Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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Molly had her front left leg amputated on Monday. The surgery was successful and she doesn't appear to be in any pain. She eats, drinks, and will walk outside to go the bathroom. But that is the only walking she will do. Maybe I'm over reacting. Is there any problem with her just laying down for a few days following the surgery? Should I encourage her more to get up and walk? Thanks for your help.
Molly's dad said:
Is there any problem with her just laying down for a few days following
the surgery?
Hopefully Dr. Pam Wiltzius (aka: tazzidog) will address any veterinary concerns. But based on experiences here, we would say absolutely not. it is still very early in molly's recovery and she is likely pretty doped up. What pain meds is sho on? You should encourage her to get up on her own when drinking, eating and going potty, but aside from that, let her rest. She needs time to recover.
If you have not already, be sure to bookmark Jerry's Required Reading List for lots of answers to commonly asked amputation recovery questions.
PS: Thanks for joining and starting a blog for Molly. We presume you just joined as mollymae and look forward to following her progress. Please be sure to log in to the forums so your posts appear immediately without requiring moderation.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
It is very normal for dogs to take a while to get back to normal activity following such a major surgery but in general most are doing fairly well after 2 weeks. As long as she is eating and able to get up to go to the bathroom I would not worry. Does her incision look okay? If she is developing swelling or infection she may get a fever which could also make her feel lethargic.
Pam
Molly is currently on Tramadol (50 mg) 3 times a day. Today was a much better day. Surgical area must be itching because she took out a stitch with scratching with her rear leg. Fortunately the veterinarian technician is just a phone call away. That repaired, she seems to be doing better each day. 
Hi Molly's Mom,
It's only been 4 days post op... so it sounds like things are progressing normally... Do you have a T-shirt that Molly can wear, just to prevent any more scratching/chewing at the incision? It would definitely help. The surgery definitely takes alot out of a dog... plus all the pain meds making her loopy. As long as she's eating, drinking and peeing and pooping... things should be OK. She will need her rest the first 2 weeks, while her body heals from the surgery. But you will be so surprised to see how much she improves after 2 weeks. I experienced the same thing with my Jake... Once the 2 weeks passed and the sutures/staples came out... I had a different dog. Jake finally got to go swimming in the pool with Wolfie (his favorite thing to do). But he would get tired alot quicker... and that might be something you notice with Molly. Other dogs here, have done just fine after the 2 weeks... and were almost back to their old selves... Every dog is different.
Sending you a big hug to help get you through the next 2 weeks... Hang in there!!
Angel Jake's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
Welcome Molly!
Sorry about the amputation! What happened? It sounds like you are doing great!
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.
Molly was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma a few weeks ago. We originally weren't going to amputate the leg because we thought it had metastasized into her chest area. But after several tests, we came to the conclusion that it had not. Needless to say, we are thrilled 
that we have gone from Hospice care to surgery recovery and life with Molly for a bit longer.
Molly's Dad
Hi! I saw on your blog that Molly has now started chemo, so I searched for your forum posts to see what her situation was. Daisy had her front left leg amputated 6 weeks ago, and because her chest x-rays were clear, I opted not to follow up with chemo. However, in an article that someone posted recently, I read that the tumors in the lungs can be "micro" sized, so now I'm considering what to do. I'll be interested in following Molly's progress. Can you tell me what type of dog and what age?
Sending healing energy to Molly and wishing you all the best!
Daisy, 12 years young, had left forelimb amp on 5/19/2010 due to osteosarcoma. She left her body behind and joined the other spirit tripawds on 7/16/2010.
So grateful for each day with her!
Lexi (Daisy's momma)
When we did the first x-ray on Gus his chest was clear, but we found spots at about 6 weeks, bummer, so we started with the metronomic therapy using cytoxin and doxycycline along with mushrooms, and I probably won't be doing any more x-rays, I am going to let things take its course from here since my initial plan was no chemo at all. So far we have had no side effects that I can see and Gus is still doing ok, heat gets him some but we try to keep him cool, but he insist on doing his usual stuff at times, so we let him, he has a ball doing it, so why not. Not saying your dog will develop mets that quick, our vet was even surprised at how fast they showed up, we only did the x-ray because he had a lump growing on his neck, but when your on this journey it is something that is always in the back of your mind, when will this crap show up again. Hopefully you will have good luck in that department, Paws up, Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
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