I am new to being the Mom of a Tripawd. My foster Ruby came to stay with me last January. She had been hit by a car and owner surrendered to the local rescue. The rescue immediately took her to the vet who placed a rod and a plate with multiple screws. Since coming to stay with me she has undergone 4 surgeries placing and replacing rods, placing and replacing metal plates, and even an external fixation device. The rescue and their vet tried everything imaginable to save her leg all to no avail, the bone wouldn’t mend and her last surgery was two weeks ago when they amputated the leg.
The vet kept her 5 days after the amputation – making sure there were no complications. I stopped to see her three days after surgery – I wanted to take her outside but they said she had just been out and she needed to stay in her crate and rest. I called daily to glowing reports – she is up and walking around – adjusting well. When I picked her up two days later I found her lying in the hall. I had to literally Pick Her Up and carry her back end while she walked her front legs to the car. They had bandaged the amputation site and believed she was refusing to walk because she was acting up about the new bandage. Apparently she had gotten to her stitches between the time I had visited her a few days earlier and when I picked her up, so they bandaged her. They told me that I was not to remove the bandage for 48 hours. Those 48 hours were awful. I carried her out to potty 4 times a day but she wouldn’t go. She wouldn’t get up – she wouldn’t go out, she just lay there wetting herself. I called the rescue’s vet daily to tell them what was going on and they told me she would bounce back when the bandage came off. When I removed the bandage the amputation area was swollen and the back half of the surgical site looked awful so I took her to my vet. My vet said leave it open and keep it clean. The next day the back leg swelled up and I was back to my vet with her. The fluid that had accumulated at the surgical site was now filling the leg after the bandage was removed. She showed me how to massage the leg to get the fluid to dissipate and suggested range of motion exercises until the swelling went down and she walked on it. She showed me how to use a towel to support Ruby’s pelvis while I took her out (my back thanked her) and it suddenly got easier to get her outside to potty and she stopped wetting herself. Two days later the swelling was gone, she is willing to stand on the leg but she still will not walk without support. When I do support her she does not actually put much weight on the leg – she keeps the leg bent and her back hunched. I purchased a harness that supports the pelvis to replace the towel… again things got easier. She will occasionally straighten the leg but for the most part she keeps it bent and doesn’t put weight on it. Now, finally my point…. I am concerned – am I helping her or hurting her by walking her with the harness? Is there something serious wrong that I am missing? Has anyone had a similar experience and can you tell me what you did to get past it?
