Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Will be keeping Riggs in our thoughts and praying for great news tomorrow!
Just heard from Greg. Apparently a LONG time ago, Riggs chipped a piece off the bone at his growth plate and that fragment is the bone/lump we found in the middle of his front leg. It is no cause for concern. BUT, when one of the bones in the front leg chips like this in a growing puppy, it can/usually causes the two leg bones (ulna & radius) to grow unevenly and can cause problems later with dislocating elbow. Right now the difference appears minimal, but he is growing by leaps and bounds, so it will likely get worse. So, the surgeon is having his radiologist look at it, and if he recommends we will have to do surgery next week to have them repair the bone so it can fill in normally (and while he's in there, he will remove this fragment so we don't have to worry about Riggs bumping and irritating it in the future). Says the surgery recovery is minimal - about three weeks. All in all good news. But they just came off of a 14 day rest/cone period due to neuter surgery and I don't know that any of us can survive another 3 weeks of inactivity...
Sally and Lori, you guys need to go to vet school - you were exactly right with your diagnosis!!! 
Thank you all for the good thoughts!
Lisa
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
Yay, you can breathe a sigh. I know not the best diagnosis but not the worst either. Way to diagnosis ladies. Surgery now will be less harsh than later on right? I know not easy keeping a puppy quiet. Not looking forward to having to do that with the girls
Keep us informed
Hugs
Michelle & Angel Sassy
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Can you feel the collective SIGH of relief across the Tripawds nation?!? Glad it's something that can be fixed...
And I hear you on inactivity... if I had to put Jasper on "bed rest" I would for sure become an alcoholic to deal. I cant' handle one day w/her when she hasn't had her 2 -3 mile walks!
HUGS!!!
alison with the spirit of shelby fur-ever in her heart (and little jasper too)
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
OHHHHHHH. YEAH.....RIGGS IS GONNA BE JUST FINE!! YAAAAAAAAAY. AND. YAAAAAAAAAY. AND. YAAAAAAAAAY FOR RIGGS!!!
Wish Riggs didn't have to go through more surgery and more "bed rest"!!
I would love to hear what Dr. Pam has to say about this andmif she s ever encountered something similar.
Riggs is mighty lucky to be in your furever home!! Zeus knew he needed you!!
Hugs and love!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
Whew! Well now we're all gonna breathe and wish you the best of luck keeping that crazy puppy calm while recuperating from the surgery!
The things ya learn here, who knew that this kind of condition could happen. Just so glad that it's not worse. YAY!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Yay!! So happy to hear this news! I know, another surgery, but a fixable problem. Probably good to take care of it now as he is so young and will heal quickly. Riggs is so fortunate to have you for a pawrent. Keep us posted on how his surgery goes. Hugs, Lori, Ty & the canine 3
TY GUY, Best Black Lab ever! Diagnosed and had amp in January, 2014. Kicked MRSA's butt. Earned his angel wings on April 16, 2014. Run Free my boy and don't forget a shoe. Ty is a proud member of the " April Angels". Ty sent us Daryl, a Tripawd rescue in Sept. of 2016. Daryl is 5 +or -. We are also Pawrents to Chandler, a Border Collie mix who is 15 and 1/2, Lucy, a Corgi who is 7, 2 minis, 2 horses, and a feisty cat named Zoe. Zoe had a non skeletal Osteosarcoma removed in July 2015. No Chemo, she was at least 16. She is going strong although she is now completely blind. She is now close to 20 and her hobbies are eating and sleeping in front of her personal heater.
Well, another twist to this story. Specialist called yesterday after meeting with the radiologist. Good news, bad news. Radiologist thought the difference in the joint was so minimal at this point that surgery is not necessary... right now. Since he still growing, they want to re-xray in one month to see if that has changed any. THEN, he tells me that the radiologist is concerned about the amount of soft-tissue involvement and swelling around the area because she's never seen that. It still could be that he just really bumped that spot, but they are concerned that it is more so they want to do a needle aspirate to the lump. We all know what they are worried about. Trying to figure out how to get him there since it is an hour away and we have already taken so much time off work dealing with this....
Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts.
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
I wish I lived closer to Charlotte because I'd take him for you. Are there any options for another vet to do the procedure who has better hours or a way that your vet can have a tech come in for an early drop off/late pickup? Or a mobile vet that can come to you? Sometimes an office is staffed but not open to the public and they will make exceptions for personal hardships but you have to ask.
Hmm. OK don't panic, better safe than ... at least they're being very conscientious about covering all their bases right? Try not to worry! I hope you'll be able to make that vet visit an easy one. Show your employer a photo of Riggs, how can they be mad about taking some extra time to make sure he's OK, right?
Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I am keeping up with your posts here, and sorry for the ups and downs during this situation with Riggs....but I think that is all it is, just ups and downs, and I have confidence in your vets to pinpoint the problem and take care of it. All of us here in this community, certainly know about the bumps in the road for any of our pups and kitties at any given time, and it wouldn't be normal if we DIDN'T have all these ups and downs with ALL our fur kids, whether 3-legged, or 4-legged!! I am still in the belief that more times than not, that our fur babies are just hitting a minor bump, than having something extremely serious ( such as the "ugly c" ) to deal with.
Keeping you in my thoughts, and hoping for a good and easy resolution to sweet Riggs problem,
Love,
Bonnie & Angel Polly
Only a month or so before Elvis was diagnosed with the malignant lump in his front paw, we noticed one of his rear hocks was swollen and he limped on it. We were told by the e-vet we took him to that we needed to get it checked out for bone cancer. Our primary vet aspirated it and only found joint fluid. We chose to proceed conservatively and honestly I'm glad, because the poor guy has been through the ringer with his cancer diagnosis.
It can still just be soft tissue trauma. Within a few days of treating it, he (Elf) was walking normally and a course of steroids shrunk it considerably. I'm holding out hope this turns out to be the case for your guy too.
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