We adopted Buster on December 29, 2007. He has been a pain in the butt ever since, but I wouldnt have it any other way. We celebrate his birthday in July, because we dont know when his birthday actually is, and when we took him for his first wellness visit, the vet told us he was between 7-8 years old, based on his teeth.

He has suffered from skin allergies ever since we've had him. Last summer we finally started him on Atopica, and it has made a world of difference in his life.

About 6 months after we had him, he got a lick granuloma on his front right paw. We had it removed and tested, it wasnt anything to worry about.

This past October, he started licking at his back left paw, the same way he had with the first one. We assumed it was similar, and that with the Atopica, he would eventually stop. Well, he didnt. In November, about a week before thanksgiving, we had the spot removed. It never fully healed. We tried cones on his head, we tried wrapping it up where he couldnt lick at it…By Christmas, we though we were finally seeing results, but by mid January, the swelling had poofed back up. We took him in, had Xrays done, and long story short, finally had a radiologist look at it and determined that the good news was that the cancer had NOT spread to the bone yet, but the bad news was that the leg really should be amputated for his quality of life.

So we had the surgery done yesterday, and I picked him up from the vet about 2 hours ago. He's been sleeping all morning. They gave us lots of drugs for him, and he goes back in 10 days to get the sutchers removed.

I think you're the cutest beagle I've ever seen!  We've had quite a few new member with surgeries in the past 2 days, so you're starting life as a tripawd with a fine group of other doggies :)  That's very good news that your cancer hasn't spread yet, Buster!  You are certainly a trooper for putting up with those annoying spots on your paws (I don't blame you for licking…I would totally do the same thing!).  I had a tumor in my bone, so I had to get my leg taken off.  Give your mommy lots of kisses so she doesn't worry about you, and tell her that having a supply of gabapentin on hand for phantom pain may not be a bad idea either (I got "the phantom" 3 days after surgery.  I was scared and didn't know what to do so I woke my pawrents up in the middle of the night screaming at the top of my lungs).  You will do great, but take it easy for the first couple weeks, mister!  You don't want to have to go back to the hospital for mandatory bed rest like I did just for being too active :P  Keep us updated!!!

<3 Captain Jack (oh, and my human, Laura)

Mama took me for a walk this afternoon. I can tell she's worried about babying me too much, but I showed her that I COULD get up over the two inch stoop to get in the door. Of course, she carries me down the stairs to go potty for now. Maybe after a couple of weeks she wont have to.

I surprised Mama today by walking faster than I've walked in months. Hoppity hoppity hop. She was worried about me being able to potty – but I showed her that I was JUST FINE thankyouverymuch!

The walk wore me out though, so I'm off to take a nap….

Yeah, I've been reading alot. I'm actually, kinda terrified of recovery simply because the wound back in November NEVER healed, and so now I'm scared that this is going to be the same way.

I've been cleaning this morning while he was sleeping. I ran upstairs to grab something and came down to find him licking at the wound. I just about went ballistic I told him NOOO LICKING and I found the plastic cone to put around his neck. I was really hoping I wouldnt have to use it, but he's already showing his pain the butt personality. It looks like at night when we're sleeping and during the day when we arent home, we're going to have to leave the cone on him. The problem with the cone and the paw was that this smart little BUGGER figured out how to kick his paw way out in front and would position the cone just right, so that he could reach it to lick. At least with this wound, the cone will actually cover it, and he wont be able to reach to lick.

I seriously hope he doesn't develop a habit of licking something else…

Thanks for the info about the weight distribution. I honestly had no idea that most weight is on the front. I assumed that front amputees had it better than back amuptees. Hmm.

Vet said nothing about Chemo. They said it appeared to be contained in the leg, and that by removing the leg, it should be removed completely. I sure hope so…

Well, we've made it two weeks as a Tripawd. Buster had his stitches removed today, and I got some video of him running around. Enjoy!

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