Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Our 9 yr old lab mix, Rocky, had front right leg amputated in January for osteosarcoma. He has done well but last night we noticed he is favoring his rear left leg and having some trouble getting up and down. He does not seem to be in pain. It is not easy to get him to the vet just because of his size-he weighs between 80 and 85 lbs. I really do not want him to suffer and go through another pathological fracture as he did in January. Does anyone have any experience with this kind of thing? Could he have sprained or strained it ? It is my understanding that it is unusual for tumor to recur in another limb. We are wondering if we should restrict activity for a few days and see how he does or take him to vets? Thanks-I think this site is wonderful!
I think we all worry about the remaining legs and it's hard not to panic when you suspect something is wrong with one of them. It very well could be a muscle strain, a toe sprain (we've seen at least one of those here within the last year) or even a back sprain/pinched nerve that hurts when he moves that leg. Zeus tweaked his back about a week after amp and became very reluctant to walk. I, personally, would opt for a vet visit to be safe. Even if it is just a muscle issue, they can give Rocky some pain meds so he's not hurting (and you may get some peace of mind!).
Good luck!
Lisa
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
We also had a scare with our Abby that turned out to be just a toe sprain, so it's possible that it's a strained muscle or something. After all, it's a lot of weight on the remaining good legs. But like Zeus's mom said, a trip to the vet might be in order.
Keep us posted and all the best,
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Thanks so much for your replies...I called vet and will try Previcox for 24 hrs or so and scheduled appointment for check with vet. It does scare me!
Hi Mamat, I'm glad you called your vet. Yeah, confinement and R&R is a good first step to see what's going on. Hopefully it's nothing more than some overactivity. When does Rocky go back to the vet?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Heading to the vet on Thursday...keeping my fingers crossed that it is nothing serious!
Mamat:
Our Rusty has been favoring his left front leg for the past couple of weeks (left rear leg was amputated); we saw his Oncologist last week and he could not find any signs of cancer in the leg or shoulder. He recommended a week of taking it easy and if we did not see any improvement, to take him the Orthopedic surgeon who performed his amputation.
Good luck with Rocky; hopefully it is just a sprain or muscle pull. It certainly makes us very nervous when we see a problem with one of their remaining legs.
Chuck & Rusty
Rusty is a Labradoodle who was diagnosed with level 3 Fibrosarcoma on January 16th, 2010 and had his left hind leg amputated on January 25th, 2010 five days before his 18 month birthday. Please see Rusty's blog @rusty.tripawds.com. He is putting up one heck of a fight against this terrible disease.
This is what the Tripawds community is good for - you get us all chanting "just a sprain, just a sprain, just a sprain." We'll be sending pawsitive vibes your way!
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
I hope you get boring, no nevermind news on Thursday!
Karen and the pugapalooza
Hi--thought I would post update on Rocky after vet visit yesterday. Everything was negative-x rays revealed a small fracture in metatarsal but probably not significant enough to cause the lameness. He seems happy and not in pain. The vet (and us) wonder a bit if it could be neurological. What could be seen of his spine looked OK-no arthritis even! Does osteosarcoma metastasize to brain?
Hmmm.. Well, at least you've gotten the first step out of the way. I'm pretty sure osteo doesn't go to the brain, but I can't say for sure. What did your vet recommend for the next steps?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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