Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi,
Our (almost) 8 year old sheppard/malumute cross dog was hit by a car nearly 3 weeks ago. Her pelvis was broken in 4 places and there's been an issue with her hip popping in and out. The vet discussed all the options available to us once her pelvis heals to address her hip issue. Currently they are pushing towards FHO. I'm not sure this is the right option for her, she's highly active, 65 lbs and not doing well having to rest. From what I understand about FHO it's not recommended for dogs over 45 lbs, requires 6 months to heal, she would have a permanent limp and could/would possibly require further surgery.
It breaks my heart watching her in pain and not being able to get around, I guess I'd like to hear from others if it's wrong to jump to amputating her leg to eliminate her from ever having to suffer in pain again due to her hip.
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I'm sorry to hear about Misha's accident.
I've never dealt with hip issues so I don't have much to share. Angel Murphy was a tripawd when he had hip surgery, Murph was also hit by a car, you should hear from his mom soon.
Stay tuned for input from others.
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
My dobie, Sadie, was hit by a car almost one month ago. She had an open fracture of her radius and ulna. In her case, we had the choice of plating the leg or amputation. I chose to amputate, rather than try to save the leg. As hard as it's been, I feel that it was the best deicsion in a bad situation.
For me, what I considered was the risk of complications, the recovery time and the long term results. IF she had no complications, the plating would have given her the best results, long term. However, because of the nature of the fracture, she was high risk for infection of the bone at the fracture site, and that would, at best, lengthen a long recovery time and, at worst, the infection could spread and kill her if she developed gangrene, though if it spread, it would more likely result in amputation anyway. In my case, the only one really optimistic about the results of plating was the surgeon. The ER vet and my regular vet were both of the opinion that the infection issue made the chances of plating working much less likely.
The recovery time was also a big factor. The recovery for plating was 4x as long, again, IF there were no complications. And Sadie went stir crazy by the end of her amputation recovery, so I have no idea how I could have gotten her through the longer time length. As it is, she put her mind to figuring out how to open the door on the room where I was confining her, and now she's prone to opening the door to my bedroom in the middle of the night and getting a squeaky ball to chew on on my bed.
Each dog and each family is different. You know your dog best. Don't be afraid to ask hard questions. If the vet thinks Misha is a good candidate for FHO, ask about the impact of her weight. Ask about what the potential complications are if you are unable to keep her quiet. Listen to what your vert has to say. And then make the choice that is right for your family.
So glad you posted, Terrie. I wanted to point Meishasmom to Sadie's story!
Meishasmom, you may find some other stories that have bearing on your circumstances with Meisha in the "Beyond Cancer" section of the forum which is about amputation for reasons other than cancer (injuries).
Sorry about her accident - you and Terrie must both be so traumatized by that, as well.
Edited to add: I found a lot of forum threads on FHO using search - click on link!
Lisa, Minneapolis
On October 27, 2016, nearly 6 months after amputation, and 18 months since his cancer likely started, we lost Pofi to a recurrence of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in his spine quite suddenly. His canine sister also succumbed to cancer on March 1, 2019 - we lavished her with our love in the interim, but life was never quite the same without her only real canine friend. Cliff kitty had to leave us, too, suddenly, in August 2019. Lucia kitty grieved all these losses, but helped us welcome two new Lurchers into our home and our lives, Shae and Barley.
Sorry you are faced with this challenge. BTW, her avatar picture is beautiful!
I can't speak directly to your situation. Terrie gave you some EXCELLENT insight into her thought process as to why they went ahead with amputation for Sadie. We have seen many situw here wher amputation was the ultimate solution due to the exact reasons she mentioned.
As Karen said, Murphy had hip surgery even AFTER being a tripawd! It was not easy, but doable. Obviously, amputation was off the table as he was already a tripawd. Had he been a four legger woukd she have selected amputation???
Keep js posted. Should you decide on amputation you could not be in a better place for suplort, information and understanding.
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!
Oh my gosh she looks like a sweetie. Sorry you're going through this tough time.
It's a tough call for sure. Removing the leg means she'll have other issues to deal with as she ages, while FHO could avoid those issues. Then again we've seen FHOs lead to amputation anyways.
Is your vet an orthopedic specialist? This is where a board-certified ortho doc's opinion is like gold. I would get that opinion asap if you haven't already.
If you do consider amputation, keep in mind she could be a very good candidate for a prosthesis. You wouldn't have to remove the whole leg and doing so would eliminate a lot of issues later in life.
Here are some links about prosthetics .
http://tripawds.....orthopets/
And info about remaining leg surgeries on Tripawds, which kind of applies in your situation:
Remaining Limb Surgery Recovery for Tripawds
Thanks for sharing that link, Hester!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I would like to thank everyone for their responses, you gave me a lot to consider.
@Terrie, looks like our girls had accidents within a week of each other.
Meish started getting cabin fever within a week of being confined, she hates being still this is how we ended up in this situation. The vet added benadryl to her regime of pain killers to try and keep her still, honestly they're not working.
@Hester: Thank you for suggesting Beyond Cancer, I had skipped looking through the posts their because I thought it was for Cancer aftercare. Between the posts there and the you tube videos it made the FHO surgery a little easier to accept seeing that dogs a bit larger than Meish have several good years with the surgery.
@ Sally: Thank you, that's one of my favorite pics of her when she was a baby, she still thinks that seat on the atv is her's lol
@ Jerry: Thank you. That's my major concern about the FHO surgery that she'll end up needing an amputation shortly afterwards due to her inability to remain calm. Unfortunately we live in the middle of nowhere in Northern Ontario. Our village vet is not well liked so we drove her 40 minutes to the best vet around here, the orthopedic surgeon apparently only comes up once a month for 2 days for consults and surgery. We are booked to have a consult on the 21st of July.
***2nd vet visit: Hip joint is still completely dislocated, and now there are concerns about nerve damage to her foot (it doesn't flex back after it's been pushed under)
Hey there,
So sorry to hear about your dog's injury. It's never easy making these decisions, but it's the responsibility we took on when we let them into our hearts.
I for one am a supporter of the FHO surgery. I've been in the vet and holistic animal world for 15+ years and somehow keep bringing home broken animals, so I've gone through the recovery process for both a FHO and an amputation, and I don't think the amputation is an easier option. Here are a few things to consider with regards to the rehab, with a FHO they can start using the leg as soon as surgery is completed (if they want to that is), of course no running or jumping for 6 or more weeks, where's with an amputation the remaining leg is left to bare all the weight and is weak. It's not uncommon for knees to blow out while the muscles strengthen, which of course may require surgery.
I'm not sure who told you that they would alway have limp, but that's inaccurate information. Every animal is different and all outcomes are different. They may never retain full range of motion, and they may occasionally get a little hitch in their giddy up, but they can most definitely return to normal activity with normal use of all 4 limbs.
I completely hear your concerns about keeping your dog calm, when my dog had her FHO she was 6 mos old, try telling a puppy that she can't play and have fun....yeah right! But a necessary evil, and you'd have to do the same regardless of which surgery you decide to have done. A FHO doesn't necessarily take 6 mos with no activity, basically it's 6 weeks of kenneling and leash walks only. Then after released from the doctor, they can slowly return to normal activity. It may take up to 6 mos or more to return to normal, but that doesn't mean she can't still enjoy her life. The other option to decrease recovery time is finding a rehab pool in your area. This will strengthen muscles way faster than just walking and retain some of that lost range of motion. Here's a directory that may help you locate one closer to you: http://members......b.org/ACWT
Now obviously do what best fits your life and situation, but I am truly a believer that if we can save the leg then we owe it to them to do all we can. Yes they adapt, yes they do pretty much just fine without the leg, but we're still taking a limb from them and they can't rationalize why we're doing it.
My girl had her FHO 10 years ago, and she's doing fantastic!! She does have some arthritis in the other hip (this nice thing about a FHO is the joint is gone, no chance of arthritis in that hip!!) but then again she's almost 11 and she'd probably have it anyways, but I started her on glucosamine very young and she gets her CBD oil and occasional tramdol so she's pretty darn comfortable. I am so glad I kept the leg and gave her a chance at being a 4 legged dog.
Last thing I'd recommend, the only doctor that should be doing this surgery should be a boarded ortho surgeon.
Best wishes to you guys!
Kim & Feebe
So sorry to hear of your dogs injury. Our Tripawd Chuy is missing his left front leg. When he was 8 mths. old he fractured the femur on his left rear leg and we did FHO surgery on him. Chuy is a Chow/Husky/Newfie mix and weighs about 63 lbs. It took him 8 wks to recover from the surgery itself, 6 mths of physical therapy and he is just like a normal dog. If you can avoid amputating I would do the FHO by all means. You should be able to find Chuy's story here on the site, or you may read about him on his blog.
http://chuymalo.....pawds.com/
Whatever you choose to do, I wish you luck and love.
Eleanor and Chuy
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
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