Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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So my 3 1/2 yo kelpie Jamilah sustained a brachial avulsion in an accident a week ago. During emergency admission and care they already prepared us for amputation of her L limb. She stayed in emergency care for about twelve hours, the only upside in the story is that she did not sustain any other injuries. In a surgical consult two days later, and me and my partner all prepared for the inevitable, the surgeon said that "its not as bad as she has seen" and suggested to wait for four weeks. Jamilah cannot put weight on the L paw but is able to keep the limb abducted and thus the paw off the ground. I do not understand what we are waiting for though. It is quite obvious that she will not be able to use that leg properly ever again. Our research showed us that dogs usually recover well from the amputation of a leg and we think any wait and false hope for a recovery just takes time away from her to recover from the amputation and become used to her new circumstances as soon as possible.
We have a second opinion booked for this coming Monday 29/07.
Your thoughts are greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I'm sorry to hear about your girl's accident.
I've not personally dealt with brachial avulsion but I don't think it's uncommon to wait at least a few weeks before going to amputation. The prognosis is not great but depending on how severe the injury is some dogs do recover.
My current Tripawd was hit by a car when she was 7 months old, just about 9 years ago, August 5th will mark 9 years since her surgery. Elly is a little Pug mix and while she manages just fine the years have taken a toll. She is having mobility issues at 9.5 years old that I usually see in my small dogs when they are much older. I adopted her after her amp but from the information I had there was no option to save her leg. Dogs who are on three will have more issues with injury and arthritis than 4 leggers.
If Jamilah has even a small chance of keeping her leg I think it would be worth waiting a few weeks assuming any pain is managed.
I think it is wise to get another opinion as well- a good idea with any major injury and/or potential surgery.
Let us know what you find out on Monday.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Helmut and Jamilah. I'm so sorry for the accident!
I agree with waiting as long as any pain she is in is well-controlled. What medications did they give her?
Rehabilitation (physio) therapists tell us that in a situation like this, waiting at least three months is a good idea if there is any chance at all that usage of that leg can return.
And as a very wise orthopedic vet once told us, "Amputation gets rid of one problem now, but causes many in the future." He is correct, and we know this from our own experience of raising an amputee dog for 12 years. Three legged dogs and cats are more prone to osteoarthritis at an earlier age, and other injury risks like cranial cruciate ligament ruptures. So waiting is a good idea if her pain is under control.
Are you meeting with an orthopedic surgeon next?
jerry said
Hi Helmut and Jamilah. I'm so sorry for the accident!I agree with waiting as long as any pain she is in is well-controlled. What medications did they give her?
Rehabilitation (physio) therapists tell us that in a situation like this, waiting at least three months is a good idea if there is any chance at all that usage of that leg can return.
And as a very wise orthopedic vet once told us, "Amputation gets rid of one problem now, but causes many in the future." He is correct, and we know this from our own experience of raising an amputee dog for 12 years. Three legged dogs and cats are more prone to osteoarthritis at an earlier age, and other injury risks like cranial cruciate ligament ruptures. So waiting is a good idea if her pain is under control.
Are you meeting with an orthopedic surgeon next?
Thank you. She is on Gabapentin 300 mg up to three times a day and does not seem to be in a lot of pain. We only give it twice a day because it is quite sedating and knocks her out. We have a surgical appointment on Monday and see what we are going to do next. The nerve damage is high up and unlikely to improve much, and as it looks now certainly not to the extent that she will have any useful function in her leg. To me at the moment it seems more sensible to go ahead with an amputation, as much as it pains me saying that.
It's good that her pain is being managed, that's a pretty good dose for a situation like this.
My own dog Nellie is an example of why I feel like it's good to wait. Here is her situation in a nutshell (scroll down about halfway for the summary from Colorado State vets). It's not the same injury, but similar in that the leg appeared to be useless at first, but the longer we lived with her we could see many ways in which she does use it. I'm not saying your dog is in the same situation, but just that it's good to take a step back for a bit to see how things evolve.
Of course I"m not a vet so I'll be curious what the surgeon reports back so please let us know!
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