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
Hi everyone, I'm very happy to find this site. My 8 year old (28 lb) French Bulldog is named Nox. On Monday March 27th our larger dog accidentally knocked him down the stairs and he broke his right front elbow. I'm feeling a lot of guilt about all the ways I might have prevented this accident from ever happening. But I'm trying to remember that hindsight is 20/20.
The accident occurred just before I entered my home, so I immediately scooped up Nox and drove him to our local vet. They did x-rays and told us there was a break and referred us to another vet. The new vet said the x-rays weren't clear enough, so on Tuesday we took him to the new vet to get x-rays under sedation. The new x-rays showed he has a "Y" fracture of the humerus, involving three breaks. I talked with some other more specialized vets that are further away to get options, but none of them could get our pup in for repair quickly. I spent Wednesday wrestling with our options before deciding to move forward and have the second vet do the repair surgery. Thursday we dropped him off for the surgery, planning to pick him up Friday morning. But I received a call from them at around 11:15 am. Once under sedation, Nox started having trouble breathing. They halted surgery and x-rayed his lungs and discovered he has a partially collapsed left lung. They say the lung should heal on its own, but it will take a couple of weeks and by the time the lung is well enough for surgery, repair will no longer be an option and we will need to amputate instead.
Our follow-up appointment to check his lungs is on April 17th. Until then we are managing with pain meds and very limited movement. He is such a stoic little guy, he gives almost no indication that he is in pain. We have to watch him like a hawk because he seems to think he's invincible even with a broken leg. I'm hopeful this can-do attitude will help him in recovery once he has the amputation, but I'm also thinking about everything we will have to block him from accessing so he doesn't inadvertently hurt himself. I suppose we are fortunate that we have several days to think through the possibilities and prepare before the day is upon us.
Thank you for providing this great resource to pet owners who are facing this unusual and scary situation.
Oh my gosh poor Nox! I'm so sorry this happened, what a complicated scenario. I hope that his healing goes exactly as planned so that the surgery can happen sooner.
We are here to help however we can. Now that you have more time to prepare, be sure to check out our What to Expect articles and the Tripawds Recovery Shopping List to help you get ready. Our e-books library is also helpful.
Ask any questions, we are here for you!
Geez! Absolutely crazy ordeal you snd Nox are going through! Unbelievable! And now to jave to wait for surgery.....I k ow thst can come soon enough. Thank goodness Nox had a good Bet team and knew to stip surgery and uncover the problem he was havingl
And without question, Nox's can-do and invincible attitude will help him recover from all this. It sounds like you have his pain managed and are using this time doing your research to prepare for having a vibrant Tripawd at home. Certainly you wish Nox didn't have to become a Tripawd, but I can assure you he will be an adorable one!!
Read through the links Jerry gave you and let us know if you have any questions on recovery, prepping your house, etc. You do want to get non slip scatter rugs for traction if you have hardwoods
Stay connected and know we are by your side all the way!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. And do not put anymore energy into the "accident". An accident is an accident, nothing more. Your dogs have moved on from it and are focused on the here and now. Dogs are such good role models for us in so many ways.
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!
Thank you for your responses jerry and benny! I've been reading and thinking about what is to come for the last few days, and I have a few questions:
- Nox seems reluctant to lean forward too far to eat or drink. Are raised food and water dishes helpful to new amputees?
- Do bully/front-heavy breeds have a harder time adapting to being am amputee? One of the people we talked to at the vet said he will be able to navigate stairs with practice. I can totally see him going up stairs, but going down seems precarious...
- Nox used to sleep in our bed and was allowed to hop up on our couches. I am terrified that he might try to jump off of some piece of furniture and injure his other leg. That remaining front leg feels as valuable as gold now! How do people typically handle amputee dogs that are used to furniture access? Do I train him to completely stay off all furniture now? Use flexi-gates to keep him in areas of the house where there is nothing to jump on? Kennel him when there is no human supervision? OMGosh, I don't even want to think about him getting the "zoomies" once he is recovered!!
Hey Aspen,
Ugh I'm so sorry for you and Nox! If it means anything, it seems like a lot of dogs recover faster/easier from amputation than bone repairs since it's basically a soft tissue recovery versus bone! regardless, none of us are happy to be here...
my girl is almost 3 weeks post op for front leg amputation. I am so glad I got a raised food/water dish for her. granted she has to go down a little farther than your pup (great pyrenees mix 97 pounds), but the fact she didn't have to work so hard to balance and eat was great, especially those first few days. I also like that it takes a little strain off that front leg, I'm sure it's minimal, but every bit helps in my eyes! I'm with you that I look at the front leg as priceless now, haha.
I'm no help on stairs, I don't have any in my house, and I ended up getting a ramp for Ellie to get in my car (SO thankful for that!)
Ellie isn't allowed on the furniture here, so I didn't have this problem, but I know I've seen others write that their dogs have indeed jumped on couches/beds while in recovery. It seems it unavoidable as there is no way to watch them 24/7- I wonder if it would be worthwhile to just lean in and get a ramp of step for them to use? I also think if they are already use to sleeping on couches beds, they will probably get better rest in their known places versus having to adjust. Just my 2 cents.
BTW love Nox's avatar picture. So cute!
Recovery and mastering the art of three legs may...may...take at bit longer to for lower, front heavy dogs. The important thing to remember is every dog recovers at their own pace regardless of size, age, etc.
I don't even want to think about him getting the "zoomies" once he is recovered
Oh, he'll probably reclaim his zoomies....just as an adorable tripawd. Actually, mostly you want to avoid any running and jumping up like catching a frisbee and landing hard on his legs....or any fast stops and starts like catching a frisbee.
I also think if they are already use to sleeping on couches beds, they will probably get better rest in their known places versus having to adjust.
Agree with Whitney. In my experience it causes dogs a lot of stress if they weren't able to sleep with me or get up on the couch. My large dog Happy Hannah never did master going UP the stairs (front legger) to my bed. So I put a mattress downstairs on the floor and she and my other dog slept soundly together like always.
As far as the couch, maybe you could take a cushion off, put into. the floor so she can stand on it and then "step up" to the couch. When getting doen she can land on that. Or, as Whitney said, train her to use steps. One of my favorite stories was a member who cut the legs off her sofa so her Bulldog could get up and down. True love♥️
Yss, you can try raising his food and drinks bowls to relieve any neck strain. Also a good odea to do a lot of massages around the neck and spine to help any tight muscles he may have the first week or so.
You are doing an excellent prep job👍
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!
Aspen said
Thank you for your responses jerry and benny! I've been reading and thinking about what is to come for the last few days, and I have a few questions:- Nox seems reluctant to lean forward too far to eat or drink. Are raised food and water dishes helpful to new amputees?
- Do bully/front-heavy breeds have a harder time adapting to being am amputee? One of the people we talked to at the vet said he will be able to navigate stairs with practice. I can totally see him going up stairs, but going down seems precarious...
- Nox used to sleep in our bed and was allowed to hop up on our couches. I am terrified that he might try to jump off of some piece of furniture and injure his other leg. That remaining front leg feels as valuable as gold now! How do people typically handle amputee dogs that are used to furniture access? Do I train him to completely stay off all furniture now? Use flexi-gates to keep him in areas of the house where there is nothing to jump on? Kennel him when there is no human supervision? OMGosh, I don't even want to think about him getting the "zoomies" once he is recovered!!
Definitely helpful to have raised bowls! Reaching down to eat or drink when you have one less leg puts more stress on different parts of the body. Raised feeders are helpful for all dogs but especially ones who are missing a leg.
Deep chested breeds definitely get the hang of it! They may need more time, but they get there. Front leg amputees always have a harder time going down stairs than up, because dogs naturally put more of their weight on the front of the body.
Pet stairs are the way to go. Here's a post about training dogs to use them:
https://gear.tr.....ag/stairs/
Of course he'll jump occasionally and do crazy things dogs just do naturally. Your job is to minimize those antics as best you can, without making him wear a suit of bubble wrap. It's a fine line between protecting his joints, and reducing injury risk, while letting him be a dog. But I know that you can do this! You ask great questions. You'll get the hang of it!
Today Nox's story is feeling like a saga that will never end.
We had our follow up appointment on April 17th and imaging showed his lungs were clear. We went ahead and scheduled the amputation for yesterday, April 25th. I spent the week leading up to the surgery safety-proofing the house - rugs for the kitchen, gates at the top and bottom of the stairs, and an extension to our bannister because we have a couch that backs up to it and I'm afraid he will try to jump up there and fall over.
I dropped him off yesterday morning expecting to pick him up late in the afternoon less one leg. I received a call from the vet around lunchtime to inform me that they had just put him under sedation and he immediately started having breathing problems AGAIN!!! So they halted surgery. The vet said his chest sounded exactly the same, so he was thinking maybe he had some other trauma from the fall that wasn't showing in imaging that may have caused his lung to start collapsing again under intubation. The thought was they would probably need to refer us to a specialist.
Fast forward to the afternoon, I got off work and showed up at the vet to pick him up. The vet tech hands me antibiotics. I was confused as we hadn't discussed infection at all, so she grabbed the vet to talk with me. Turns out, when they extubated him there was gnarly pus all over the end of the tube. He has a lung infection. We re-did imaging which showed no lung collapse, just the infection. So he started antibiotics last night and they are sending off cytology to figure out exactly what the infection is so we can make sure he's getting the most effective antibiotics. I honestly don't know what the next steps are. I'm taking this one day at a time and will talk to the vet again when the cytology is back. He has been really great about answering all of my many questions.
I never thought I could be so disappointed that my dog did NOT have his leg amputated, but I was so looking forward to closure on this chapter and starting the next!
Oh I'm sorry. What a frustrating turn of events! At least they caught it and now he's being treated. Hopefully you won't need to switch antibiotics and can keep that course going. And now your house is ready and you have more time to get centered and calm for the surgery.
I know this probably doesn't help you feel better, wish I could give you a hug! Hang in there and use that pawsitivity in you to help Nox get well soon. Keep us posted.
Aspen, I'm so sorry to read about the lung infection. At least they caught it and are following up with the cytology. While I'm sure the waiting and delay are making it hard for everybody, at least it is clearly present and being treated instead of sneaking up after surgery. But yowza. Talk about one more thing!
From my own very limited experience, t-shirts can be a great asset after a front leg amputation. As somebody here suggested, you put them on so the front of the shirt is on the dog's back. We then fold the neck of Reece's t-shirt over her flat collar and hold it on with plain old office binder clips. While each dog is different, Reece has been able to do without the collar because the t-shirt has kept her from messing with her staples. It has also kept the incision site clean. We're using one t-shirt per day because Reece is one of those little girls who is very good at getting dirty.
She weighs about 26 pounds but her shape is different from Nox's. Measure the widest part of his chest and purchase accordingly if you decide to get them. Reece wears a boys size 4/XS for reference.
That's Reece in the avatar, but I live with Shibas. I'm guessing that explains quite a bit.
This sounds odd especially with clear xrays. Has he had any issues breathing at home? If they have not already I would take 3 views of his lungs and send them to a radiologist for review. Bulldogs certainly do have other causes for respiratory distress during anesthesia so maybe they need to adjust the drugs he is getting.
Pam
Thanks for your feedback Pam!
I may not have been clear enough in my description of the order of events.
March 30th first attempt at surgery - imaging showed the partially collapsed lung
April 17th checkup - imaging showed lung had recovered, but we couldn't schedule surgery right away
April 25th second attempt at surgery - imaging showed the infection
My understanding is that the infection developed between the time of the second scan and our second attempt at surgery. Do you think that is an unreasonable assumption?
If this is the cranial left lung lobe only (upper left) then that is not the typical location for pneumonia although it is possible. Did they take the films on the 25th before or after surgery? Sometimes you can see lung lobe torsions in this location.
Pam
1 Guest(s)
