Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Zoe had a rear leg amputation one week ago. A few days age we noticed her other rear leg and paw are uniformly swollen, as is her vulva/perineal area. She has been doing a lot of licking on the paw, and I noticed there is a sore on the bottom of her lower leg. It may be slightly warm to the touch, but it could just be my imagination. So...I'm wondering of this could be just fluid draining from pockets of fluid that were on her chest after the surgery, or is it more likely infection? Our credit card maxed out at the surgery so money is on the mind...hate to go if the odds are it's nothing.
Oh poor Zoe! We aren't vets, so we can't even imagine what it could be. But we have had some Tripawds here with swelling issues after surgery, and usually it went away on it's own. We really hope the same holds true for Zoe. Hopefully our favorite vet, Pam, can give you some ideas as to what it could be. Good luck. Pawsitive thoughts coming your way...
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Zoesmum,
I´m no vet, but we had the same after front ampu and it eventually did go away after we started giving Hori medication for the heart. It seems that the swelling came from bad circulation.
She had no heart disease previos amputation, but it evolved quite rapidly afterwards. First you only could hear a slight disrythmia although nothing showed on the electrocardiogramm.
Cold compresses helped a lot to keep her painfree, as she didn´t want to put her weight on the leg (with the other one missing, this resulted in not moving
)
Hugs and good luck,
Cecilia & Spirit Hori
Spirit Horacia, Castaño, Olympia + human family Cecilia, Georg and Julia - - - Hori first diagnosed 8/6/09, ampu 8/12/09, run over the bridge 9/10/09 – We miss you every day dear girl!
Hello Zoesmom, I'm so sorry to hear about the swelling in Zoe's leg. My Angus had a swelling problem after his amputation, twice, as a matter of fact. The doctor called it an "Edema". Angus caught an infection from the hospital, after his amputation and had to go back to the hospital, but while he was there he didn't want to get up and walk so his other leg swelled. The first time it swelled it was because of circulation. Eventually the swelling came down when they got him up walking around. The second time it swelled up was when the doctor bandaged his wound too tight at the hospital when they were trying to clear up the infection. When he wasn't walking around they had to do therapy on him at the vet hospital because it ballooned up almost twice the size of his normal paw size.
My thoughts and prayers are with you that the swelling will come down for Zoe very soon
Mary and My Guardian Angel Angus
I'm trying to visualize what you describe. I can try to describe what Raven had: The first few days there was fluid retention/swelling along the ventral line of his chest, it then extended back to his crotch, even his penis was enlarged. He is a front leg amputee. There was no drain in the incision, and it turns out it is fairly normal to have draining, and that had nowhere to go. The vet explained that all the blood supply that went to that leg now has to figure out a new place to go and reroute itself.
Then, the more advanced stage of this after a week was that the other front leg swelled. This was not the same "water balloon" feel, but more of a firm enlarged leg. It was now a seroma issue (google it if you don't know). My vet said the way to tell was to press my fingers across his leg and when removed, they would leave a "print" dent. Like playdough. It would take a few minutes to inflate again. After doing pressure bandages and hot compresses, we finally resorted in the 2-3 week range to Lasix (diuretic) and inserting a drain tube, and the seroma finally went away.
As for the sore you mention...Could it be a pressure ulcer? Raven got one right way on his elbow of the remaining leg because it was taking all the weight when he would lay down. And there's no padding there. We had to get him a Dogleggs for Amputees (do a search), it's a custom made sleeve with a padding insert, that got it to heal and he'll wear for life to prevent it's return.
Looking forward to updates from you!
Dawn and Raven
 Rottie Raven, osteosarcoma at 8-1/2 years old, amputation in October '09 and in February '10 due to liver mets he went back to heaven where he came from.  raven.tripawds.com
Now I have Miles, rottie mix amputee from a shelter and traveled 1500 miles to find his way here through the Rescue Railroad thanks to tripawds.com. Â miles.tripawds.com
I don't have any answers either and I hope everything is okay, but I wanted to mention that you could possible apply for a CareCredit card if you don't have one. Most vets take the card and it is just for medical expenses. It's thru GE financial (I think) http://www.care.....index.html
It's an instant approval online or it was with me. Even if you don't need it, it may give you peace of mind. The credit card companies are furorious; lowering limits and raising interest rates!
Best of luck, Zoe! Keep the updates coming.
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.
Most likely the swelling is edema due to increased stress on the leg. Other causes of edema include heart disease or tumor metastasis to the chest but this would be fairly rare. Is your dog still on an NSAID like Rimadyl? Sometimes that helps as well as cold compresses. My dog developed a pressure sore on her opposite forelimb during her first few weeks following amputation so she had to wear a bootie to help it heal.
Pam
Thank you all! Zoe's leg is no longer swollen. 😀
I think it was probably the circulation issue that some of you mentioned. The sore is still on her leg and i'll use all your insight to figure that out, but I think it can wait until I see the vet in a week for bandage/stitch removal.
Thanks!
Whew! I am so glad to hear the swelling is gone! Emily was a rear leg amputee, too. Thanks for keeping us posted. Still praying.
Debra & Angel Emily
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
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