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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
Hello, I have an 8 year old American Staffordshire Terrier who is two days post-op. She had her front right leg amputated due to an aggressive soft tissue sarcoma.
From what I have read, a lot of dogs who get cancer-related amputations were used to using three legs BEFORE surgery, due to pain, ect.
That is not the case for my dog. The sarcoma was not causing her any pain--it was just wrapped around her leg in a way that made amputation the only option. So, from her perspective, she was using all four legs no problem. Then, she wakes up with one missing.
I'm wondering what to expect in terms of adaption time. Where a dog who had--say--osteosarcoma, might have already been practicing balance and building muscle in the healthy leg--my dog is starting from scratch.
Currently, she will walk very slowly on a lead, with lots of encouragement. She tires out VERY fast (understandable), and needs to rest after a walk to the yard to go potty. She's still figuring out balance, ect.
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
No matter what the reason for amputation just about every dog needs time to adjust to their new gait and balance. Every now and then a dog will act like they have been on three all their lives but those cases are rare around here. Even if a dog has been hopping on three due to pain they still have to adjust once the weight of the leg is gone.
My first Tripawd was like yours, Maggie the Pug had a mast cell tumor in her knee which resulted in her amputation but it was not causing her any pain. I only found it when we were playing and I grabbed her back legs and felt the lump. Maggie could hop on her own the day of surgery but it was only a couple hops at a time, it took her weeks to rebuild her strength and adjust to her new normal. Most dogs get their 'sparkle' back in two or three weeks. Once the sutures are out and you get the all clear from the vet you can start working on rebuilding strength.
The keys to a smooth recovery are good pain management and rest. Our surgeon said Maggie was only allowed short, leashed potty breaks for the two weeks following surgery.
If she can get up an hop on her own two days post op then she is doing well! Is she eating and drinking OK? Sounds like she can balance to potty OK- has she pooped yet or just pee? Sometimes poop takes a few days due to the pain meds. Be sure she has good traction where ever she is moving around. Traction is important for Tripawds and critical for new Tripawds. You want to prevent (as much as possible) any slips and give her confidence with the new way she has to get up, down and get around.
Keep us posted with your progress!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Wendy and your AST. They are such great dogs. What's her name?
No matter what the reason for amputation just about every dog needs time to adjust to their new gait and balance. Every now and then a dog will act like they have been on three all their lives but those cases are rare around here. Even if a dog has been hopping on three due to pain they still have to adjust once the weight of the leg is gone.
Ditto X 2 everything Karen said especially that every dog needs to adjust.regardless. Some, just like your pup, are not limping at all, some have accidents that take them in for immediate amputation surgery. e.tc
The fact that she's mobile at all two days after surgery is quite impressive.
It is so crucial during this early recovery time that she just takes hos hops out to potty, if she needs to lay down before she comes back in, that's okay.
She's on some good pain meds, (hopefully), just got over a huge major surgery, all while adapting to three legs.
Generally it takes about 2 weeks to recover from the surgery itself and it takes about 30 days for dogs to fully adjust to three, get their flow going, perfect balancing their gait, etc. She'll get there, just be patient. And we know patience is very hard during recovery if you are like most of us!😀
Hugs
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!
Hi Wendy and pup! How is she doing today?
It's not documented anywhere, but my gut feeling after being here for 17 years is that a fair amount of dogs do hop around on 3 before surgery (which means that pain is really bad ... it takes a LOT for a dog to show pain signals ). Maybe about 1/3 of dogs will have adapted to that point. But thank goodness your girl didn't get to that point right? You did good!
So as for adapting, check out our Tripawds Quality of Life survey results. All recoveries are different because all dogs have different reasons for amputation, and all have different health backgrounds, size/breed type, age etc. It's safe to say that many dogs will be back to routines and moving around much better within about a month, but it's not unusual for some dogs to take longer. So try not to compare OK? Your dog is her own dog and she will adapt on her own timeline. Also keep in mind that recoveries are not linear. There may be ups and downs, which is why we call it a roller coaster ride.
Oh also check out our What to Expect articles too OK?
Her name is Queen, and I'm not sure if she's the luckiest or most unlucky dog I've ever had.
My brother-in-law rescued her from an abusive owner 5 years ago, even though he wasn't financially ready for a dog.
3 years ago he became homeless. My spouse and I let them move in and basically took over Queen's care while he got on his feet.
He got an apartment, moved out, & took her with him--but had to bring her back to us for months at a time, because he couldn't feed her.
1 year ago he finally surrendered her to us.
Aaaand, this summer, the cancer appeared. It's been a wild ride.
She is eating, drinking, and peeing normally. She's constipated, so no poops yet--we're hoping she'll be outside when that finally breaks xD
Oh wow what a backstory. You guys are amazing. Thank you for helping your brother and her find a great home. She is so lucky to have you.
She sounds like a pretty normal recovery! Keep us posted.
Any advise on getting her to go poop? At what point should I start to worry?
I baked some butternut squash this morning, and gave her some.
She has a very healthy appetite, so I'm imagining that gigantic poop building up and up and up...
Nope, no need to worry yet!! Most likely you wont have to worry at all!. Three, days out is not an unusual amount of time without poopafter thos type of surgery. Queen WILL poop when she feels like she absolutely has to go.
Although I cant remember how long it took my Happy Hannah to poop after her amputation, I do recall it took my tripawd Frankie six days to poop after his torn cruciate TPLO surgery.
Keep up with the steamed squash, maybe the pumpkin as previously mentioned. Yoi can talk to your Vet about proper dose of Miralax of yoi feel the need.
Thanks for sharing the backstory of how you became Queen's forever home. While I'm sorry your brother wasn't able to keep her, it's clear he loves her enough to do what was best for Queen♥️
Okay Queen, come on and poop big piles of 
Hugs
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!
1 Guest(s)
