Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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So, Mr. Gator had his first lump today. I had noticed it when I first got him, but then couldn't find it again so figured that I was just being neurotic. Went to the vet today for (another) ear infection, and while we were there (and Gator was quivering in my lap, all 111 pounds of him), I found the mystery lump again. The vet swabs the ears and draws fluid from the lump, and then comes back telling me that he has good news and bad news. He then proceeds to tell me that Gator has an ear infection in both ears, but that it is very mild. I am in a panic now - I ask him what the bad news is, thinking it has to be something with the lump. (And I am already thinking that, as scared as Gator is at the vet, how could he handle oncology visits and potential surgery?) The vet looks at me kind of funny, and says that was the bad news. The lump is a harmless lipoma, although under a thin layer of muscle so it feels a bit harder than you would expect. Sigh of relief. 
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.
OMD! I'm sure your heart was in your throat!!! We need to give that Vet a quick course in how NOT to talk about "good news and bad news" around anyone who's been on this journey!!
Yeah, to the "rest of the world", I guess ear infections are bad news. To us...GREAT NEWS!!! YAY FOR EAR INFECTIONS!! 🙂 🙂 And we loooove lipomas!!!!
111 lb quivering lap dog that feels safe in his Mom's arms....awww
So glad everything is okay!
Love!
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!
Great news, as a matter of fact! We deal with periodic ear infections, too. It's the nature of the beast, I guess. So glad, though, to see how Gator has become "your" dog. It just warms the heart, doesn't it?
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Oh my gosh!! My heart dropped, too! Glad it's nothing serious.
Max constantly has ear infections. The vet swabbed before & it's yeast, so we keep a bottle of cleaning solution handy & a tube of ointment. At least once a week I squirt some in one of his ears - whichever one is red/stinky/or he's scratching at. lol
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Tell your vet to stop messing with us neurotic canine and feline cancer parents!!!
So happy the news is so good (and love the image on your quivering 111 lb lapdog)!
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.
Yeah for harmless lipoma, 👏🏻
Sorry Gator has two earaches! Although we love anything that is not the C!
OUR swirling, whirling, minds are our worst enemy. Easy to go there!
We are all SO relieved and Happy for you and Mr. Gator!
Hugs!
Holly & Purrkins
Glad it was nothing - I hate those lipomas! Nitro has about a dozen at least. By the way, I would've had the exact same response as you - "so what's the bad news?" Our view has been forever changed by cancer.
Paula and Nitro
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
Poor Gator just can't catch a break. You will remember that I am still treating the ear infections diagnosed last week. Yesterday, he started coughing right after dinner. It continued and appeared to be getting worse, so off we go to the emergency vet at 4 a.m. Interestingly, the same vet who was involved in Otis' diagnosis and in Tess' passing. So now he has kennel cough, likely from day care. Unfortunately, all my careful plans for him in connection with my upcoming trip are now trashed since I leave one day before his 14 day all clear. The e-vet has a boarding service, with isolation for that one night, but I was working so hard to get him comfortable at day care so that the whole boarding experience would not be too traumatic. Poor guy.
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.
I'm sorry to hear this. That must be really frustrating. I can't help thinking it's a bit like, you know if you've been through a really stressful period, as soon as you get a bit of time to relax, you suddenly start going down with things? Now Gators in his forever home, hes able finally to relax and his immunity is catching up. Probably nonsense, but that's what it makes me think of.
Is there anyone who could look after him for that single day and then deliver him to daycare? Or is that what the e vet is able to do? I'm just thinking aloud. You'll obviously have thought of all this yourself. Anyway, sorry your plans have been scuppered, when you'd planned it so carefully.
Meg, Clare and Elsie Pie xxx
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, November 2023, adopted January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Elsie Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
Kennel cough is so frustrating! You vaccinate against it because so many facilities require you to, but since it's like a cold, your pup gets it anyway. It's like keeping a bunch of kindergartners from passing bugs around. And to make it worse, they are contagious before the symptoms are obvious.
Ollie picked it up last year, most likely at the dog park. It was so hard listening to him hack away. We did find that about a half teaspoon of honey (the whipped kind) would help calm it somewhat. I suppose regular honey would work the same, but the whipped stuff required that he lick it off of the spoon. It seemed that the gradual dose worked better.
Here's hoping he feels better soon.
Kathi and the Turbotail April Angel...and the Labradork
Murphy is a five year old Lab/Chessie cross. He was hit by a car on 10/29/12 and became a Tripawd on 11/24/12. On 2/5/13, he had a total hip replacement on his remaining back leg. He has absolutely no idea that he has only three legs!
UPDATE: Murphy lived his life to the fullest, right up until an aggressive bone lesion took him across the Rainbow Bridge on April 9, 2015 and he gained his membership in the April Angels. Run free, my love. You deserve it!
Oh poor kid! And poor you, that's a lot of time in the ER, I'm so sorry. Just glad it was caught and is now being treated. He's a resilient doggie, I'll bet he'll bounce back quickly.
I second a home-visit from a professional pet sitter, could that work?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Drat!! I saw new post under GATOR and I though for sure it would be a smile maker WITH another great picture! Bummer!
I think Clare made a good point about all the stress leading up to Gator finding his furever home with you could, indeed, have set his immune system back a bit. It's kind of a holostic thing. All these little issues are now going to kick his immune system I to high gear again. YAY!
Try the whipped honey. Even if it doesn't work, he'll love it! 🙂
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Could we still jave a picture anyway...PLLLLLEEEEEASE?
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!
Gator loves honey.🐝 Unfortunately, it only calms the cough for about 2 seconds. But Gator loves honey!
Spoke to the day care manager. If the cough clears up as the vet predicts, they are still willing to board him. They are very understanding of his history and abandonment related anxiety, and he will be 13 days out. The cough still sounds horrible, kind of what I had imagined would happen with mets. The cough medicine works. He just seems to need it every 4 hours, which is a problem considering He is alone for 7 hours this week. Vet said that the cough would continue for a couple of days, so I'm not sure why I was hoping he'd be all better after a day of rest. I have a bag of leftover K9 Immunity that I was giving as a treat now and then - I will start giving the rest of the bag more regularly.
Poor guy. But, as soon as the cough medicine kicked in, he brought his gator toy to bed.
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.
Awww Gator. You know we are all head over heels in love with you. And that visual of you taking your Gator toy to bed for a snuggle...yeah.....in love!
BTW....the blog pictures ...priceless!
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 wonder if there's a longer-lasting cough med your vet can recommend so you can get some sleep?
That's awesome they'll still board him. Of COURSE he'll get over this, he's Gator!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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