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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How long after rear amputation did you allow the cone to come off, My 8 month ausse boy is a chewer and I am hoping he will leave his limb alone soon so he can be free without the cone but will leave it if he continues to bother the stump?
paulette said
How long after rear amputation did you allow the cone to come off...
Every dog is different. But the best time ti allow the cone to come off is once all stitches are out and the incision is healed. A few more days of dealing with the cone is much better than the nightmare alternative of torn sutures. There are also plenty of cone of shame alternatives.Â
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Would l0ve to kmow more about your youngster. What's the reason for the amputation? How long ago was his surgery? Â
Ditto the AdminGuy. Keep the cone on at least until the stitches are out (approximately two weeks) and maybe a bit longer if he is a chewer. Â
Let us know how recovery is going and if you have any other questions we can help with. Â
Higs
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!
Westley is a 8 month old very active Aussie pup we have raised since he was 8 weeks or so.He shares our home with Verona 3 year old Pryanese female and Sir Perry our 2 year old male cat. Westley ran into a car and has suffered a severely broken femur, athe hospital said the cost to plate it would be 6-10k plus. Surgery was 10 days ago and Westley had his checkup yesterday and the doc was very pleased with progress from leg amputation which financially was our only option.He's a pup and full of piss and vinegar, doesn't seem to know his limitations so basically will always be normal. As stated above my worries are him chewing his stump and hoping he will soon forget it once the hair grows back. I made a revised cone to help with him hitting the stitches with seemingly sharp edges . Adding a towel tucked under a dog vest has helped keep him away from the incision for overnight itching and or trying to chew.I will try to add a few pictures.Thanks for this wonderful forum and wealth of info.
What a fun menagerie of critters! Your house sounds like a blast. I'm so glad Westley survived that ordeal. Don't feel bad about choosing the amputation over the expensive plating surgery. Many times that surgery fails and people end up amputating anyways, spending even more money. And like it or not, money does play into our decisions, everyone here gets that. You made the best choice for Westley's quality of life and your sanity 🙂
We'd love to see the photos! Adding images is a little tricky but I'll walk you through it:
Basically you need to:
- upload a photo somewhere like your own Tripawds blog, or a public image hosting site like Imgur.com
- then copy the image URL (or just tap the image and copy it if you're on a mobile device)
- return here, and paste the image into your forum post.
Hope that makes sense. Let us know if you'd like help!
Your Westley sounds alot like my Loki! Loki lost her right rear leg very young after being hit by a car. I adopted her after her amputation, but there is no slowing this dog down. I've had many neighbors observe her playing in my yard and suddenly go "Oh my god, your dog is missing a leg!". It makes me laugh every time. I bet you'll have this happen with Westley, too. Â
The upside, if there is such a thing, to losing a limb young is how quickly they bounce back and adapt to their new normal.  Â
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