Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hey everyone...not sure if anyone has any advice or has experienced this, but I thought I would at least try posting this here to see what happens.
Miss Roxy had her leg amputated on January 20th, 2012 and about a week before I brought her home on February 18th, it was discovered that they forgot to remove one of her staples which caused a few abscesses to develop and of course she was put on antibiotics...by the time I brought her home they were all cleared up. However, she keeps developing abscesses on her stump. The first showed up about a week after I got her...I drained it three times during the first day and by the second day it was pretty much gone and healed up within a couple of days...I took her to the vet on that second day and they didn't feel she needed anymore antibiotics because she did not have a fever and it was already looking okay. This second one showed up this morning. It is in a different area than the first one and as you can see in the photo I have already starting draining it, so I am hoping by tomorrow it will be looking better. I have been keeping it clean and using tea tree oil and Vetericyn on it.
Has anyone else come across this kind of a problem? Should I expect this to be an ongoing issue throughout her life or just until the area is completely healed and her hair is grows back? Thanks in advance.
Roxy…Border Collie cross born on approximately October 27th, 2011;
Rescued in January 2012 by Oops a Dazy Rescue & Sanctuary;
Right hind leg amputated on January 20th, 2012 due to a severe spiral fracture;
Adopted on February 21st, 2012 by Teena, a devoted human & Charlee, a purebred BC.
Hugs, tail wags & sloppy kisses
I'm not a vet but I agree that more antibiotics might be doing more harm than good. I think the tea tree oil is a safe way to keep it from getting more infected. I seriously doubt this will continue much longer but I would keep your vet in the loop about this. I wonder what our Dr. Wiltzius (Tripawds favorite vet!) will say?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Teena,
I am most certainly not a vet, but I do remember back when I was researching amputation reading on the web about a similiar situation. With an amputation, there are actually one or two layers of internal stitches that you cannot see, in addition to the outer layer of stitches or staples. In the case I read about, the dog was having a reaction to the internal dissolving stitches. I cannot for the life of me remember the ultimate resolution (whether they had to remove/restitch or if antibiotics worked...) Might be worth asking about...
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/
zeuspod said:
In the case I read about, the dog was having a reaction to the internal dissolving stitches....
Jerry wrote about this in the Tripawds News blog after Wyatt had soft tissue surgery on his stump two years after his amputation
Amputation Surgery Suture Reaction in Dogs
Posted by jerry on Tuesday, July 26th 2011
Three legged Wyatt recovers from soft-tissue surgery at Colorado State University to find infection source at amputation site.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
HA! I knew I read about that SOMEWHERE! 
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/
YIKES! I'm with everyone else - antibiotics and a trip to the vet look in order.
I got my medical degree from Google University.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
It is most likely a suture reaction and some of the sutures are buried deep in the muscle tissue and just have to work their way out. Surgery/antibiotics are sometimes indicated so I would check with your vet.
Pam
Thanks everyone...so as predicted after a day of draining the abscess, it was 100% better the next day 
I called the vet and they agreed that she is obviously having a reaction to the internal sutures and they normally take a wait and see approach. As long as they clear up in a day or two and don't show any signs of a major infection, they will not open her up again or give any more antibiotics.
I have talked to a friend that I highly respect in the holistic pet industry, and we have started Miss Roxy on some immune boosters...so hopefully that, along with a much healthier diet and life style, will help with the issues going on right now and help strengthen her system from her rough start while she was at the reserve.
Here's hoping this will keep things under control
Roxy…Border Collie cross born on approximately October 27th, 2011;
Rescued in January 2012 by Oops a Dazy Rescue & Sanctuary;
Right hind leg amputated on January 20th, 2012 due to a severe spiral fracture;
Adopted on February 21st, 2012 by Teena, a devoted human & Charlee, a purebred BC.
Hugs, tail wags & sloppy kisses
Whew! SO glad to hear things are better. Keep us posted!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Codie Rae had a suture reaction problem with her spay incision. It would improve, and then flair again, and after about the third time the vet went in and pulled the suture. That solved the problem. She also made a note on CR's chart to not use that type of suture material in the future. At the time this was occurring CR seemed to have a compromised immune system where she was getting infections from different things quite regularly. We ran many courses of antibiotics getting it all sorted out. Since she got healthy we no longer have these types of problems. I would say anything you can do to boost Miss Roxy's immune system is a good thing.
Ralph
Good to hear it's gonna be okay!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
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