Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hey everyone, I am new to this site but I have been the proud owner of a pit bull named Aero for two years. He was born with a birth defect in his right front leg that caused it to not fully develop and it is bent completely in towards his stomach (also only has two claws on it). I have never been able to find out what is wrong with him, and the vets always just refer to it as a congenital birth defect. For two years he has been happy and healthy, but I think it is finally starting to go bad. He has been squealing about his little leg and is not acting right. He will complain when nothing is touching it and is not even moving it. It is hard to figure out what I should do when I am not sure what is wrong with him. I was wondering if anyone else has had a pet with a deformity amputation, maybe even with this same problem. I do not see how he could have hurt it considering he doesn't put any pressure on it or even use it. I am a full time student and also do not the money for an amputation, are there any programs out there that could be willing to help me out financially?
Hi Aero and family, welcome to Tripawds. We're glad you joined us and hope we can help you discover what's going on with your boy. Many tripawds members started out with congenital birth defects. I moved your post to this forum because many of their stories are located here, be sure to check them out. Most times when a pawrent has a pup with a birth defect like this, they do end up getting the amputation and many say they wish they would have done it sooner, so it's good that you're paying attention to the symptoms now.
As far as the signs Aero is showing, it sounds like he may have some physical stress from overcompensating. Many dogs will still try to use the bum leg, even if it doesn't work, which results in excess stress on the body. It adds up and manifests as pain and an odd gait.
But we're not vets, so the best place to begin is to get an assessment by a vet. If you haven't done that yet, it's the best place to start. If you can get to a vet with a qualified rehabilitation therapy program even better. Yah, I know it's costly especially when you're finances are limited but I think that there are places that can help. Where are you located? There are low-cost clinics around the country that might be able to help.
This blog post, Financial Resources, can help you get started. Also, have you looked into veterinary schools? They offer very affordable rates and many offer in-house wellness visits.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Aero. What a little champ you are! Just want to say we are here for you and others will chime in with more specific info. relative to your challenges. We can all help you though should you need to amputate. It's so hard to wrap our head around but, as Jerry said in cases like yours, they all wish they had done it sooner!
Get everything checked out first and, regardless of your path, we are all here for you
Best to our and Are! Sally ad Happy Hannah
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!
Yes, I live in Wilmington, NC and not sure what resources we have down here. Like I said, he's been to three different vets now and nobody really knows anything about his defect and haven't seen another dog with one. The closest vet school is in Raleigh, NC but I wouldn't mind driving down there to get it done.
I would have tried to get it done when he was a puppy but his 1st vet told me that unless A.) he tried to chew it off or B.) try to walk on it, then he would be fine. I didn't want it to be removed for aesthetic reasons because I felt if he was okay then I didn't want to put him through something that wasn't necessary.
Do you know if since he has had the little leg for so long that amputating it will mess his balance up even more?
It probably won't affect his balance at all, but if it has any effect it will probably improve.
I'll check with NC State & see if there's any help available there.
Check this link: http://www.cvm......urces.html for resources such as Rose's Fund or Angels for Animals , who provide financial assistance.
There are others listed on this page as well, and I can attest that the doctors at NC State are among the best there are.
edit: not sure why my links never work- is there a trick to posting them?
I have seen multiple dogs with birth defects that sound very similar to what your Aero has. Some people choose to amputate as puppies to avoid problems in the future, some chose to wait and see what happens. Neither option is wrong, but I have to agree with Jerry, that many of them who wait say that they wished they would have done it sooner. Either way, it seems that Aero has come to a point where the leg is no longer comfortable. If you are on the fence about amputation, you may want to see a vet who specializes in orthopedics. They will start with a physical exam and xrays. Xrays will be able to give you and your vet some insight as to how the leg is composed and why it has started hurting all of a sudden. There are many things that could be going on that can't all be diagnosed from physical exam only. Also, I'm not sure if Aero is two years old or you have had him for two years and he is older, but if he is an older pitty I would think cancer in that leg would be on a vet's rule out list, which is another reason that xrays are important. Of course this is a worst case scenario, it could be arthritis or many other things too, but it all starts with an exam. As for costs, we all know that xrays and surgeries are not cheap. One thing that you may be able to do is something called "Care Credit". It is a credit card that, depending on the amount you are spending, you can have 6, 12, or 16 months to pay it off without any interest being charged to you. Many vet offices take it, especially specialized vets. It takes the burden off of having a big lump some of money up front, and unlike a regular credit card, you don't immediately start having interest tacked onto your balance. Hope that this helps!
hhackett said
I have seen multiple dogs with birth defects that sound very similar to what your Aero has.
Heather thank you for your professional insight. You really are such a big help around here, I can't tell you how much we appreciate all you do!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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