Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Thanks, Jerry! I’ll be thinking about you guys tomorrow and hoping you get good news!
Hey Justin! Glad to hear Kota is doing so well. it sounds like our pups are similar in terms of temperament. Ellie has always been a "medium energy" dog and take her rest very seriously, haha. I worried about her being depressed as well and a couple things that I'm convinced helped some were giving her mental stimulation usually by giving her food in a variety of ways (I did a snuffle mat, a box in a box, pupsicles, and a couple other impulse purchases). She would get really engaged with all of them. I also took her on car rides to different places. really early on I went to our favorite park- we usually do a full lap around before her amputation, but this time I took her there and we just walked to the opening and hung out. She got to see lots of dogs and people and sniff around without doing a lot of physical exertion.
Just a thought if you are worried he's a little down. It sounds to me like he's doing fantastic. I know it's hard not to worry and want to make sure everything is going perfectly so I hope you give yourself some grace as well- you're doing fantastic too!
Can only agree with Whitney and Jer4y, Kota is acting "very normal" and a bit above at this point of recovery. We know it is soooo hard not to worry because we want them to return 100% over overnight.
Keep in ,ind hoomans would be laying around on the sofa watching TV begging for more pain meds after a MAJOR surgery like this one
It's all about a slow steady pace wins the race. The sparkle comes back one tail wag at a time, o e toss of a toy at a time, etc.
Celebrate when you do get a tail wag. Celebrate that he is eating so well at this point and see,s ro be able to hop around on his own on ocassion. Huge victories!👏👏👏
Hang in there
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!
Thanks Benny and Whitney! You guys are right. Also today is the first full day he’s been off of the Tylenol with codeine. Now he’s only on Gabapentin. Even just today I saw a little bit of improvement. A little more alertness and more wags and he even came begging for food by me when we were eating. He hasn’t done that since his surgery. Before surgery, he’d always come over to check and we tell him to go in the living room and play or lay down so I was happy I had to tell him that (we don’t let them be by us in the kitchen while we eat because Cameron, my rescue, resource guards and guards in general and I don’t want him being mean).
My wife wants to take him back to work now but I’m afraid that may be a little too much for him right now. I know that will make him happy when he can go because he goes to work with her every day and loves his work people.
He’s so cute though - he sits in front of me and I give him chest scritches and when I stop you can see him reach for my arm with his non-existent leg to do what he always did and grab it and pull it in towards his chest for more scritches. It’s just funny seeing the “invisible leg” move. He doesn’t even notice haha.
Jerry, hoping you guys had a good day today!
..YAY FOR KOTA!!! 👏👏👏Asking for scritches, begging for food, more tail wags SPECTACULAR NEWS!!!!👍👍
Hahaha.....using his invisible "non existent " leg to grab your arm for more scritches. And in his mind it's working just fine because you immediately start giving any more scritches.
I had forgotten he also was on the codeine. Based on what you had been describing, his need for rest seems pretty normal right now. However, removing the codeine may have been instrumental in him being more alert.
Glad you are feeling more confident as some of his normal routines are returning. Best feeling ever!! And remember during recovery every little improvement is a HUGE improvement!!!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Not sure what your wife's workday place involves. Probably best to wait just little bit longer until the stitches are out for a day long visit like that.
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!
Woohoo! Being off a narcotic makes a big difference doesn't it?! So glad you are seeing his old self returning. I do think it's a little soon to go back to work, That's a lot of excitement. I would wait at least another week just to be safe.
And you are so right: they don't notice the invisible leg! We make a bigger deal out of it than they do.
We had a good day today, you are so sweet for asking. I'm gonna post an update on our Nellie tomorrow, lots to think about!
Hey all. Just wanted to see if you all were doing well! How's everyone?
I wanted to share some happy progress with you guys. Kota has been becoming more and more of himself little by little each today. Today, he was super waggy pretty much all day. Gave me a TON of kisses and snuggles. I went to my tattoo appointment and when I came home, he was so happy and excited. He gave me one of his big smiles (he scrunches up his nose and shows his teeth lol) and he even did his signature bounce up and down with each bark. He played tug with me (laying down) and was super attentive all day. He even ran after me bounding into the living room to grab his rubber toy playing with me and chewed on his bone a bunch (he's learning to do it with one arm now). He hasn't wanted to do any of the playing for a while now.. since his surgery. His normal behavior is showing. He gave us plenty of talking (we call it the "woos" cause he does a half growl/half bark to talk to us when he's happy). I can't believe he actually tried to go leaping and running to get his treat. He almost fell so he slowed down, but he's been doing so good. I finally feel like we are getting our boy back.
He still gets tired easily. After a short burst of hopping about, he lays down and pants. Or when he was done playing with me (I do the thing where I move my hand around underneath the blanket and he attacks it because he loves it) he was panting but it doesn't last long. I can tell he needs to build his stamina back up. I've been giving him a small amount of CBD oil from American Shaman since yesterday.
Jerry, how's your baby doing?
This is chock full of spectacular good news!!!! Kota is being Kota again in all the ways that make him so special.......and make his hoomans so happy!! Loved reading all the ways way Kota expresses his personality....the toothy grin....the "woo woos"....attacking your hand under the blanket.....I was soooo delighted to read this Happy update.
Thank you for the the glorious update. It sure did make is Happy 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!
WOW! ROOOO ROOOOO KOTA! 
Love knowing your super waggy self is bouncing all over the place these days!
Justin that is really good news, I'm smiling ear to ear! Yeah, his stamina still needs time to build up but he will get there over time. Lots of little bursts of activity followed by rest will help. Kota sounds like he's good at knowing when to take a break. What a good boy!
I looked up American Shaman, and I like that they make their Certificate of Analysis (proof the products are tested for contaminants) so easy to find and available for their products. All of the COAs are done with accredited labs. The company tests for toxins and heavy metals, which is good. I just wish the COAs were more current. But otherwise it looks like a good choice. Do you think it's helping Kota?
Nellie is doing great thank you! I need to write that pupdate! Been a crazy couple of weeks, we are just now starting to get a routine back (I think). In a nutshell, she's getting some big diagnostics done this week to see if we will or won't do a complicated surgery to correct her wonky leg. Otherwise she's the same old gal!
She’s so pretty! Give her some love for me. Wishing the best for you guys! Jerry, you do a lot for us. Please let us know if we can do anything for you. If you need someone to listen to and just unload everything to get off your chest, I’m all ears!
Yes, I do think the cbd is helping him a lot. I got home from the grocery store today and my wife said he jumped off the couch just fine and ran to the door. I got the woo woos from him and then once he was done sniffing and wagging and licking my legs, he went and laid down in the middle of the kitchen floor (they always gotta be in the way, ya know!) while I unloaded groceries.
His sworn enemy is the handheld vacuum that we have. He goes crazy over it. I had to get it out to clean the dryer vent just now and he went crazy lol. He sprung up and was in the laundry room faster than I thought he could move. He actually jumped up on his hind legs and got air too. Biting and barking at it. Our household is once again safe from the vacuum! After that, he did a victory “trot” to the living room and pounced on a toy. He fell once but got back up and jumped on the toy again to pick it up and chew. I’m letting him fall just so he learns on his own. Now he’s chewing on one of those “indestructible” toys we get from a monthly Bark Box while laying down. My wife even commented that he seems like himself now.
Kota! Aww he's so precious, thank you for sharing the video!! I really hope we can get one of his "woo woos", haha I can hear them in my head pretty easily though, hahaha.
Ellie also "pounces" on toys too, and I think it's somehow even cuter with her only having one front leg, she has figured out how to chew bones, but her favorite game lately is to pounce on her favorite bone pick it up, drop it in my lap and then have me hold it while she chews on it, haha. If I throw it, thinking she wants to fetch, she stares at me like I'm the dumbest dumb dumb whoever dumbed 
Love seeing him doing so well, thanks for sharing!!
LOL Nellie barked and whined when she heard Kota barking! What a difference you can really see it in his eyes and that bouncy energy! Take THAT, evil vacuum cleaner!!!
Thank you for sharing, do you mind if we add Kota to our YouTube channel videos?
She’s so pretty! Give her some love for me. Wishing the best for you guys! Jerry, you do a lot for us. Please let us know if we can do anything for you. If you need someone to listen to and just unload everything to get off your chest, I’m all ears!
Paw shucks, thanks! We will take you up on that very soon, lots of decisions to make about what to do.
Thank you for sharing, do you mind if we add Kota to our YouTube channel videos?
Absolutely! I'll try to get more videos lol. I'll see if I can catch his woos and one of his smiles!
Whitney, I may have to try holding it for him and see lol. He also does not fetch. If I throw it, he will pounce on it and just lay there chewing on it instead of bringing it back. I’m ready for him to figure out how to play with his brother. Last night was the first night I got to sleep in my own bed in over 2 weeks because we showed him how to use the ramp up to the bench and then jump on the bed from the bench. He got to sleep on the good bed 🙂 Back in the hooman bed milestone down lol.
We go tomorrow morning to our vet to have his post-op 14 day incision checkup. Only thing I can think to ask is when should I start tapering off his Gabapentin and when can I bathe him. He’s starting to grow his hair back which is nice. We are just so afraid of hurting his little incision spot, I’ll be glad when it’s full of hair and fully healed. His incisions are dissolvable so he doesn’t get them removed tomorrow.
Oooh yeah we'd love more videos! I'll put them together in a little movie! One of him using the ramp would be spectacular. What a victory! GOOD BOY KOTA! Not too many dogs will use ramps, that's wonderful!
Let us know how the vet visit goes. YAY for reaching this exciting milestone of the two week re-check!
Last night was the first night I got to sleep in my own bed in over 2 weeks because we showed him how to use the ramp up to the bench and then jump on the bed from the bench. He got to sleep on the good bed 🙂 Back in the hooman bed milestone down lol.
Tremendous milestone indeed!!!
Isn't amazing how, once the routines are reclaimed and the sparkle starts coming back, it all happens fairly quickly! And he hasn't even had his stitches out yet and the milestones keep on 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!
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