Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello... I normally dont post on these things but I am between a rock and a hard place.. my one year old lab had a compound fracture of his femur 12 weeks ago.. since then he has had two surgeries.. lots of therapy.. and will have to have a future surgery to remove plates and screws very soon... my vet says he is not progressing as he should.. since he has been in a kennel so long after surgery he can no longer move his leg.. his muscles are frozen and he has a lot of scar tissue built up around the fracture area... doc says amputation is the best option. However im having a hard time coping with this solution... is a stiff leg better than no log at all? He does use it when he wants to jump up for something.. he just drags it behind him when he tries to climb stairs... I just want what is best for my baby.. but I dont know which option is better... I need advice and help
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Hello, Lala, so sorry to hear about your lab.
Does he have quadriceps contracture? Was his fracture at the end of the femur close to the knee?
Unfortunately, this is a potential complication in young dogs with factures of the distal femur. When it happens, I have yet to see a successful means of treating it short of limb amputation. In my opinion the VAST majority of dogs are happier on 3 legs than having to drag a leg around. I know it's a shock when you first hear the "amputation" word, but I think you would be truly amazed how well and how quickly dogs adapt to life on 3 legs.
Hopefully someone can move your post to a new topic so that you'll get more input.
Right hind limb amputated 7/3/12 for OSA, started on alternating cycles of Carboplatin and Doxorubicin and oral Palladia. Single lung met 9/1. Met in the neck muscle removed 9/30. Large mass in sublumbar lymph node 10/2. Rescue chemo with ifosfamide 10/6. Mets to the rib and axillary lymph node 10/21. Started Leukeran and Pred 10/25. Wookie left this Earth for a far better place on 12/4/12. I miss you, Boo, you were my heart.
Hello Lala, thank you for joining us here. I did move your post to this topic to make sure you get some input from more folks.
Geez, I'm sorry you're going through this. Wookie, if the fracture didn't happen near the knee, do you think rehab therapy can work?
When my Mom broke her collarbone, she kept it in a sling for weeks because the doc failed to mention she should move her arm around. Well, once she got it out of the sling she couldn't move her arm up or down! It took weeks of physical therapy but she got it moving normally eventually. Is this something that a rehab therapist can do for a dog?
Lala, I hope that you don't need to amputate but if you do, rest assured that your dog will more than likely do just fine. There is little difference between a Tripawd and a quadpawd, and although you'll need to be vigillant about his weight and activity level, you'll find that he will be much happier on three legs instead of dragging around a useless limb.
Meanwhile, if you're at all in doubt, seek a second opinion. Even if the recommendation is the same, at least you'll know you covered all your bases. And of course, we're here to lean on should you decide to proceed, so keep us posted OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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Sorry to hear about your pup. If I hadn't had the experience with a rear leg amp that I have had with my dog, I'd be having the same difficulty with the decision that you are.
But, seeing how amazingly well my dog has done after a rear leg amp, my answer to your question "is a stiff leg better than no leg at all?" is absolutely not. The stiff leg is just extra weight and an inconvenience. If he is dragging it then it will likely be injured from the dragging at some point without a bootie or something. My dog jumps into the car with no problem. I have to admit I lift him out because I'm concerned about a fracture which really makes no sense given he has both front legs. He lost use of one of his front legs for a while and I got in the habit of lifting him out then, so it is probably no longer necessary but I do it just to be safe. He is a greyhound and thus has kind of spindly bones. 
The only thing he can't do quite as well as pre-amp is cut back and forth/rapidly change direction when playing with my terrier in the yard.
To add to what Jerry said about human physical therapy... I crushed the radial head in my elbow a few years ago (thanks to my awesome dog who now has the rear leg amp) and had to have a prosthetic radial head put in. Unlike Jerry's mom they did tell me to start moving it a tiny bit immediately after surgery to try and avoid having it freeze up, but some major loss of mobility was unavoidable. It took months, and months, and months of physical therapy, 2-3 times a week, pushing me to the point of pain where I was either going to pass out or throw-up (and I have a wickedly high pain tolerance), to get it to bend, extend, and rotate quite well. It isn't perfect, but it's very good. To think of putting a dog through that who won't understand why he is being subjected to such excruciating pain, personally I wouldn't do it. Again, my decision would be more difficult if I hadn't gone through a rear amp 7 months ago, but with most of these dogs you wouldn't notice they were missing a leg shortly after amp. I would think with your guy being so young he would bounce back even faster.
Tough decision, as all of us who've been through it know. But, although I hope I never have to make a decision like that again for another one of my dogs, it really won't be all that difficult for me I don't think because Duke has just done so amazingly well with it.
Good luck to you and your pup.
I asked my husband a similar question 2 years ago
Our Golden had a non-healing femur fracture due to a failed hip replacement.
He endured weeks and months of pain in that leg. We were given no other option but amputation.
I can honestly tell you that after the amp, he was immediately better...the miserable pain was gone.
He was so used to not being able to properly use that leg that it was a quick transition to hopping on three.
He is happy now! He can run, swim, climb stairs,play and keep up with my two children.
We did make some changes...he can't balance on the pergo and we have area rugs. You may catch me out in my PJ's shoveling snow at night to make sure he doesn't slip.
But we still have our wonderful Bud dog and life is good!.
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