Rear leg Tripawd Persephone benefits from canine rehab therapy thanks to Tripawds Foundation Rehab Grant #172. The free consultation and at-home rehab exercises help Persephone stay strong and love life on three legs. Read her 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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Meet Rear Leg Tripawd Persephone
My 4-year-old Malamute mix, Persephone, became a tripawd on October 3rd, 2023. We adopted her in May 2022 and her rear left leg was broken and healed badly prior to being rescued by the humane society that we adopted her from. The femur healed back twisted which caused her patella to luxate as well as making the limb shorter than her other legs. In the year we had her, her pain levels and limp progressively got worse despite the increasing number of pain meds she was getting. It was at the point where amputation was the only available option to permanently ease the pain her leg was causing her. It was a very difficult decision and one we had struggled with for months, but after finding the Tripawds website from a Reddit post, we were able to educate ourselves better and felt very confident that she would have a happier life as a Tripawd. In the first month alone post-amputation, she has continued to get better and do things that her leg and pain were preventing her from doing pre-op.
We saw how important rehab was for new Tripawds, largely from this site, and knew we had to go about getting her into a certified rehab as soon as she was healed from surgery. During our initial consultation, we met with Julie Rowley DVM. Dr Rowley is a Certified Canine Rehabilitation Practitioner at Salem Oregon Animal Rehabilitation.
She showed us how and where to stretch and massage our pups muscles to help her throughout her life. She mentioned that our pup had a good standing posture but that her sit needed some work.
Our pup has a tendency to lay on her remaining rear leg which is not great when she’s going from a sit to standing. So, we need to work on training a better sitting position. She also noticed our pup favored her front left foot for no visible cause, so we were told to stretch that foot and ankle every night to help with the tightness. In addition, he showed us how they are going to help our pup work towards being able to get in and out of our car or other higher surfaces by using an adjustable height step platform. Dr Rowley also mentioned it will not only help her get used to getting up onto higher surfaces but also help her build strength and balance in her front and rear legs.
Tripawd Persephone also had a walk on their underwater treadmill, exercising on it helps reduce fatigue and improve mobility. She was not the biggest fan as she hates water and being confined, but we are hoping hydrotherapy helps her feel more comfortable in both situations on top of all the other benefits that come with hydrotherapy.
I learned from this whole experience just how important even one session of rehab is in teaching us as new Tripawd parents how to help our pup live a healthy and pain-free life. We now know really useful massage areas to help work out some tightness in our pups muscles and tendons to help her be more comfortable, and we have already been able to work on training her to have a healthy sitting posture which will improve her ability to get up from a sitting or squatting position. We are so excited to continue taking her to rehab and working with our Tripawd Persephone to help her stay strong and pain-free.
~ Xander & Persephone