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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Bandit is doing well since the amputation on Thursday the 12th. He still has his awesome smile.
My only concern is he pants A LOT!!!! I don't know if he is hot or in pain. He gets kind of a wild eyed look. It passes, but not sure how to handle going forward.
I think he is ready for the short walks as he has started to bring us toys. How far is too far to try the first time out?
What is he getting for pain? Murphy came home on Rimadyl, Tramadol & Gabapentin. Panting is often a sign of pain.
It's only been a few days since surgery, so really he still should only be going out for potty breaks right now.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Panting can be a sign of pain and it can be a side effect of the pain meds. The wild eyed look could be from either also...this is one reason balancing the pain meds is so hard.
Our surgeon told us that for the first two weeks post amp Maggie could only walk for short potty breaks on leash and for her food dish.
If Bandit is getting restless you might try some simple food puzzles or a good chew toy.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Bandit is also on Rimadyl, Tramadol & Gabapentin. Just talked to his nurse and she thinks the storms in the surrounding area could be part of it too since he has extreme storm anxiety; even though we have not experienced at our house. So will monitor him today and if it gets worse then let her know and we'll go from there. I will have to explore the food puzzle idea. I am not familiar with that. Thanks for the input!!
Oh yeah, Max can always tell when storms are coming even if they aren't at our house yet. Our dogs love Kong balls - we stuff them with a variety of small treats (or break up other treats) and topped off with Kong peanut butter or cheese spray stuff.
Make sure that you are spacing out the medications for good coverage, not giving them all together. Sometimes vets don't explain the importance of timing of meds. 🙂
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
I like to do lots of food puzzles and games with Tri-puggle Elly and quad pug Obie. Here is a blog post from Elly's blog that might give you some ideas.
And I am totally stealing this post that Admin guy left in another thread:
Find lots of recommendation in the Tripawds Blogs!
Here are just a couple favorites, find more suggestions by searching the Tripawds Gear blog or Tripawds Amazon blog and get more helpful recovery tips in the Tripawds e-books. Or search all blogs here.
More Interactive Doggy Brain Games
Interactive Games for Recovering Tripawd Dogs
Keep Tripawds Entertained with Zanies Pizza Interactive Dog Puzzle Toy
Dog Twister Game Keeps Recovering Dogs Entertained
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
OMG, I love it! I never knew these existed! I can see Bandit having a ball with it.
Thank you Karen, you read my mind!
Yep, food puzzles are fantastic. Here's another post we wrote about them:
Top #BetterWithPets Tips for a Stress-Free Life with Dogs and Cats
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
midnighter94 said . Our dogs love Kong balls - we stuff them with a variety of small treats (or break up other treats) and topped off with Kong peanut butter or cheese spray stuff.
Donna
Kongs are AWESOMESAUCE! When I want them to last for a while, I stuff with peanut butter (or other stuff and top with peanut butter) and FREEZE them! Lasts much longer.
As others have noted, keep "exercise" to leash-led potty breaks - only long and far enough for business. Once the staples come out and meds are tapered, your pup will better be able to give you some feedback about limits. Too much activity can mess with the recovery of the incision/surgical site.
Plus, our doggies are TERRIBLE about communicating their pain. They stoically hide as much of it from us as they can! They will almost always go ahead and overdo it.
Sounds like like you've got lots of ideas and Bandit can plan on some fun days ahead - even if he can't run hog wild yet!
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