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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Hi y'all. I'm new. I don't have a tripawd, but I have a dog who might have that in his future, and we're trying to figure out what's right for him.
My pup is a 10 year old lab x chow named Austin. About a year, year and a half ago, I noticed that he had a lump in his "armpit" (foreleg). We took him to the vet, who referred us to a specialist. She did a fine needle aspiration, and declared that it was a lipoma, not cancer. However, it was in his bicep and pectoral muscles. We talked about surgery to have the lipoma removed, but it was both very expensive, and had a pretty high chance of recurrence. The surgeon told us that she would try to just remove the lipoma, but amputation would be on the table if she started surgery. The lipoma wasn't causing him any problems at the time--I just noticed it while I was petting him, and wanted to make sure it wasn't anything too nasty. We decided that it wasn't the right time to do anything, and we'd do some watchful waiting.
Well, now it's a year later, and the winter was hard on him--we think it's more painful when it's cold (we live in New Jersey). There was one day in January when he could barely walk, wouldn't lay down, couldn't navigate the stairs, etc. We rigged up a warming bed for him (which he loves, and is laying in right now), and took him to our regular vet, who prescribed Rimadyl, which we've been giving as needed. After his first bad day, he was fine, and we didn't give him anything for several weeks (and of course, he was fine when he went to the vet). But for the last week or two, it seems like he's limping more often than not. It's usually fairly minor, but today he's limping quite badly. He does seem better than his first truly bad day (we've given him Rimadyl, he begged for snacks off my plate, and laid in a sunbeam outside for a while), but I'm starting to think that it's time to do something, which might include surgery, which might include amputation. He's a healthy 10 year old, but he's a 10 year old. Our goal is to improve/maximize his quality of life; he doesn't seem bad enough yet that he'd be better off as a tripawd (it's pretty drastic surgery for a dog with a limp), but I'm worried that if I wait it'll be too late--he'll be too old to be a good candidate for surgery, or the lipoma will be too big.
Advice? Or perhaps just good vibes.
Hello and Welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I'm sorry you find yourself in this situation.
Does the vet think Austin is a good candidate for amputation? His other legs are in pretty good shape, otherwise healthy, etc?
One thing to keep in mind- dogs are very good at hiding pain, so even if he isn't limping it might still be painful.
I would also want to know from the vet what the chances are that the entire lipoma could not be removed even with amputation- I'm not totally familiar with lipomas so I don't know if that could happen or not, but I would want to know.
Also I would ask that if you don't do surgery or amputation what would the pain management plan be- rimadyl is an anti inflammatory med and at some point I would think Austin would need something stronger.
I know amputation seems drastic- it did to me too. My little pug Maggie has a mast cell tumor in her knee, no pain, no limping. I was stunned when the vet said amputation. Mag was only 7.5 years old at the time and for a lot of reasons amputation was the right choice for us.
You should also look through the Required Reading List for an idea on what you would expect with amputation and recovery.
You know your boy best, this community will support you and help no matter what decision you make.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Online
Austin is such a handsome boy. Can't wait to see more photos.
Karen jas given excellent advice and asked some great questions to help you navigate this journey.
Yoh may also want to get a second opinion just to give you the reassurance that you've checked out all the options. And you qoukd want him checked out by a good orthopedic surgeon, assuming he's just been checked by your "regular" Vet. It sounds like the limp.is dur to the lipoma, but you just want ro make sure it's not arthitis.
BTW, you're a wonderful advocate for Austin!
Should amputation be the best course to keep Austin pain free so he can get on with living life to the fullest, you'll find that he will do amazingly well on three legs. Recovery is no picnic for a couple of weeks. He'll need rest and short potty breaks and some good pain meds. Once recovery is complete though and his sparkle comes back you will be so happy for him!
Keep us updated, okay? And you are NOT alone! We are here for you no matter what!
((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((((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!
Oh, you want pictures?
This is Austin. He's a happy dog.
He has a brother, Decatur. They're littermates.
We've had them since they were puppies. They were the last two of their litter left at the pound, and we felt too bad about splitting them up, so we took 'em both. Austin is the one with the flipped-up ear.
He's my bb bear.
I've taken Austin to his regular vet (a year ago, about the mystery lump that turned out to be the lipoma, as well as more recently for the Rimadyl Rx). His regular vet referred us to a surgeon, who did the aspiration and talked to us about surgery. This conversation happened last year.
I will talk to his regular vet about options for pain management through medication, and we'll talk about the possibility of surgery. The surgeon had mentioned wanting to do a CT scan pre-surgery (to see what she was getting herself into)--I imagine that the probability of being able to get the entire lipoma would depend on how, exactly, it's interacting with his muscles and other tissues. Lipomas often/usually grow back, it seems--but they're usually just cosmetic (Decatur has one on his side--it comes with the territory of being an old dog, I think), and no one is worried about it. Austin's is just a problem because of its location. An advantage of an amputation seems to be that if it grew back (the lipoma, not his leg, obviously) it would probably be ok, since there wouldn't be a joint for it to interfere with. It's certainly something that I'm keeping in mind, and will talk to the vet about. (It seems sort of similar to doing a limb-saving surgery for a dog, but then needing to do an amputation in the future). Of course, we'll need to ask/answer more questions if we go forward with surgery, but it seems likely that he'd be a pretty good candidate--he's never had any problems with any of his other limbs, and is pretty healthy. He's a bit tubby, but we've had him on a diet for a couple of months now, and he's lost a bit of weight. Very begrudgingly.
Handsome boys!
Thanks for sharing the pictures.
Keep us posted on what the vet says and what you decide.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
YAY FOR PICTURES!!! Especially pictures of ADORABLENESS!!! Austin is absolutely memorizing with that big toothy grin of his! 🙂 And Austin and Decatur as babies...no way you couldn't bring them both home!
You're doing a great job doing your research. I know it can be daunting. Stay connected. Others will chime in soon.
Thanks again for those smile making pictures!
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!
Aww what cuties!
Sorry you're dealing with this. We haven't had too many dogs lose a limb to a non-cancerous lipoma but it's always a possibility. Sounds like you are being a great advocate for him and doing all you can to make the best decision for the pack. I like that you're working with a surgeon, good job. Keep us posted OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Howdy and welcome!!!
Love, love, love the pictures!!! What handsome boys!
Besides welcoming you, I wanted to add that our Harmony's mass was in her armpit as well. She limped off-and-on for several years as she was miss-diagnosed. When it got intolerable for her, we found out it was a mast cell tumor about the size of an squashed grapefruit and it was pressing on the nerve running down her leg. Even though the leg they amputated was perfectly healthy, it was the only way to relieve her pain. Before the amputation she did well with anti-inflammatories, but the vet reiterated that she wasn't using the leg anyway.
Although Harmony's mass was of a different nature than Austin's, the armpit is a really gnarly place when there's a large mass in there interfering with nerves, tendons, etc.
Keep us updated and keep those pictures coming!!!
pam
Harmony became a Tripawd on 10/21/14 (MCT). She left us way too soon on 11/1/14.
"We miss you so much; our love, our heart, our Harmony."
- Pam, Ron and Melody, Meesha, Doublestuff and Mariah Carey
Update!
I took Austin to the vet today. His limping was intermittent--both in intensity (sometimes very bad--to the point of barely being able to walk, sometimes not at all). I also had noticed that the leg he was limping on didn't always seem to be the same leg--sometimes it was his lipoma leg, but other times it was a back leg. The vet cottoned on that this sounded like it might be Lyme disease (we live in New Jersey, which is prime Lyme territory), and did a blood test. Sure enough, it came back positive. We're on an antibiotic regimen now, along with Rimadyl until it clears up. I know that Lyme can be serious (kidney problems might crop up down the road), but I'll take this as a win.
A definite WIN I would say! Hopefully Austin will be feeling better soon. Great News!
Linda, Ollie, Riley & Spirit Mighty Max
Only here to we say YAY FOR LYME DISEASE!! WOW!!! Who wudda' thunk it!! 🙂
And kudos to you for being such a good advocate and paying attention to every little nuance of Austin's behavior!
A good dose of antibiotics shoukd take care of it...and a scoop of ice cream!
Keep is posted
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!
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