Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello everyone!
Vaughn is still doing great with recovering from amputation on 8-26-23 and also with his chemo.
I took him to a vet that has a Physical Therapy department yesterday. She spent lots of time with us and then the physical therapist came in and talked briefly about different things she can do. She mentioned water treadmill, acupuncture, cold laser, and exercises. She talked about strengthening his core and hind legs. I will probably pay for a package of 8 one hour treatments.
I asked the vet several times how do I know how far I can walk Vaughn now and how concerned I am about the extra pounding his remaining front leg is taking from his new gait. She really never answered either question. He would walk a LONG time if I let him but I am still keeping the walks shorter than before. I just saw a post where Rene said that its recommended a few shorter walks rather than one long walk so I think we are OK.
I guess my question is what kind of therapy did you all find helped your Tripawds? He doesn't seem to have any issues but I want to be sure I do everything to keep him comfortable. I still worry so much about the one front leg. 🙁
Thank you so much!
Hi Pam, I was wondering how you and Vaughn were making out. Glad to hear he is doing well. Summer had her first rehab session this afternoon and did pretty well with it. It was an initial evaluation and some easy to start exercises and stretches. I also asked the vet/therapist about how far to walk, as I share the same concerns as you about the one remaining front leg being over extended. Summer is doing about 2 short blocks now, and like Vaughn, she would keep going and going if we allowed her to (greyhounds, huh? LOL). Problem is that she then doesn't really want to turn around and walk back home. I told the vet that we've been walking Summer about 2 blocks now, and the vet said to let her go one extra house each day (we walk in our neighborhood). We walk that length twice a day for now, and the vet thought that was just about right.
PM me if you ever want to talk 'greyhound' stuff. Everyone at the clinic loves the greyhounds.
Robin & Summer
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Hey Pam great to hear from you, and extra hoppy news that Vaughn is doing so well. WHEEE!!!!
As far as walking, what we've been told by quite a few therapists is that yes, two or three shorter walks throughout the day are better than one long one. Ideally start at around 10 minutes each and build up over a few weeks. Others have also said that walks should start out about 1/4 of what the dog did before amputation, to see how things go.
And you know you've walked too far if your pup sits down on a walk. If that happens, cut the walk in half and slowly build up again.
As for what kind of therapy, remember that all dogs are different and respond differently. We had acupuncture done on Jerry and Wyatt, and it was a huge help for them. Wyatt had many different types of therapies throughout his life, some helped him more than others.
Your therapist will probably start with therapies that worked well on other dogs with similar issues, and see how Vaughan responds. How cool that your therapist has multiple modalities! That's one sign of a great practice. Can't wait to find out how it goes.
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