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
1st time poster here! Our chichihua mix 12 year old has a mass on his leg that is getting larger and larger by the day it seems. Our only choice is to amputate but I am worried what kind of quality of life he will have after the surgery. Has anyone had expierence with smaller dogs and amputation? I should also mention that he is a resuce and when we got him, he was recovering from an eye removal. He is a tough little boy but I am nervous about what to do.
Any advice would be very helpful!
Thanks!
rjohnson84 said
Any advice would be very helpful...
Welcome and best wishes for your pup! What's his name?
While you wait for comments from others, use the Advanced Search above to refine your forum search results with specific phrases, and you're sure to find lots of helpful feedback. You can also search all blogs here . Or, consider downloading the Tripawds e-books for fast answers to common concerns and feel free to call the toll-free Tripawds Helpline anytime!
Please keep us posted. Your future forum posts will not require moderation. If you ever need help navigating the blogs, start here for help finding all the helpful Tripawds resources and assistance programs or watch this quick tutorial video.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks! Our dog's name is Jack, named after Captain Jack Sparrow since he looks like a pirate with one eye 🙂 We rescued him back in 2008 and he is has been our baby every since.
Hello and welcome.
Is Jack losing a front or rear leg? And how small a Chi is he?
I've had two small rear amp Tripawds. My first was a Pug named Maggie who lost a rear leg to mast cell cancer. Mag was about 17 pounds and 7.5 years old at the time of her surgery. Despite a poor prognosis Mag lived almost 4 more years. She could do most things she had done before but she couldn't go up more than 2 or 3 stairs by herself. Once healed up I would say she had a very good life quality for most of her life, we ran into more health issues toward the end.
Now I have Elly, a little Pug-Mutt (with about 25% Chi) who lost a rear leg to a car accident when she was just 7 months old. Elly can do everything a dog her size and age can do including stairs, she is about 15 pounds. Elly just turned 5 and really has only known life on three, her life quality is excellent!
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
By the way- we had a Captain Jack Sparrow here a few years ago. He was the inspiration for some Tripawds gift items. A bit bigger than your Jack though!
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
Hi krun15, Thank you so much for your kind words and warm welcome. Jack would be loosing a front leg. He is a mix between chihuahua and some sort of terrier, he is about 12-13lbs. That is comforting to know that your pup lived 4 more years after surgery. We did have an ultrsound and chest x-ray done and they did find enlarged adrenal glands which is associated with Cushing's disease, although they cannot confirm he has that without further testing and there are some nodules on his liver. Both items are not uncommon in older dogs and nothing to be concerned about right now, they would like to check that in 4-6 months. The prioirty is the leg. I would like to take care of this before the mass ruptures.
Awww love that graphic!
Jack is so lucky to have uou as his hooman! Clearly he is very, very, very loved and very, very, well cared for!❤
Shhh...don't tell the big dawgs, but the smaller dawgs usually adapt to three faster than the big guys!
I k ow it's hard to wrap your head around everything right now, but you are getting rid of a painful bum leg so Jack can enjoy life to the fullest paun free!! You are doing this surgery FOR him and not TO him!
Is he spending the night at a staffed clinic? That's ideal if possible. When you do go to pick him up, don't even bother to look at his incision. He just wants to see your smiling face and hear you tell him he's a good boy and he's going home!!
Rest, rest, short leashed potty breaks and more rest for rhe first two weeks. Drinking and peeing are important, but he may not have much of an appetite at first and may not poop for a few days. Your Vet will send him home with some good pain meds.
Keep us posted and let us know any concerns and questions, okay? We're here for you and Jack.
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)
