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
Bogart is home! My SO was able to go pick him up early this afternoon. I left work as soon as I could and rushed home to see my boy. He's mightily tired and possibly still a little drugged up and groggy, but he's definitely still Bogart.
He squeaks a little bit getting up and laying down - we have a supportive harness to help him, but once he's up, he walks nearly perfectly! Every now and then, he get's a little hung up because he's letting his one back leg stretch too far and he hasn't figured out his pacing yet. I'm in awe that he's walking at all, but it just goes to show how resilient dogs are.
We have a bunch of meds to give to him every 8 hours with food... but he has had no appetite today. We've only been able to get him to drink by wetting a napkin or our hands and having him lick it. I'm hoping he gets his appetite back soon. Is this pretty normal? We're letting him get his rest, and will have him sleep in the crate with his cone for the next week or so. I thought that the entire back leg would be gone, but we do have a little bit of a nub back there.
But here he is walking around outside!
YaaY! I’m so happy for you guys, Bogart is doing great!
Yep, pain meds make dogs lose appetite and not want to drink. Make sure he stays hydrated by adding low sodium broth, some Gatorade or even tuna water to his water dish, that usually gets dogs to drink.
Keep us posted on how he’s doing this weekend.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
HOME SWEET HOME!!!! WELCOME HOME YOU HANDSOME TRIPAWD RICKSTAR!! 😁
You really, really are doing an amazing job at managing on three sooooo early! Excellent job!
While my Happy Hannah necer missed a meal, she had no interest in drinking the dirst week or so during recovery. I actually ended up swirling side ice cream into her water to get her to drink! I let her have a taste or two of the spoon, then had her follow the spoon down into the water as I swirled in the ice cream. Worked like a charm!
Try any and all tumny foods. Warmed chicken, cheese pizza, burgers.....wjatever works.
The hospital meds will be put of his system in a other day or two, so he may have a little crash at that point. Just stay consistent with the pain meds. They can always be tweaked as needed (less or more) with Bet guidance.
Sloooow and easy for now. Rest, rest, rest, short potty breaks and more rest.
I love seeing his pictures and videos. He is soooo handsome! Keep 'em coming!
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!
Thank you all!
He's been drinking pedialyte and gatorade.. he LOVES pedialyte for some reason. We got the sugar free basic version and I don't know why he likes it lol... it tastes pretty awful for us. He has had a little water here and there so that's good.
As for food, this dog is something else! His normal meal is a high quality hard food mixed with a home cooked mash that I make. It's ground beef, carrots, cauliflower, green beans, peas, broccoli, spinach, and seasoned with rosemary. It tastes pretty good.. If I were to put some salt and pepper and a little human seasoning, I'd eat it no problem! Well, he refuses to eat his normal meal right now... I tried blending it all up into a puree so he could lick it, and he doesn't want. He perked up when we were eating eggs and bacon for breakfast, so we offered him a little bite and he ate it without hesitation. So I went and scrambled him an egg and broke up a little bacon into it and tried to mix his "real food" puree into it... he ate around everything but the bacon and the bigger chunks of egg. Just now, he ate a bite of a hot dog of mine and would probably scarf the whole thing down if I offered it... I think he thinks that he can hold out for human food because we are taking pity on him right now. lol.
In any case, he's still eating alot less than normal, and I'm hesitant to give him too much human food since his stomach has been upset since the surgery and the meds. Is it worth it to just feed him whatever he will eat for now until he gets his appetite back, or just keep trying to get him to eat his normal diet?
And again, thank you all for the encouragement and support. He is now getting up on his own without even a squeak! Every now and then, he lays down too fast and let's out a yelp, but he is learning. He's walking better and not getting stuck on his back leg. He's figuring out hopping a little more. I'm so proud of him. He's so strong and even though he's sleepy most of the time, when he's awake, I know he's still Bogart and has fight in him. His whole body perked up and was ready to go after a squirrel a minute ago when we were outside. That's my boy!
Sounds like he is doing great so far and he looks really good hopping.
Many here just feed whatever the dog will eat, especially when you need to get meds into them. I've never had a problem getting my Pugs to eat after any of their surgeries.
Did they just leave a little piece of femur with muscle wrapped around it? It's called a mid-femoral amputation although they don't leave much of the femur. I've had two rear amps- Maggie had a mid-femoral amp and my current Tripawd Elly had her entire femur removed. I understand sometimes the whole femur has to be removed because of tumor location or if it is damaged but having dealt with both I think the mid-femoral surgery is far better. Maggie's back end was much more balanced, she had a good base to sit on, and honestly I think it was easier for her to poop.
I see Bogart wearing PJ's? Is that to cover the incision? Some rear amps here have used boxer shorts, the tail goes through the fly. I don't know where you are but it is very warm here, boxers should be cooler.
And something to keep in mind- we often see here a 'crash' of sorts around 3 to 5 days post op. Dog's get tired of hopping and the good surgery meds have left their system. Sometimes a pain med tweak is needed for optimum comfort. Don't fixate on it as it doesn't happen to all dogs, just something to be aware of in case your boy seems to backslide.
Keep us posted on progress!
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
He's doing better with eating... still not his normal self, but he will eat hotdogs, so there's that!
Also, yes, it looks like it's a mid femoral amputation. He has a little nubby bit there to help him later.
He loves these PJs - they help his confidence. Anytime the weather gets bad or loud, he wants in his PJs to protect him. He gets so happy when we bring them out. It's really adorable. I will use boxers as well, though! Thanks for the tip. He only goes outside to potty, so getting hot isn't an issue.
I was curious about one thing during recovery. We noticed on his left side (the amputation side) that he has a long sagging lump of skin (it might be filled with something, I can't tell) that goes from behind his left front arm, to around his genitals where they shaved him. Is this just swelling or stretching of skin from swelling? Or is it something I should worry about? It doesn't hurt him or seem to bother him, but it's large and noticeable enough to see and definitely has a different feel when you are petting his chest. It's like there's a soft tube of something under the skin.
Thanks,
Thomas and Bogart
Check out the link for seroma . That's basically a fluid filled "sac" that sometimes forms while the body adjusts to reabsorbing excess fluid that no longer has a leg to go to😎
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!
I just have to say I love the PJs!! Bogart's confidence is boosted because he looks very dashing in them and he knows it. 
Maybe boxers during the day and PJs at night. More photos please. He's so precious.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
It is awesome that he loves his PJ's!
It does sound like a seroma . Keep an eye on it, it should reabsorb as he recovers. Of course let your vet know if you have concerns.
Go Bogart!
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
He looks great, so adorable in his PJ's! Glad his appetite is getting better, I wonder if you shred some rotisserie chicken into his veggies if that might tempt him more? The meds really can mess with the appetite, but it should only be temporary.
When does he go in for a recheck? If that is a seroma ( definitely sounds like it ) and it starts to leak, it can be very messy. If he starts to look like he is not feeling well, or if it starts to drain, you should let his vet know about it. Signs of infection are odor, any greenish or discharge that looks like pus, fever. Lots of normal seromas will produce a clear(ish) fluid with a touch of a bloody tinge. They are usually odorless. If it does not reabsorb, they may need to put a drain in. They also may put him on antibiotics. I am not trying to worry you, just don't want any surprises that you don't see coming!
Bogart looks great and you guys are doing a wonderful job with him 
Hugs,
Jackie and Huckleberry
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
Hey everyone. Thanks for the helpful responses! I'm certain that it was a seroma and luckily, it was reabsorbed into his body after only about 48 hours or so.
Bogart is now entering his third week of recovery. His stitches are out, but he's still wearing a cone most of his day and night so that he doesn't go after the scabs on his incision. Unfortunately, we lapsed for just a moment one night while loving on him and he peeled up some of the scab at the bottom of the incision - so now we are being extra careful to not allow that to happen again. We are putting Mupirocin on it twice a day to make sure there's no infection.
Bogart finished his original pain meds from the surgery on Friday the 7th. Those meds were 300 mg Gabapentin (3 a day) and 50 mg Tramadol (6 a day). We did lower the tramadol down to 4 a day to see if that helped his appetite, which I believe it did. Well, we went the weekend without any pain meds, but Sunday afternoon and night were really tough. Bogart cried in pain randomly about 6 times during the night Sunday night. He also doesn't like laying down much right now and can't get comfortable, because he can only lay on one side of his body. I can't imagine how annoying that is for him.
We were worried about the random bouts of pain, and refilled his subscription for gabapentin and tramadol. I'm wondering what yalls opinions are on tramadol since it's a controlled substance opioid. We have friends who have also recommended CBD oil for the pains. I believe it's some sort of phantom pain , as his stitches are out and the wound is healing nicely and scabbing back over where he nibbled at it.
So yeh.. I'm just wondering how long I should expect him to remain in pain like this and if going back to the drugs is a good idea / how people feel about CBD oils.
Thanks again!
Thomas and Bogart
Awww look at that boy! What a sweetie, I want to give him a giant 
!
So glad to hear things are going well. You are great parents to him, good for you for staying on top of the incision monitoring.
So yeh.. I’m just wondering how long I should expect him to remain in pain like this and if going back to the drugs is a good idea / how people feel about CBD oils.
I think it was smart to refill the prescription, and also to be asking these questions. First, here's an article about Tramadol that we recently wrote, which talks about current thinking on this drug. Overall it is a mild painkiller, like maybe what a Tylenol 3 is to us, and recent studies prove it is nowhere near as effective as once thought. It can work better with Gabapentin so I would give it a try if it worked for him before.
A Tripawd doesn't need to remain in pain, and there are many ways to alleviate it that go beyond prescriptions and CBD / medical cannabis. First though, you need to find out what is bothering him. There is a level of adjustment that all new Tripawds need to make after losing a limb, but constant pain shouldn't be something he has to endure.
My best recommendation is to take up the Tripawds Foundation on our rehab reimbursement program, which will pay for your first rehab visit for Bogart. These experts can help you determine where he is hurting, and how to help him through exercises and yes, sometimes painkillers. Pain relief involves many different components. Together, they help keep a Tripawd mobile and happy despite the way their body is compensating for the lost limb.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Oh my goodness, he is a heart melter ❤❤❤
I agree with Jerry. Finding out where his discomfort is should help in a treatment plan.
Please don't be discouraged. Our pets can be so much like us... different in ability to deal with pain levels. Some more sensitive than others.
I think (unprofessional opinion) that this will pass. Some just take longer than others before weaning off meds.
Love your photo, and your post. Thank you for checking in, keep the faith... you have light at the end of that tunnel. Hang in there❤❤❤
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
First of all bogart looks wonderful!!!! Yahhh for that handsome boy!!!! His doggy smile made my day!
We had a similar experience with roane after taking her off the pain meds. Every dog is different and this may be completely unrelated in bogarts case. In roanes case we finally pin pointed her issue as joint/musscle pain. Shes a really big girl and her single back leg was sore. Our vet felt this was causing her "favor it" which was causing muscle soreness in other places. Long story short shes on a maintenance dose of carprofen and gabapentine indefinitely. I figure its no worse than humans taking aleve for arthritis.
The hard part is pin pointing whats causing it. Finding a good rehab therapist will help you figure that out and maybe provide other options if your not loving the tramadol.
Big hugs,
Bev and roane
Hugs ❤ Bev, nurse Moe cat, Autumn's Angel Roane & Angel dog Gypsy 🐾
My sweet soulmate Roane was diagnosed with osteo in June of 2019. Had a rear leg amp on July 2nd & crossed the rainbow bridge to be with her sister Gypsy on the first day of Autumn Sept 23 2019.
Good feedback from everybody. Let us know what your thoughts are.
In the meantime, keep posting pictures! We can't get enough of this handsome boy!
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)
