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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First, let me startout by stating I am a new member, and this has been a great site in helping our family deal with current issues on our 12 year old Lab- Autumn. Thanks for the great wealth of information.
Our Lab just turned 12 last week. She is very outgoing and energetic, dock diving, chases tennis balls non stop, and no other signs of problems or old age yet. Last week she was running around the yard, and then something snapped in her front left leg. X-rays revealed that the bone was "milky" or "mothy" compared to the other legs. They beleive it was cancer, as this is what 99% of the x-rays look like. The other legs looked fine (quite noticeable difference too from my untrained eye). The bio-opsy came back inconclusive, however multiple specialists (3 now), have all said that the X-ray show the leg must come off.
The treating specialist said that even though she is 12, she is showing no other signs of issues or slowing down yet, and has made this recommendation. Even though this is an expensive option (~2k), she is our family "gel" and continues to amaze us. She has been running around on three legs, swimming, playing tug of war- all this while on pain meds.
So the next step is to take off her front leg- most likely at the shoulder. YIKES!! I know from reading this forum, that all dogs take to this surgery differently. As she is 12, is there a prosthetic leg or something else we should be getting her? We have already determined that we are not going to put her down, just because she has a bad leg (even though she is 12). She just doesnt seem ready to give up on life yet, so we are not going to give up on her.
Any and all advice is very much appreicated.
Jason
Welcome Jason and Autumn!
I'm so sorry you find yourself here with us! OSA is an awfully scary diagnosis. And I'm so sorry that she is going through this.
For sure - getting the leg off very soon is the best solution! The pain is excruciating regardless of how well they seem. Plus, the leg can fracture without warning and then it becomes an emergency amputation.
Others here will tell you about the amputation recovery (I haven't been thru it), which can be a bit difficult for a couple of weeks. But to answer your question on a prothethic leg - they aren't necessary and you'll be wasting money. It sounds good in theory but dogs manage better on three legs.
The one thing you can do that will really help is physical therapy after she has recovered. Water therapy is the best. Hopefully you have a rehab center in your town. But you said she swam, so maybe you have a pool? That would be terrific!
Keep us posted on when she is having surgery!
Warm wishes until then!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Thanks for the reply. We are blessed to be living on a Lake here in South Carolina. Our 9 month old Chesapeak Bay Retreiver and 12 year old yellow lab practically live in the water. We have a dock, and float, and just the other day our lab hobbled down on three legs and jumped off the float into the water (she still has her fourth leg). She is quite the good swimmer still!!!
Calpurnia had her amputation at 12 years old. Also a front leg. I had many of the same concerns you had trying to make the decision to amputate. Cali did amazingly well following her surgery, was back to running around and being very much herself in a matter of a few months. She lived on for another 3.5 years as a happy old girl.
I hope you have the same experience as we did. Old friends are the best!
PS - you won't need a prosthetic - they usually do just fine with no leg, and it is one less thing they have to deal with. Cali learned to move her front leg more central to balance better, and after a few weeks of building strength in that limb, she would move just as she had with 4 legs.
Welcome Jason, Autumn and family. I am so sorry your family has to experience this, but you have found a great, knowledgeable community of folks to help you through the journey.
Zeus had just turned 11 when he was diagnosed and we had his front right leg amputated, and he has done wonderfully on three legs. We kept hearing the phrase "three legs and a spare" and that really is true! I agree totally with Cometdog that a prosthetic leg usually isn't necessary.
I won't lie to you, the recovery is hard (more so for us than for the dog). It is major surgery and requires a pretty close watch for the first couple of weeks. You will lose a LOT of sleep (mostly because of paranoia and jumping up everytime she moves!), but I assure you that after a couple of weeks you will be absolutely amazed with your girl.
On another note, I am from Greenville, South Carolina - where are you in SC?
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/
welcome to the family no one wants to join. gayle was a lab mix, 10 when she lost her right front leg. the surgeons took the leg and the scapula, leaving a very smooth profile. they explained that by doing this, they were cutting through soft tissue and not bone, and the healing would be speedier. she recovered from the amputation and continued on for 22 more months, losing her battle to oral melanoma. water therapy is great, you might want to consider a float coat initially, to help autumn get comfortable/confident in the water after the amp heals. good luck, and please share some pictures of your pups!!
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
Hi Jason, Autumn and Family,
We are so sorry that you've found yourself in this place but are glad that we can be of some help. It sounds like Autumn is having great care by her vets. I know that taking the leg off at the shoulder sounds radical but as etGayle says, that's the best way to do a front leg amputation. When we've seen partial limb amputations there are usually complications that land the dog back in surgery for a complete amp.
Check in our Size and Age Matters forum for more stories of senior dogs who have done well after surgery. I'll bet you'll feel more confident that Autumn will thrive despite this temporary setback.
Also be sure to visit our Required Reading List and download our ebook, "Three Legs & a Spare" if you'd like more answers and details about what to expect.
I was a front leg amputee and did great. I swam again, I played, I had a ball! And I didn't let cancer slow me down or make me sad. I know that Autumn will do the same!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Sorry I'm late, but I wanted to say that old is ok. Dakota celebrated his 9th birthday with an amputation, or thereabouts. That was 14 months ago and he's fine. He was born old (he's a rescue from abandonment) due to neglect, so he never acts like a puppy. I hear about older dogs running around and chasing balls and I get jealous. Dakota never chased anything. However, he isn't any different than he was before, except he does take it easier. But he isn't crippled by any means.
Lisa, Zeus's human, is from Greenville and I'm from Simpsonville. I grew up fishing on many SC lakes. Autumn is a lucky pup to have so much fun right out her back door!
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
Welcome Jason, Autumn and family!! You came to the right place for the kind of support you need. Tripawds is wonderful!! From what I've seen since I have been a member is many older Dogs getting the surgery and doing just fine. You have a great sense of your own Dog and if you think she is able to handle the amputation because she is still strong and energetic then you are probably right. I was really happy with my decision to amputate my Dog Valentina's leg. I was freaked out about the whole idea at first and I wasn't going to do it. I thought the pain meds would manage her pain much longer than they did and when she became almost completely unable to walk at all I opted for the amputation. The recovery period can be really challenging. It is like caring for a newborn baby for the first couple of weeks. And it is hard emotionally to see your precious Dog go through the healing process. But it is totally worth it!! After they are all healed up and they are back to themselves they really shine. After a while both of you kind of forget that they are even missing a leg. They can do most everything that they used to do and you will be amazed. And during the healing process you will have Tripawds to support you every step of the way!!
Hello to everyone who has responded to this posting. Our family just brought Finnegan home yesterday after having her right front leg amputated at the shoulder. She is a very energetic 10+ y.o. Old English Sheepdog. Within the last week we found out that she has osteosarcoma, and is now recovering from surgery. We feel so helpless, don't know what to do or where to turn for help. Someone told us about "Tripawds" and we are so grateful! Thank you Jason and to everyone for the comments to this posting, they are a huge help to us as well.
Finnegan's Family
Welcome to Tripawds Finnegan's family. Your future posts will not require moderation.
I'm sorry you are dealing with OSA in your pup. I hope the resources listed in this thread suppy some of the answers you are looking for.
Pleae consider starting your own topic so we can learn more about Finnegan and answer any specific questions you have.
Karen and the pugapalooza
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