Anyone else with a disabled pet?

[Kaitie09]

This is Nancy. She is 6 years old and an outdoor cat. A few years ago she got caught in a fox trap but somehow got out of it and returned home. However, her paw died and had to be amputated. She actually stills prefers to be outside all spring and summer when the grass is thick. During the fall and winter she can't walk on her nub so she likes to spend her time inside watching tv. She is very vocal and you can have conversations with her.

 

[destiny_56085]

My dog Weston is a tripod too. Farrier drove in the yard and hit him in the spring of 2010. He gets around just fine. Only problem is when he runs too much, he can't handle the stress on that back leg. There's been a few times he goes into seizures if its bad enough. Usually just a day of baby aspirin and trying to keep him less active....

 

[learycow]

I have a 3-legged cat too!
His name is fudgey. He was my barn cat (I have a dairy farm) up until this spring. He got his leg caught in a trap (illegal around here, people don't stay off our property). His leg was shattered. We had it x-rayed and there were so many pieces of bone I couldn't even count them. So I opted to have his leg amputated.
He is now retired from mousing and lives in the house!
Also, he had a really bad ear-mite infection when he was young, which left his ears crumpled like they are. They've been like that for 10 years now!

 

[luvinmychickens]

Does Hip Dysplasia count? One of my dogs has Hip Dysplasia. She acts perfactly normal though. Her back end is just a little weak.

 

[punk-a-doodle]

We have a cat with Cerebellar Hypoplasia, so he pretty much walks like a drunken sailor all the time. Very sweet fellow, but the CH makes him a bit...in his own little world.

I've always found cats with crooked ears and tails, and animals with three legs to be particularly endearing. There is a three legged dog in a graphic novel named Tripod, which seems apt.

 

[LotsaChicken]

When I was a little girl my family had a three legged cat. He got around just as well as if he had four legs. Climbed trees and chased the neighbors dog.

I have a deaf and partially blind dauschund. He is a Double Dapple. I adopted him from a county shelter. He is the same as a lethal white in collie breeds. Inscrupulous, or just unknowledgeable, breeders breed dogs like him. They are more valuable, due to their colors, but most are born with serious defects. The ones that live, which are very, very few, almost always end up deaf, or/and blind. Many of them have serious heart defects, but Dapple Dan's heart is fine.

Animal control brought Dan into the shelter as a stray. He was there for more than a month before I adopted him. While he definetly attracts attention everywhere I take him, there are alot of challenges in owning a dog like him. He can't go outside without someone with him, he is small enough to slip through the squares on the fences and we worry that he wouldn't be able to find his way home. Sometimes when you take him outside, you see him getting confused and he just starts running all crazy like. You can't scold him for things like getting in the trash. He can't hear you tell him "NO!" about anything (it doesn't stop me from saying it though

). Discipline and training is the biggest problem. Luckily, he is a good dog, but he does take a LOT more attention than your average dog!

 

[Kaitie09]

I had a 17 yrs old blind and deaf dog too. He followed my other one around by sent and when he died, The blind guy could not find his way around. We had him put to sleep 2 months after my other dog died.

 

[chickbea]

My 15 year old dog contracted Lyme disease last winter, which did in her back legs. Now her immune system is shot, and it's a constant battle with skin and ear issues. I've lost count of the number of rounds of antibiotics that she has been on. That little dog is quite the trooper! She still approaches every day with the same fiesty attitude she has always had.

 

[Kevin565]

I have a blind ferret name tony. He's still full of energy though

 

[Kaitie09]

Quote:
My lab has Lyme. She got it before we adopted her 8 years ago, but she has had no major problems. Every once in a while she limps on her back leg, but that is it.