Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
Hello all! I am new to this group and greatly in need of your advice. Four days ago, my 2.5 year old Eskipoo (poodle mix) named Buddy had his front left leg amputated. The circumstances surrounding the amputation baffle me. Perhaps your input and advice can help me to gain clarity. The surrounding circumstances are as follows:
-Two years ago, Buddy was placed at an in-home LLC kennel for the weekend. His leg was broken, and the owners could not tell us how it happened. However, the kennel assumed all responsibility/liability and paid for the plating surgery to remedy the broken leg.
-After two years, the leg rejected the plate due to infection. (Not due to activity of the dog.) Plate had to be surgically removed. The leg was then splinted for ten days until surgeon removed the splint.
-Within two days of removing the splint, the dog rebroke the leg. (He jumped from a short distance and landed on it funny.) The surgeon warned us this was a possibility due to leg’s weakness from screw holes the (missing) plate created. However, there was no other option but to remove the plate.
-Leg was in cast/splint for six weeks. Further infection ensued and broken leg did not heal. (Ends of bone rounded. Non-union.) We were told further surgery/replating did not guarantee a positive outcome. Highly likely that further breakage/infection would occur in the future.
-This gave us no other option but to have the leg amputated. Cost to us was almost three times greater than kennel’s initial surgery; pet insurance will not cover due to the preexisting condition the kennel created.
Questions for you:
1) What would you have done in this situation?
2) Would you pursue legal action against the kennel responsible for the initial break?
3) How should Buddy be acting four days after surgery? He seems highly depressed and in a lot of pain. He is eating well but not drinking. Therefore, he does not have urine output. I am extremely worried about him.
4) How can I improve his quality of life as an amputee going forward?
5) Any other questions, thoughts or advice pertaining to this horrible situation?
I feel like the life has been taken from my Buddy and me. Words cannot express how angry and how sad that I truly am. All of this over a silly broken leg! Any and all input is greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Welcome and best wishes for Buddy! Your future forum posts will not require moderation.
See our comment on you blog for some helpful links. Other members will surely chime in soon...
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
WOW! What a journey!! Congrats tonyou for not going batty during all this! And congrats to Buddy for being one strng and courageous fella'!
Okay, first...B R E A T H E......B R E A T H E.......INHALE DEEPLY.....EXHALE SLOWLY.......
Let's chunk t down, yu've got a lot on your plate and amputation recoverymis o picnic!
Based on what you've conveyed, clearly amputation, although I know it "sounds" drastic, is absolutely the best solution for Buddy. He needed to get rid of that painful leg that was never going to heal!
Recovery is no picnic for about two weeks. How much does Buddy weigh? What's his doseage of Tramadol? What other meds is he on? This is MAJOR surgery and you want to control the pain as best as possible.
For several days and nights my Happy Hannah was very restless, very whiny and crying a lot and panting, ears penned back...jist ot feeling good at all! She also ate okay but did not want to drink.
The way I got her to drink, after trying chicken broth, etc., was to put a scoop of ICE CREAM in her water and swirl it around. First I would give her a little taste of the ice cream and then put the spoon in he water to entice her.
Is Buddy pooping? Peeng at all? The peeing IS important. The pooping sometimes is delayed for several days due to meds, etc.
The hospital pain meds usualy are outof their system by spday two or three. Sometimes you need to adjist thepain meds after this timeframe...either increase...or sometimes decrease, depending on how Buddy's doing.
As far as pursuing the kennel for financial restitution, I would jist put that on the back burner for a couple of weeks. You ave sooo much to deal with right night, that can be one less thing to cause you stress right now. Doesn'nt mean to ignore the situation...just to delay giving it any energy now.
Try to be as positive and confident around Buddy as possible. He needs rest right now and he realizes he's not up for a marathon! One thing everyone here will tell you, once recovery is complete and his sparkle comes back, yo will be AMAZED at how well he gets along and how happy he will be! Just give him lots of praise and hugs and applause for every little victory!
And give yourself a great big hug! You both have been through an awful lot these past months! You both are quite strong and will get through thisz! Recocery isn't instant! Heck, humans would be in the hosital for weeks!!
As soon as you can, let us kow how Buddy's doing, the meds he's on, etc.
You are NOT alone, okay? We are all here to suport you! Noone undrstands what you are goi g through any better than this community!
Sending you lots of hugs.....and a huge box of chocolate for you to eat all at once! It does wonders for stress!!!
Sally and Happy Hannan
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Hello and welcome, I'm so sorry you're in this tough spot. (hope you don't mind I moved your post here to Beyond Cancer, this is a good place for situations like yours, lots of good info to search through here from others who have been in similar situations).
First, have you talked to the vet about Buddy not drinking water? Pain medication can do that to many dogs, it's not too unusual but if it's been more than a day that he's not wanting liquids, call your vet and begin there. Meanwhile, dogs can be encouraged to drink by adding low-sodium chicken broth, a bit of gatorade or even tuna water to their bowl. Just a little, one thing at a time to see what works.
Oftentimes what we see as depression is really just a reaction to the pain medications, and being tired from recuperation (it's a major surgery after all). Most dogs are back in their groove within two to three weeks after surgery but until then we just have to be strong, pawsitive and confident. They look to their human pack leader for confidence, so if you project it, Buddy will believe it and in no time at all he'll get that sparkle back. Stay strong, we're here to help.
As for pursuing financial compensation from the kennel. I like Sally's advice; focus on the recovery right now, you need much pawsitivity in your heart to be strong and optimistic, Buddy's counting on you for that. Hang in there.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Well Buddy sure is a cutie! I'm sorry that you have found yourself in this situation. As the others have mentioned, you will be AMAZED at his recovery in a 2-3 weeks. Just make sure you watch him and don't let him do too much until his incision heals (no running, playing fetch or jumping on furniture). I would definitely give the vet a call if he isn't drinking. You don't want him to get dehydrated on top of everything else that is going on. Just make sure you keep giving him the pain meds for a few days until you think he is more comfortable. Then start weaning them off.
As far as legal actions, if you think that the kennel is 100% responsible then do what you think is best, but accidents can happen at any time and place.
And you want to know about quality of life? Just look at the youtube channel at all of the tripods running around and playing like they always have. I have a 30 pound Sheltie mix named Chance who had a left front amputation due to Osteosarcoma in September of 2013 and I have another full blooded sheltie. Before, Chance would always beat Maddie when playing frisbee by about 3-4 strides. Now he is about 1 stride behind her and still manages to get the frisbee! Not much difference with a missing leg! Most people are shocked when they see how fast he can run. My point is, while you will have to make some minor adjustments around the house, Buddy will adapt to his new "normal" and be just fine!
Chance is a 10ish Shetland Sheepdog Mix who was rescued from the shelter in January of 2013 and diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in September of 2013. He had a front left amputation and 6 rounds of carboplatin. He had a great 11 months and was diagnosed with lung mets on 8/23/14. He was released to the bridge on 8/28/14.
1 Guest(s)
