Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello everyone. We have a 7 year old Bullmastiff that just had his front left leg amputated 6 days ago. He is doing great. But we are worried about the stairs from the deck to the yard that he has to go up and down to go potty. There are 4 steps and we assist him the whole time, he is doing well, but we just don't want this to hinder his recovery. We know the doctors advised against multiple stairs, but we don't know what else to do. We tried a ramp, but he hated that. Any thoughts?
Dhiannon (Zeke's Mom) & Zeke, a 7 year old male Bullmastiff, front left leg amputated on 7-12-2010 due to a joint tumor. Zeke earned his wings on 8-13-2010, we will miss our big boy forever! We love you Zeke!!
Thanks for asking, and welcome to Tripawds! What type of ramp did you try? Perhaps building a wider ramp with less of an incline, and making him use it some treat training will help.
A Ruff Wear harness is the best recommendation we can offer for assisting your big boy up/down stairs. We recommend not using the harness until the surgery has completely healed and stitches or staples are removed. We have heard of no specific cases where any harness has hampered healing, but we believe direct pressure from the straps may irritate the wound. Please consult your veterinarian with any concerns.
We suggest using a soft towel slung under the belly if additional support is required in the meantime. A reusable canvas shopping bag slit down the sides also makes a handy temporary sling. You will find much more help, support and advice in Jerry's Required Reading List.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Triplett,
Welcome to Tripawds. Great news to hear that your pup is doing so well with the surgery recovery. 
I had the same problem of multiple steps (7) and a front leg amp which precluded the use of any type of harness due to interference with the suture line. I like Admins suggestion of a soft towel.
Going up the steps was a non event, it was the going down that caused her more anxiety. I elected to assist her by putting an arm up in front of her chest so that she knew I would catch her if she fell forward. It wasn't very long before she was quite confident with navigating the stairs, remember you're only at 6 days post amp. As long as its not stressing him out too much and he's not damaging the incision I think I'd let him keep figuring it out for himself, with lots of praise to keep him motivated and some reassurance from you that you won't let him tumble.
Keep us posted on his progress. I'm sure he'll amaze you every day at how quickly he adapts to his new life.
Laura and Tai
Tai – 9 yr old lab. Diagnosed Osteosarcoma Dec 18/09. Front right leg amputated Dec 21/09. Started chemo Jan 7/10. Lung mets discovered Sept 16/10. Valiant to the end on Oct 26/10 when cancer reappeared in a leg and we made the decision to set her free. Forever in my heart where not even cancer can take her from me.
Thank you so much for the information and very helpful suggestions! I did read about the canvas grocery bag trick to use as a sling, I will try that. Also, I never thought about putting my arm in front of him to know I'm there to catch him, great ideas!! I would agree, going up the stairs doesn't seem to be as hard, it's getting down. We'll keep working on it, motivating him while staying positive. I am also planning on getting the Ruffwear harness
to use when the incision is healed and staples removed. Thanks for the quick replies, I'm already feeling better about this. 
This website is the BEST!
Dhiannon (Zeke's Mom) & Zeke, a 7 year old male Bullmastiff, front left leg amputated on 7-12-2010 due to a joint tumor. Zeke earned his wings on 8-13-2010, we will miss our big boy forever! We love you Zeke!!
triplett said:
... This website is the BEST!
Awwww... thanks. But we owe it all to the support of our community members.
And if you really think so, be sure to please vote for Tripawds daily in the best .com contest!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Instead of a towel - I use one fo those 'recycle' bags that you get from just about any store now (I have a walmart one - 50-cents) - and I cut along the seams - so unlike a towel, it has a handle on it.
Denali uses a ramp. I had to modify the one we got her as it was carpeted and she slipped. When I talked to the seller of it, they said I had it on too steep of an incline. They said it was for an incline of up to 36-inches and the largest incline I tired it on was 32-inches. Thankfully my dad had some 'traction ' tape that you put on stairs that was placed every few inches on the carpet and that has helped her CONSIDERABLY.
~~~~ Denali ~~~~
June 9, 2010 OSA suspected
June 17, 2010, July 14, 2010 Clear X-rays – no mets
July 1, 2010 Amputation
July 9, 2010 OSA Confirmed
November 23, 2010 Cancer took you from me - Never forgotten, Always Loved - Forever
Supporting the Fighters, Admiring the Survivors, Honoring the Taken, And never, ever giving up Hope
Welcome to Tripawds. What a handsome boy Triplet is. Fortis is a 140lb Cane Corso with a build very similar to your guy. I think if your assisting him he should be fine. I bet he is going to do great! My advice would be to give him as much assistance as possible for as long as he needs it. I always keep a canvas grocery bag on hand as a back up even when I have Fortis' harness on. With these big emotional guys you want them to stay confident. Get the harness as soon as possible and get ready for some fun with your handsome Bullmastiff! If you should ever want or need to talk please feel free to PM me and I will pass on my number.
FortisDad Brett
Hi and I'll add my welcome. My 5 year old golden retriever, Shelby, had her right front leg amputated on July 2, so it's only been a little over two weeks. Like others said, going up was a breeze.....it just took her a few days to get her *sea leg* figured out going down the 3 steps and now she's the first one down and sails down like it's nothing.
Hang in there......it's true what everyone says. It DOES get better!
Thanks Pam & Shelby, I appreciate your support. I am glad to hear that Shelby is doing well! I wish her well in her recovery also!
Dhiannon (Zeke's Mom) & Zeke, a 7 year old male Bullmastiff, front left leg amputated on 7-12-2010 due to a joint tumor. Zeke earned his wings on 8-13-2010, we will miss our big boy forever! We love you Zeke!!
We've got 10 steep steps going down into our backyard….Kona had her right rear leg amputated on June 4th.
We use a Ruff Wear Harness and it works really well. Kona is very much a "my do" kind of girl, and so we have a child gate that we use to block the steps at the top of the deck (when she's inside) and then move it to the bottom of the steps when we're in the yard.
I find that as she's getting stronger, I just sort of 'spot' her up and down the stairs. You know, I have a hold of the hand grip on the harness, but I'm not lifting her. Kona's only 64+ pounds …….
Denise
Kona turned 9yrs on April 16, 2010.
Kona was diagnosed Memorial Weekend 2010 with osteosarcoma.
Right rear leg amputated on June 4th. First chemo June 18th 2010
Second chemo July 9th, 2010 Third and final (yea !!!) chemo July 30th, 2010
ONE TOUGH GIRL this Australian Cattledog !
***Kona's journey/fight ended late in the evening of December 22, 2010***
We Love you so much Kona….always
Bella 9yrs, albino lab/aussie shep/pit?(abandoned in mts as a puppy) deaf & blind (from birth) in one eye limited vision in other.(laid back, ok lazy 73 lbs)
Cotton, 5yrs, albino hound/terrier of somesort/???(abandoned in mts as a puppy) deaf & blind in one eye(from birth), excellent vision in seeing eye. (ball addict…destroyer of Kong balls…yes,etc), high energy 55lbs knots of muscle)
Kona Kai's pup brother and sister as well as her buddy and playmate cat, Shaymous 12yrs (like Seamus), miss her terribly.
We have been blessed (
) to live in a split-level house. 9 narrow, wooden (read: slippery when wet; thanks Bon Jovi) steps going to our back yard and 6 carpeted steps to the landing in the front where there are then 2 cement steps once outside. Charlie is a front leg amputee. He takes his time going down and going back up, but he likes to 'skip' steps at both the top and the bottom. The ones in the back, I assist him down, 'cause otherwise he jumps the last step and already took one face plant because of it. I end up lifting him at the end so that he doesn't jar his remaining front leg. 99.1 pounds and holding him back is, um, a treat. Otherwise, I just spot him from the back when we go up.
"I don't know where I am."
Dad built a ramp for Chuy out of plywood. Of course we used it to get him into the pool for therapy, but you could make one to use in place of stairs. I would think you may have to double up the thickness with a large breed, but it worked great for Chuy and gave him less of an angle than the store bought ones. The slats across it provided anti-slip protection.
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
I have a homemade ramp to go in and out of my house...very much like Chuy's in the picture above. I put indoor/outdoor carpet on it and then put the slats on it on top of that. Without the slats, she slipped going down too much...even on carpet. It is about 3 feet wide. One side has a 'wall' on it. You may want to consider that too? Sort of making a chute/lane(putting sides on it of some sort?) Maybe that will help with the fears? Food will too 🙂 I know when Maggie is feeling weak at times, she is happy there is a wall on the side of her ramp. She absolutely hates/fears steps of any kind...I have to help her with the Ruffwear harness and often have to lift her rearend to get her going or she freezes(she is fearful of slipping as well).
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Update on Zeke and those dreadful stairs... Thanks to everyone for the wonderful advice!!! We started taking Zeke out in the front yard (less steps and more spread out) and he seemed to get the hang of it and gain confidence. So then after doing this for a couple days, he surprised me and wanted to go out the back and down the stairs off the deck, I could barely keep up with him, he did great! We had a little set back the other night, Zeke was very sick, vomiting several times. The doctor said it was probably the pain pill and prescribed something to coat his stomach. He is doing much better now!!! He has been off the pill for 3 days and doesn't appear to be in pain. He is getting the staples removed tomorrow. There is a section of the incision (I think it's a seroma
), where the staples have fallen out and there is a "hole", but the doctor wasn't worried and we'll know more tomorrow. Otherwise, he's doing GREAT!!! 
Dhiannon (Zeke's Mom) & Zeke, a 7 year old male Bullmastiff, front left leg amputated on 7-12-2010 due to a joint tumor. Zeke earned his wings on 8-13-2010, we will miss our big boy forever! We love you Zeke!!
Zeke is very handsome! Our girl Tazzie got the hang of going up and down stairs very quickly but we never did let her do the 12 plus steps going to the upper deck because they are very steep and open so I thought she might stumble and take a fall.
I'm glad that Zeke is feeling better.
Pam
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