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.
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A quick "WELCOME" to Wendel" and sooo glad to hear things are going well!! Hope you'll start a post further about Wendel's jour ey when you can.!
MADDY IS ADORABLE!!!!! SHE HAS THE SWEETEST, MOST GENTLE LOOK ABOUT HER!! She loopks like a real cuddly, snuggly gal! 🙂 🙂
You have a plan and you are moving forward! All we can do on this crazy journey is make the best decision out of love we possibly can. You are doing that and, hopefully, it will bring you the information you need.
Keep us posted and we'll be cheering for Miss Maddy!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
We have made the choice to do the biopsy. Maddy is in great health other than this foot! She is playful, eats normally, poos normally. I hope that we are making the right decision. If it isn't cancer, and it turns out to not be an infection, I am at a complete loss as to what it could be. The biopsy is scheduled for Wednesday, and I hope and pray she isn't in a lot of pain.
You're making a decision so you can move forward. Hopefully you will have more clarity and can get Maddy the best treatment for her "issue"' .....whatever that may be.:-)
Glad Maddy is feeling pretty darn good except for that bum paw! Give her an extra smooch for us...and extra treats! 🙂
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS...When does the Vet expect the results? Update when you can.
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!
I spoke with the vet today. He said the best choice is to remove the dew claw. Because he can get bone and tissue in one shot, plus whatever the issue is, is in her dew claw. Is this going to be just as painful as having a toe amputated?
I also can't believe the high cost of speciists! Her toes were $800 each. This dew claw surgery will be $1500...about. holy crap!!!
Holy Crap is Right! I am shocked at this!!!
so here's my two bits & it really is a moment of "if I were in your shoes..."
with all that I have read from your situation and everyone's thoughts on this, knowing that the amputated toes did not work... will the amputation of the dew claw work...
i know that Stewie's full front limb amputation has taken us a little over $2000 (Canadian) with everything on the scale...? Honestly, I would be seriously thinking of full amputation! There are a few too many what ifs...
i am so sorry that you are forced into a corner like this, but time to shake everything off and follow your heart. Let logic do the talking and let your heart take you there! I'm sure you will hear views from others, listen to them all and sleep on it all...
our thought will be with you and Maddy
Sloppy kisses👅 from Stewie🐾, his Mum & Dad & his feline siblings, Spike🐾 Chester🐾 & Miss Lily🐾❤️
Remember...“live in the moment!“ 
I second that! Murphy's amputation surgery was right about $2600 for his front leg. There is a thread that talks about the costs here: http://tripawds.....1/page-12/
I started it on the last page of the post, so you can go backwards from that page (providing I posted it correctly! lol) But it does seem to me that combined with what you've already spent & another $1500, that may not be the end of things, so you could end up at amputation anyways.
Murphy was 7 years old when he was diagnosed with bone cancer. He was perfectly healthy aside from being in pain. My husband & I both thought, how could we put him to sleep just because he was in pain in 1 leg? His turned out not to be osteosarcoma, he had histiocytic sarcoma, which is normally very aggressive. We were very blessed to get over 4 more years with Murphy. Since you're not dealing with cancer, you will likely get more than that. Anyone that met Murphy often commented on how happy he seemed - he always had a smile on his face.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Removing the dew claw won't do anything, as whatever this is, is in one of the bones of her foot as well, right above the last toe amputation. The vet is hoping that if we remove the dew claw, and send it to a new lab, that we may be able to find out what the cause is, since it isn't cancer. But yes, we have spent $1600 on the previous 2 toes that were amputated. Add $$ for this surgery and it's over $3000. I have been using Care Credit for all her bills, and we only have about $2800 left, well $1300ish after this surgery. I know amputation will be over $2000. So not sure how that is going to happen, with sending 2 kids to college in 2018. And yes, we may need to amputate anyway after all of this. That is the hard part!!! If it were cancer, this decision would be easy. But there is that chance, that we may discover what the cause is, and be able treat it.
We are trying to preserve her leg, but the testing may come back with nothing. According to the vet "some things don't want to be found". Then we will need to amputate.
Ok, so looking down the road...if we do need to amputate. How long did everyone stay home with their pup after amputation? Of course, I am going back to work next week, after having the summer off (teacher)! I can't take time off already, as the new school year starts.
I need to call the vet again. We were cut off yesterday, as he had an emergency to deal with. And I need to talk to Maddy's human daddy and see if we can figure this out before tomorrow.
Hi Maddy's parents,
Regarding your question about time spent staying at home after amputation - I'm a teacher as well all year round! But I was able to leave my dog at home on his own after amputation when I need to go to work. As long as I make sure he goes out for potty, eats/drinks, takes his pain meds, then he's good to rest while I'm out. I kept him in a small room, where he mostly lays and sleeps anyways. I think being on the heavy doses of pain meds helped my dog rest better while I was away from home, especially that Tramadol. I have a home camera that I set up in the room my dog was staying in, and I'd check frequently throughout the day, he would only get up to either move to another laying spot, or get a drink of water, or bark at the front door from the doorbell. He couldn't do so much needing to have the e-collar on anyways.
Hope this helps!
-Draco's dad- RJ
Wendel had his amputation two weeks ago tomorrow....and we are still waiting for the results from the biopsy. We were in the same boat...costs were adding up and we were not getting any definitive answers. We had spent approximately $8000 on surgeries, biopsies and several set of x-rays when we decided to proceed with amputation.
We were also able to return to work right away...granted my husband works shift work and I am able to run home at lunch. Wendel spent most of the first week sleeping, and we kept a t-shirt on him to protect his stitches. He is now running around and pain free. His stitches come out on Friday. We were surprised at how resilient he was.
So the dew claw/bone was "biopsied" today? How is Maddy doing? How long before you will get the results?
We all hope whatever "it"'is, is something "treatable". Did the Vet offer any suggestions what "it" may be that would be treatable? And what would the "treatment" be if it isn't amputation?
Should the end result be that you do need to proceed with amputation, as scary as it sounds, dogs really acapt very well on three legs. That's not to say recovery is a picnic....nope...not a picnic for a couple of weeks. But we will all be right by your side if that's the path you have to take! YOU ARE. IT ALONE NOW....AND YOU WON'T BE ALONE THEN, OKAY???
Back to your question. Every dog is different and every rexovery is different. It was just my self with my Happy Hannah and, if I recall, I was home with her for the first five or six days. When I did have to go back to work, my schedule was such that she never went more than eight hrs without me....or her meds. I live in a rural area and didn't really have access to anyone who could chexk on her.
In Happy Hannah's case, I never had to worry about her chewing at her incision (very lucky in that regard) and my "living area" is very small anyway, so I didn't worry about her wandering around too much. She never knew what a "crate" was
Ideally, if you could stay home for the first three or four days, that would be ihreat. I know that's not always possible. If you have a friend or family member or could check in on her several times during the day to deal with potty breaks, opills, and "comfort" time, that would be the next best solution.
For now though, just keep things chunked down! You may not even need to go the amputation route! IF you do, as I mentioned earlier, we are all here to help you navigate through the recovery!
Update when you can!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
I picked her up from the vet today. It was a very stressful day! 
Stewie sends healing hugs to you Maddy! Poor darling she has been through a lot and so have you! Try to go and chill somewhere while Maddy is zonked out...
take very good care of yourselves and please keep us updated on Maddy's recovery. It's amazing how one can become concerned about another being, when you haven't met them, but I guess when we are all being so real with each other, we can't help but care!
Many hugs from Stewie🐾❤️
& all the very best from his adoring pack! 🐾🐾🐾❤️
Maddy is so sweet....OMD! Although she certainly is zonked out, Maddy still looks so beautiful and so sweet and gentle! 🙂
IF she does have to have an amputation, I would ask the Vet for a $1,500 credit for dew claw removal!! I mean, heck, if he gave you a $3,000 quote BEFORE the dew claw removal....well...it stands ro reason that the remaining part of the surgery should only cost $1,500!! Just sayn'......:-)
Try and get some rest tonight. Maddy should stay zonkedmiut for awhile longer so you both can catch up on rest! And yeah, IFyou do have to do the amputation, a bit of time inbetween all those surgeries sounds like a good idea.
In the meanrime, paws crossed for a good ole' bacteria of some sort treatable with a special antibiotic! 🙂
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
Sending all the positive energy of the universe along with hugs and prayers you finally get an answer on sweet Maddys foot issue. It's been a long road already for you both so hoping you can get some good news this time!
Hi Maddy's mom. Chiming in with a few thoughts while your adorable Maddy recovers and you await the biopsy results. I'm an MRI tech and we scan patients for osteomyelitis (bone infection) all the time. Bone infections are very hard to treat in people, mostly because they are common in diabetics who have poor blood flow. The human patients that do the best are the ones who get diagnosed early. Unfortunately, you've had an extended battle already. With people, they often have to resort to IV antibiotics. I'm not sure if they do that with dogs, but it might require a lengthy hospital stay I would imagine. When osteomyelitis in people does not respond to treatment amputation is the required next step.
As far as amputation goes, yes, it's expensive. I struggled with the decision based on finances as a single woman with 2 kids in college, but I was lucky to get a discount by having students do the surgery at a nearby Vet School. It's not a complicated surgery and they are supervised by an experienced surgeon. It doesn't really require a specialist. Just a thought if you have a vet school within reach. They would also likely be willing to offer you a second opinion on Maddy's obviously mysterious problem. Vet schools see a lot more strange stuff than our regular vets do.
At least amputation would take care of the problem for good and you don't have to worry about the added expense of chemo. Goodness knows dogs do amazingly well on 3 legs. I didn't believe it until mine hopped to my truck less than 24 hrs after surgery!
For now, lets hope it a bacterial problem and they can direct treatment with the correct antibiotics!
Nancy
Nancy- mom to the FABULOUS Fionn. He rescued me in 2015 when he was 6.
Right front leg amputation at age 7 for osteosarcoma 10/6/16. Taken too soon 6/12/17. Read about our journey here:
http://fionnsjo.....pawds.com/
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