Senior Aussie Tripawd Ozzie benefited from canine rehab therapy thanks to Tripawds Foundation Rehab Grant #162. Ozzie’s free consultation and at-home rehab exercises helped him regain strength during his final stretch home to the bridge. Read his story, and learn how you can get a free veterinary rehab evaluation for your dog or cat.
Yes! Tri-kitties qualify for free feline rehab too. See all Tripawds who have received free rehab sessions thanks to your support.
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Senior Aussie Tripawd Ozzie’s Story
Ozzie was a 15-year-old Australian Shepherd mix. We adopted him from the animal shelter in 2011, when he was three years old and had four legs.
Last fall, I noticed him slowing down and thought it was old age. But then he started limping. The news was devastating—osteosarcoma in his right front leg. The vet recommended amputation or euthanization due to his age. I did some research, found the Tripawds website, and saw that old dogs can in fact live full lives with a front leg amputation, so I decided to go for it.
He didn’t bounce back as fast as many other dogs do, but finally, after a week he could get up and walk. Ozzie recovered quickly after that, and seemed a lot happier now that his painful cancerous leg was gone. He even played with our other dog, something he hadn’t done in months. Shortly after, he started chemo treatments and finished on March 30.
I wish I would’ve started him on physical therapy then, but he seemed to be doing fine. However, months later, we noticed that his front paw had developed hyperextension dysplasia. After a couple of trips to different vets, I made an initial appointment at Ace of Paws rehab center. By then, Ozzie couldn’t get up on his own and seemed to be getting weaker.
How Rehab Helped Senior Aussie Tripawd Ozzie
Dr. Ana Esquivel at Ace of Paws evaluated him on August 29, taking videos of his gait and doing a physical examination. She said that most of his problems were actually coming from his hips and that he wasn’t putting weight on one of his back legs. She felt that it would be best to reduce his pain through medication, PEMF treatments, and therapeutic laser, and have him work on standing up and range of motion stretches for his first week.
He seemed to enjoy his daily exercises of moving from lying to sitting, and then sitting to standing and receiving a reward. Senior Aussie Triawd Ozzie was so smart, it only took a few times for him to learn what to do–he was great at following vocal commands. He didn’t think much of the stretches, but they seemed to help.
I started to see progress in his leg strength and ability to stand up for longer periods of time. Unfortunately, he suddenly started declining rapidly last week—we believe there may have been other unknown issues going on with his body, but were unable to find out what they were. We made the extremely difficult decision to say goodbye. We spent his last day together as a family, ate his favorite foods (corn nuts, toast, and pizza crusts)—luckily he was still able to enjoy food—and then his favorite vet came to our house in the afternoon to give him his well-deserved rest.
The one thing that I learned the most from this experience is that veterinarians specifically trained in rehab will see the things that others overlook.
How Rehab Can Help All Tripawds
Prior to my visit with Dr. Esquivel, I had asked two different vets about Ozzie’s difficulty in walking—they didn’t notice the back leg and hip problem and I didn’t notice it either. But once she pointed it out, it was obvious how much trouble it was causing him. In my opinion, it’s worth doing the initial evaluation, even if you can’t afford to start the regular rehab sessions immediately. In Ozzie’s case, it probably wouldn’t have changed the outcome due to his age and other conditions, but it would’ve improved the quality of his life had we started it sooner.
Thank you so much for considering my application and providing the Tripawds website, which helped me make important decisions. Although I was only able to extend my time with Ozzie about 9 months, it was worth it–9 months is like 5 dog years!
~ Sara & Ozzie
lovely story, so sorry for your loss, but Ozzie had the best life!