Our 13 month old airedale terrier had double TPO surgery 8 days ago.  The sciatic nerve was damaged during the surgery and her left leg is paralyzed.   We were told Monday the nerve was not severed so there was a fairly good chance the nerve would regenerate and she would regain use of her leg but so far there has been no change, there is no deep pain response in her left leg.  

I was told today that we need to consider amputation if her situation does not change within the next 10 days.  My first reaction is we've done enough harm to her.  I am also concerned that her right hip and leg won't take the stress, that the TPO will fail and she will have more surgeries.  I don't want to put her thru that.  

Here is a link to a case study on my Physical Therapy vets website about a dobe that was paralyzed after neck surgery, it was a long recovery but it worked out in the end.

http://www.ther…..tudies.php

Does your vet think that the surgery to fix the hips was successful? I would think that you would want the other hip to heal before having all the weight on just one leg but maybe they have a different reasoning. Is she getting around on 3 legs and dragging the other?

samson007, in answer to your question about the surgery, when they called last Thursday after the surgery they said everything went very well so I think they felt the hips were going to be fine, that the surgery was successful.  Friday they checked her and realized her left leg was not responding.  Monday they operated again to see what the problem was and found the issue with the sciatic nerve.  She is not walking on her own yet, when they take her out to exercise they use a towel wrapped under her belly to support her.  There is no movement in her left leg below the stifle joint so it is dragging, can't bear any weight.  

She is at Auburn and they are not open on weekends so we haven't seen her since we brought her in for the surgery.  I will be going some time next week.  

If there's any realistic chance of her regaining use of her leg we will do everything within our means to give her that chance.  We speak with one of the folks from Auburn every day, I guess she is the case manager for lack of a better term.  I told her I wanted a memo or something from the surgeon or neurologist detailing Ginger's condition, what their prognosis is, what therapy they've been doing, etc.  I will give this to the rehab facilities we've been speaking with to get their opinion, see if they think they can do anything for her.  We won't make any decision about amputating the leg until we hear from them and from our vet, see what they have to say.  I will read the post you sent, thank you.

We haven't spoke with the surgeon since Monday afternoon when he called to say they wanted to operate again to check the nerve.  My wife spoke with him then and he did express how sorry he was this happened, said he felt awful about it.  It is a teaching hospital, I don't know if he actually did the surgery or if it was a student with him observing but I guess it really doesn't matter. I trust they're doing all they can for her.  I don't know anything about them but our vet said they are very good as did a therapist at one of the rehab facilities I called.  I guess it just happened. 

If it does end up where her leg can't be saved one of the things we're trying to come to terms with is she is just a puppy.  Nine days ago she was able to be a puppy, she was in pain but was coping with it but now she won't be able to do the things she wants to do. When our vet asked me what we intended to do if her leg needed to be removed I told him I couldn't see letting that happen, I'd rather put an end to all this.  I told him I didn't think it was fair to let this happen, take away what ever good years she might have had and then have her deal with it.  He wants us to reconsider, says she can have a good life.  I don't know, is it any harder for a puppy to deal with losing a leg?

I wouldn't worry about the puppy part of this equation.  There's a fair number of puppy tripawds here, I'm sure someone will weigh in but as far as I can tell, they do just fine.  You might want to check out Dexter's thread, 13 weeks old and diagnosed with paralysis in both back legs and he's a front amp: http://tripawds…..on/page-4/

As far as "dealing with it" goes, Ginger will probably deal with whatever you throw at her better than you will (all of us Tripawd owners feel worse about things than our pups do).  As far as she's concerned, this is the normal course of events.  Who cares?  Where's my treat?  Let's play!

Really, we all have this kind of cognitive dissonance about amputating our dog's leg.  Will her life be different?  Well, yes.  Will it be good?  Well, sure – but it will be different.  She won't have a spare, for one thing.  The bigger question I would have is if a dog that size can realistically get around well on three legs having had TPO surgery.  I just don't know what the long-term outcome of that type of surgery is.  But you probably already understand that part.

But don't get ahead of yourself, you might not even need to make this decision!  We're all hoping for the best for Ginger.

Welcome Ginger and Ginger's people,

Tripawd dogs can develop arthritis due to the change in their gait, but even dogs who don't have three legs develop joint problems and arthritis as they age. Being a tripawd doesn't necessarily mean that they WILL develop problems, but it does mean they have a higher than normal possibility of it. However they can live a very full and happy life for many, many years before that happens and some of that can be mitigated by strengthening exercises and joint supplements.

Trust me when I say, we all wrestled with the decision to amputate — we all had the same fears and questions. But I think that all of us here would agree that to put your puppy down simply because you didn't want them to lose their leg would be a mistake. Thousands of us tripawd dogs have thrived on three — and many of us, have done so even while battling cancer. Try to get all the info, ask a million and one questions, and watch your puppy as she learns to live with her current situation. You will be amazed at her resilience and ability to adapt, and then think about her doing it without the awkwardness of the leg just dangling there.

Whatever you decide to do, we're here for you.

Rio's momma, Micki