain related? Or something that's bothering her in the house? What has changed in your home, if anything?
Does she show any pain signals , like licking or excessive grooming? Is she reluctant to go up or down stairs? Go on walks?
Keeping her off the bed is something we do recommend unless there are pet stairs you can train her to use. Jumping down on that one front leg puts a lot of stress on her wrist joint so you really want to minimize that kind of activity. Good job!
Hi,
thank you so much for making the time to respond, I appreciate it.
The truth is that we moved 2.5 weeks prior to the surgery to the new flat. However, Brita seemed to settle well. This jumping only started second night PO. Last night when she was jumping, her ears were up and I was trying to find out if there is any strange noise, but I couldnt hear anything. There is a dog living in the flat above us who sometimes barks, but she got used to it and doesn’t react (she is scared of other dogs, only when she sees them).
I keep her routine since she appreciates it and I try to give her some mental stimulation througout the day as well (finding hidden treats, feeding from the sniff mat) and she loves walking and sniffing. She is excited to go for walks from day one post op.
I also didn’t recognize any pain signals
.
I will keep in mind that jumping down should be avoided. This should be easy since getting to the bed is not what she wants.
So now when I am thinking about it, it could be anxiety from some noise she hears at night, and started to bother her after the surgery?
Anyway, thank you for brainstorming! Also forgot to mention in case it is relevant: she is german shepherd mix, rescued, 5.5 years old.
You are so welcome! Yes I'm wondering if the new location is really the issue? Maybe there is something going on at night that she is hearing? Have you tried putting white noise or calming music on your phone or table as a soundtrack to see if it helps?
Hi and welcome.
I've had some experience with anxiety and behavior issues with my pups and it does sound like some type of anxiety. Even though she settled well in the new flat before surgery there have been a lot of changes for her in a short amount of time.
And remember dogs have much better hearing than we do and can hear pitches we can not. They also can smell things we can not so there may be some sound or smell that is getting to her.
And an 'out there' thought... could the neighbors be using a device to get their dog not to bark? When I adopted my last pup she was quite the barker and she didn't listen to me. An acquaintance showed me a device that emits a sound that only dogs can hear and is supposed to surprise the dog and break the bark cycle. I know it works because their dog would look puzzled when the button was pushed but we could not hear it. I never used it- I relied on training.
It sounds like she is doing well otherwise!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi,
thank you for sharing your thoughts! I think I cracked it - there is noise from the heating system which she doesn't like. I guess people in the building started to use it just at the same time as surgery happened.
She had also specific noises she didn't like in the previous flat. I am glad it is not connected to anything post surgery, like pain, now I need to find a way how to make her not scared.
'Been following your posts and the replies. I didn't have any additionalminsight I could offer beyond what Karen and Jerry shared.
So glad their insight helped you to pinpoint the probable cause. I definately agree also that the move, the surgery, all the adjustments, could add to some uncertainty in her psyche. I'm sure you had some of the same emotions with everything going on from a hooman perspective 😉
Let us know what you come up with as far as trying to block out that noise. Maybe you could play sone soothing music??
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!
Oooooh good job Detective! That's pretty smart thinking especially considering her previous behavior, and really makes sense. Dogs' hearing is sooooo sensitive. They hear things way differently than we do (it makes me crazy when I see them at loud events and concerts!). It's our job to be sensitive to their incredible ears.
You can probably start to desensitize her to the noises by adding some calming music to see if that helps distract her, as well as not making a big deal out of her reaction when she gets nervous. Let us know how it goes.
Hello,rn rnI thought I would give you the update - a few days before I posted this, Brita decided she liked the bathroom the most for the place for her resting (she was sleeping on the bathroom carpet). I realised that her sleeping there during the night would actually solve the problem, since there is no heating system. I moved her bed there and she sleeps there every night now.rnI don´t close the door, she is free to move, it is her choice :)rnThank you for helping me to realise it is connected to the anxiety!rnIt is actually hard to cover the noise, the music would have to be on 24/7. I tried to give her the treat whenever I heard the noise telling her it was okey, but she didn´t want the treat - she just left to the bathroom.rn rnI am happy to see her satisfied and for me having my sleep back
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