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My dog, Bluebell, recently collided with an oncoming truck. As a result, I have to get her leg amputated this Thursday. My main concern is that she won't be the same dog I bought in front of Fred's.

So, does anyone else have a similar story, or crippled pet? I'd like some input from... "Friends".

I've known people with crippled pets.

I knew someone once with a three legged dog called Tripod.

Dogs are amazingly upbeat animals - they can get through anything and stay happy as long as they have affection and attention from their owner.

I have seen dogs with three legs as well as dogs on carts. They are called chariot dogs. There are evene chariot dog races (no joke).

My mum knows some people who take in dogs from the RSPCA so they often gets dogs that have some big problems. They are surprisingly adaptable animals.

Yeah one of my mates has a three legged dog, she is slower than the other dogs but is a happy little beast

We have a 3-legged cat called Mr Beefy, he's a giant cat (possibly maincoon), bright orange and due to the fall from a tree that resulted in him losing the leg as a kitten, he's also mad as a badger's arse, hence he stares around like Christopher Lloyd in Taxi...

His owners were going to have him put down due to the accident, Mrs Stompa was working as a veterinary nurse and took him home instead, he's an amusing fella, loves cheetos and sticking his head in shoes whilst chirping.

Mr Beefy sounds brilliant...

I have a mouse that survived five rounds with a cat.

The first two rounds were when she was just a wild wood mouse, the first round was outside, I let the mouse get away. The second round it was caught brought inside and was placed outside seperate to cat. Third time I found it in a corner of the kitchen, missing half its tail and in very poor shape. I looked after her from that pont onwards, freed her twice, third time pays all, your now my mouse.

Took her home (all this was at my parents house) and she lived with me from August until last month when during a visit to the parental hone she got out of her temporary cage, twice and was rescued again, twice. The fourth time she got out of the box she escaped the room she was in (door closed to keep cat out) and was found downstairs. The fifth time she grawed out of yet another plastic box I didn't recognise her, when I came across her by accident downstairs and when I did thought she was going to die. It was a shock when I saw a very beat up mouse approach me and lick my hand, as this one was wont to do.
She was nursed back to health, put in a yet taller box and didn't try to get out again. Though at the timwe she had a very dodgy leg so she couldnt anyway.

I love that little mouse, and she is very tame. Normally a rescue mouse will try to jump out of your hand, this one will come to the hand. I can play with her outside in the garden and she wont run away and bar an inch and a half missing from her tail she is in good health, not bad after five rounds with a cat.

Rambo mouse...

purplefood wrote:Rambo mouse...

That's exactly what I was thinking...

MeanGreenStompa wrote:We have a 3-legged cat called Mr Beefy, he's a giant cat (possibly maincoon), bright orange and due to the fall from a tree that resulted in him losing the leg as a kitten, he's also mad as a badger's arse, hence he stares around like Christopher Lloyd in Taxi...

His owners were going to have him put down due to the accident, Mrs Stompa was working as a veterinary nurse and took him home instead, he's an amusing fella, loves cheetos and sticking his head in shoes whilst chirping.

My dog got messed up chasing a cat...

Smells ironic in here.

Kasrkai wrote:My dog, Bluebell, recently collided with an oncoming truck. As a result, I have to get her leg amputated this Thursday. My main concern is that she won't be the same dog I bought in front of Fred's.

So, does anyone else have a similar story, or crippled pet? I'd like some input from... "Friends".

If i know anything about dogs ( well ok i dont know that much ) , but they seem to be greatly effected by our actions.

So if you treat Bluebell all just the same , and do all the same activities you used to do ( she'll be alittle slower but thats fine! )
then in her mind , all is same , and all is well.

My Mom had a Bulldog that was hit by a car and had to have one of it's legs amputated.
He lived for another ten years and was completely fine,happy and healthy and could outrun a lot of four legged dogs.

You should give this book a look. . . it's a fantastic book by Berkley Breathed, the cartoonist who did Bloom County.

http://www.amazon.com/Flawed-Dogs-Leftovers-Piddleton-Chance/dp/0316713597

MeanGreenStompa wrote:We have a 3-legged cat called Mr Beefy, he's a giant cat (possibly maincoon), bright orange and due to the fall from a tree that resulted in him losing the leg as a kitten, he's also mad as a badger's arse, hence he stares around like Christopher Lloyd in Taxi...

His owners were going to have him put down due to the accident, Mrs Stompa was working as a veterinary nurse and took him home instead, he's an amusing fella, loves cheetos and sticking his head in shoes whilst chirping.

Me likey Mr. Beefy. If you're going to have a cat, might as well have a kookie cat.

Dont give up on her. She wouldnt care if you lost a leg and would likely try to help you any way she could. Her quality of life from here on out is based on you treating her just as well or better than you would have if she hadnt gotten hurt.

GazzyG wrote:I've known people with crippled pets.

I knew someone once with a three legged dog called Tripod.

Dogs are amazingly upbeat animals - they can get through anything and stay happy as long as they have affection and attention from their owner.

This.

She is still the same dog you brought home, except now all the other dogs will be asking her how she lost so much weight so quickly.

But seriously, you are lucky she survived and should ensure she cant be in a position to be in front of a moving truck again.

Mistress of minis wrote:Dont give up on her. She wouldnt care if you lost a leg and would likely try to help you any way she could. Her quality of life from here on out is based on you treating her just as well or better than you would have if she hadnt gotten hurt.

I don't think the OP suggested that he was going to give up on her at all.

As for crippled pets I don't personally own any, but my neighbor had a dog that had a run-in with a semi-trailer. I can't remember the full extent of her injuries, but I think her back was broken. So for the last year of her life she stayed in the same cushion on our neighbour's porch.

My own cat (who sadly is no longer with us) was struck by a car when he was 10 years old. The result was he was left with his jaw ripped off and hanging by threads on his one side. The vet told us he wouldn't survive due to the bleeding and injury and that we should expect the worst. All I'm going to say is he died at the grand age of 21!

I'm hoping that this story will hopefully keep your spirits up and that you beloved pet may still come through with suprising results. Also, I've seen many pets with three legs via snippets on "animal hospital" and others and they seem to be perfectly happy and able to cope.

As others have said, she won't care a great deal as long as she's loved by her owners as I'm sure she is.

Best of luck for Thursday, I hope it goes smoothly for her and for yourselves to.

My cat was hit by a car and his back legs where broken.

He was sitting on his bed for a year with us feeding him and cleaning up after him.But we still loved him too much to put him down.

After that he was fine and we had a wonderful life.

Knew a Lurcher who had to have a hind leg amputated at a fairly young age. Learned recently that she sadly passed away at a grand old age.
Woodstock had a very active and happy life with 3 legs much loved and now sadly missed by her owners.

The problem will probably be that she will be chomping at the bit with pent up energy before she is fully healed and all stitches and bandages removed.

Get well soon Bluebell

rubiksnoob wrote:You should give this book a look. . . it's a fantastic book by Berkley Breathed, the cartoonist who did Bloom County.

http://www.amazon.com/Flawed-Dogs-Leftovers-Piddleton-Chance/dp/0316713597

My wife just got that book last week! It really is a good one.


As for the OP's dog, don't worry too much about him not being the same. Dogs usually adapt pretty good to such an event. Heck my dad had his leg amputated awhile back and I really believe he is doing better than before the amputation. Just keep his spirits and your's up.

I have a friend who has a Pit Bull with three legs. Gets around just fine, kind of funny to watch him though. But, he is just fine. Lives a normal life. He is crazy annoying and needy though. Don't know if that is a side effect or if he was like that before, but watch out!

I've seen a few three legged dogs here and there. They always seem fine. They've got a bit of an odd gait obviously, but for the most part seem rather unfazed by the whole thing.

At least in the long term anyway. I'm sure in the short term there will be an adjusting period, and floppiness from whatever painkillers they put the pooch on.

Got a call earlier. There's a chance that, because she's only about a year old, her bone can repair itself around a surgical pin.

Hope that's the case.

One of my old cats sounds kinda like Mr. Beefy, if you squint real hard. Another big ol' Maine [see forum posting rules], Escher, but he was raised by my stepbrother and wouldn't let anyone else get within a couple feet or he'd take their hand off. When he was 7 or 8 he was hit by a car and had one of his front feet mangled. It wasn't amputated, I don't remember why, but it basically became a ski after that, and never really slowed him down too much. He got even grumpier to strangers after the accident though, which I basically still was at the time. It's certainly something to watch out for. Soon after that my stepbrother moved to a new place and we got Escher. It took being left alone with him for a week when I had to give him medication for him to start grudgingly accepting me, but after that we warmed up to each other pretty quick and got along really well for another 6 years or so. He only ever had a limited amount of patience, but was really a fluffy ball o' love when he was in a good mood.

It's another case of getting back what you put in, I suppose. He was a grumpy cat before the accident and a grumpy cat afterwards, but just as lovable on those occasions he chose to be.

I hope the surgical pin works out for her; that'd be good news. But even if it doesn't, she should be able to spring back in a jiffy and live out a long, happy life.

As Caesar Milan says in the Dog Wisperer ,

Dogs live in the moment, they wouldnt know you are looking at it with sympathy or w/e
they just detect something is wrong ( but they wounldnt relate it to the crippled issue )

So as i said earlier , do all the same usual activities and it'll be too happy doing its daily things.

Not sure if it is the same as losing a leg, but my dog is deaf, strangely. It really shows too, she's not nearly as alert as most dogs I've seen.

I have a cat, Odin, who is blind in his right eye. He got cuaght in an animal control trap when he was a kitten and damaged it somehow. it is now a wierd red hue that looks hella wicked. Me and the girlfriend found him on a pet finder website at a shelter. We saw him and imediately came to the conclusion that he would be our second cat. He has been a great pet and sometimes provides some entertainment when we can sneak up on him from his blind side. Being a Maincoon he has alot of personality, and a little crazyness. He will hold conversations with you sounding like he is actually trying to answer. He also goes around the house sometimes grumbling like he is ranting about things. Maybe he is talking to the voices in his head. I do fear though that out of our two cats he probably will be the one who tries to eat us in our sleep if we don't wake up and fill the food bowl in a timely manner. I have already woken up before to him nibbling on my toes.

We used to have a tail-less cat named Bob.