Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My Ginger had a right hind leg amputation on 9/27/24 and also had a fractured metatarsal bone in her left foot that requires a soft dressing with a splint to keep the bone stabilized while it heals. She has to wear the splint/ dressing for the next 6 weeks. We were instructed to keep it dry so we need to cover it whenever she goes outside to potty because of the morning dew on the grass. The vet was using a disposable pad that they wrapped around her foot and leg and taped it up when she went outside. The pads rip easily and are a pain to wrap and tape up so I am looking at a sleeve a Medical Rugged Dog &Cat Protective Boot that they sell on Chewy. Has anyone else used this and how did it work for you? Ginger is a 35 pound mixed breed dog so would be looking for something that would fit her
Thank you
Hi Yoko. I'm so sorry about Ginger's surgery. Was she hit by a car? That's a tough recovery when you're both dealing with two situations.
We used a protective boot like that on our dog Nellie. They are helpful but it may be too tight to go over the splint and dressing. I would try using an assortment of plain old plastic bags (bread bags are the best shape!) and just wrapping them over her dressing with some blue painter's tape. Or, ask your vet for a few IV bags and you can make a wound covering like this:
DIY Dog Paw Protector with IV Bag
Angel Sassy’s Mom, Michelle came to the rescue. She says here:
If the baggy thing doesn’t work ask for an empty iv bag from your vet. cut open one end and put holes in the side. String some gauze string through it and tie it shut. It works perfect. My vet did that when we had to wrap Bosch’s foot and keep it dry.
Another idea is using a PAWZ Bootie. If you are not familiar with them they are disposable 'balloon' looking waterproof rubber boots. They come in lots of sizes so you could probably find a size big enough to go over the splint.
When my elderly Pug tore a nail off her front foot she had to wear a bandage on her foot for several days and she kept slipping and falling. I got a bootie that was big enough to go over the bandage and it gave her great traction . I did have to split the top of the bootie to get it over her paw but the rubber bootie didn't slip off.
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
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