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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My 6 year old orange cat Teddy is getting his front left leg amputated Thursday due to cancer. I'm a nervous wreck about and so glad I found this site to help ease my mind! Any advice or "what to looks fors" would be greatly appreciated!
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I hope you have seen some of the trikitty blogs on this site, lots of stories to ease your mind, stay tuned for some of those cat parents to post here.
From what I've seen here cats do very well after amputation, they tend to adapt even quicker than dogs.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Teddy and family, welcome to the club nopawdy wants to join. Your future posts won't need approval so post away.
I'm sorry to hear about the amputation. What kind of cancer are you dealing with?
We're glad you found us too! Have you seen all of our lTriKitty bloggers? You'll find lots of inspawrational posts there.
And here's a post about front-leg TriCats that you might find helpful:
Front Leg Tripawd Cat Tips and Tricks
My biggest piece of advice is to make sure you get good pain medication for Teddy so when he comes home he'll be nice and relaxed. Ask your vet what pain meds he will get, what kind of side effects to look out for, and who you can call at 12 midnight if you are worried about something. Of course you can call our Tripawds Helpline too for moral support OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi, I am so sorry you have to join us but we certainly welcome you to the tripawd family. I was scared for my Bandit as well and today is stitch removal. Last night he showed us "he's back". Same focus when looking at the ball. Ready to rock n' roll when the vet says go! There are a lot of great people on this site and they have loads of experience. Just ask questions! Hang in there. Bandit and Deb
Hi and welcome !!!
I know it all sounds pretty scary right now but after it is all done you will see Teddy getting better by the day!
Luckily none of my cats has needed amputation but we lost Martha who was 15 1/2 last year to cancer, such a horrible disease!
The good news in your case is you can amputate so the pain will be gone instantly.
I have a very close friend whose cat Babette is going to be 20 in a few months (hurrah!) and had her front leg amputated when she was about two due to an accident. She was fully recovered before you can say "tuna steaks", climbed trees and run around on three legs as if she was born with three to start with !
I am sorry I cannot give you much specific advise because my girl is a great dane so a totally different breed and size.
But I would say make sure you trust your vet and follow the instructions to the T during the first few weeks, especially medication.
The other good thing to do is to keep a record of how much and how often she eats and drinks and when she pees and poos.
Water is terribly important so if she stops drinking talk to your vet asap, I am giving my girl water with a syringe as she stopped drinking 2 weeks after the operation.
Good luck for both, Teddy will be hoping around before you even know it 
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Thanks for the warm welcome! Night one was kind of rough but we made it. His pain medicine is chicken flavored so he didn't seem to mind it! When we first got home, Teddy seemed happy to be home...rolled around, ate, drank used his box. He's much more mellow this AM, just kind of laying there. Makes me so sad! His bandage is kind of messed up due to scooting around....might have to call my vet and check on that! Thanks for your advice and suggestions, much appreciated!
teresa and teddy
Oh you are also called Teresa 
Do not worry about him being mellow right now, it is all normal given what he has gone through ... and it is still early days ... but everything will get better and better.
Try not to feel sad (easier said than done, I know...) because he will pick up on your energy and worry for you. You want to be in control here, loving control. That will make him feel better for sure. It is sometimes terribly difficult and whenever I felt desperate looking at my girl I then learned to walk out of the room to calm down as I notice she would look worried back at me, her eyes were showing it.
It is so, so, so important to have a positive attitude and cheerful tone opposed to pity the situation and feel sad (guilty as charged here!)
Keep up the good work, sending you both all my love and slobbers from miss cow
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Oh, how about getting a small t-shirt on him to protect the wound? It is very hygienic and they generally feel comfortable Loads of people have tried that with their dogs (me included) so it should also work with cats.
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Oh glad he's doing alright. Remember, sleeping heals, so that's good. Try not to be sad, think of it as his body mending.
A really useful thing that others have done with cats is to put a baby onsie on them.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Catching up on your cutie pie Teddy!
Yep, rest, rest, rest. And you try and get some too!
No, don't feel sad. You are giving Teddy a chance for a pain free life with more spoiling and loving and chicken flavored treats! Recovery is no picnic for a couple of weeks. It sounds like you have Teddy's pain managed and keeping him comfortable. Good job!
STAY CONNECTED! We are right by yiur side and looking forward to more great updates! 🙂
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'm also catching up with Tripawd Teddy. Welcome. My cat Mona also is a front leg amputee and two years later she is still doing great.
Rejoice when Teddy is mellow, he's using this time for healing. Mona would go from sleeping and worming around the floor to racing around the house. I think she went a little nutty from the pain meds. She also chose to pee in strange places. Teddy's behavior sounds "normal". Mona did not have a bandage or wear a cone but I would make sure her drain and surgical site was always clean by using s cool damp cloth.
The vet sent Mona home with wet kitten food and she loved it. When cats eat wet food they don't need as much water.
Let us know if you have any questions. Happy healing!
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
p.s. Teddy is very handsome. Love those orange tabbies.
Thank you! You're kind messages are tearing me! This has been hard and I'm doing it mostly on my own....I have a couple people to help when needed. Teddy seemed good today, even walking and purring! I'm concerned about his lack of going to the bathroom (1 and 2). He's eating wet food and drinking some today so I don't feel he's dehydrated. Anyone else experience that??
Thanks!
With dogs, many do not poop right away - totally normal after major surgery. I would expect the same with cats. I might speak to the vet if he doesn't pee soon. Any concerns with the litter box? My cats boxes both require them to step over a three inch threshold, which might be scary for a new Tripawd. At one point, I used the top of a bankers box lined with a garbage bag to make an easily accessible box for a cat. Is the box close to Teddy? Does he look at it or seem at all interested? Is he drinking?
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
His normal box is tall so I have smaller one for him to use now. He doesn't seem to even be interested in going. He is drinking some but mostly just eating his wet food. He doesn't seem to be uncomfortable though either so I don't really know. He only went once yesterday but he went a lot, like he was saving it up or something! I have put him in the box myself a couple times and he gets back out....he doesn't even try to go
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