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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Hello,
I sure could use some advice. Found out today that Maggie has cancer in her right front leg. Got a second opinion as another vet said it was strained ligaments, but in the last 2 to 3 weeks her leg has swelled up to twice the normal size around her "knee" X-ray showed that bone is kinda of just dissoving. Our vet suggested amputation at the shoulder or putting her down. She is our big ole baby and cannot imagine just putting her down. She is alert and happy all the time except for the pain in her leg. His concern is her weight. She is a mastiff and weighs between 140 & 150. He fears that her good leg would not be able to take the strain. Dang, all she really does is go out and does her business and then lays around the house. Kind of a lazy, mello breed. She is a happy, alert, loving, gentle giant and I want the best for her. The pain isn't fair to her and I am afraid that the cancer will spread if we wait too long to decide what to do. Do you guys think she could get around on 3 legs at her weight and age...she is about 8 years old. I'm sure wanting to give her the chance, but do not want her to suffer. Look forward to some advice...THANK YOU!!
Ben (Neb)
Oops. Did I post in the right place? If not...sorry. Please advise.
Thank you
mastiff said:
Did I post in the right place?
Yes, your future forum posts will not require moderation. Sorry to hear about Maggie, but we're glad you found us.
You'll find lots of recovery and care tips in Jerry's Required Reading List, and for immediate answers to the most common dog amputation questions download the new Tripawds e-book Three Legs and A Spare.
Search these forums and blogs and you'll find plenty of success stories about senior tripawds. Don't miss our video of Tazzie the Mastiff who did quite well on three legs after her amputation due to cancer, and be sure to check out Rosie the blog of Rosie the French Mastiff.
Good luck, please keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
don't let the size of your girl be a deciding factor. we've had mastiffs, corsos, great danes, etc with amputations. gayle was a 70 lb lab mix (10 yrs old) who had no problem becoming a tripawd. hopefully one of the 'large breed' folks will jump in with some info, but if you do a search on the forums, there are many references to large breed dogs who've successfully become tripawds.
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 Ben,
Welcome to Tripawds. I'm sorry you are facing cancer with your girl, but as Charon said there are many giant breed dogs here who have done very well.
Admin gave you a couple links- let me give you a couple more.
Queen Nova the Great Dane has OSA and is still hopping along more that three YEARs after her amp.
And my local friend Cemil, a 150 lb Anatolian Shepard is approaching 3 years post amp, also for OSA. I see Cemil every couple of months and he gets around fine!
If she is otherwise healthy I would think she could handle the amputation. How old is she?
I can't speak directly to the size issues, my Maggie was a pug, about 17.5 pounds!
Good luck with your decision making- let us know if you have more questions.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Hi Ben, just wanted to say welcome and sorry you had to find us here. Our pup is not a large breed, so I can't specifically weigh in on that except to say that (as others noted) we've seen a lot of large/older dogs do well here. If she is otherwise a happy gal and still loving life, the amp will get rid of the pain.
You know your girl best. There are no wrong decisions. If you decide not to amp, (and even if you do) you might want to see an oncologist. You could do palliative radiation to help with the pain as an alternative to amp.
It can be an overwhelming diagnosis so definitely come here with questions or if you just need some support. All the best with your decision,
Jackie, Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Hi Ben! Zeus is only 45 pounds, so I cannot help much with the weight question. However, he is 11 years old and he is doing just fine on three legs! I will admit that our recovery was a bit longer, I assume because of his "maturity" 
(and he strained his back a week after the amputation). About one month in (and finally off most of the pain meds) we finally saw his personality return and now he is doing great. They really do adapt very quickly. I know it is a very hard decision to make. Good luck!
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/
If you read Tazzie's story you can see that she was about 190 pounds pre-amputation and had surgery on both of her knees prior but she really did well. is your dog overweight? That can make a difference. In general size is usually not an issue but other diseases are. These big dogs can have undiagnosed heart disease so your vet should take chest xrays to look at both heart size and look for lung mets. A blood test to check for liver and kidney function is also smart. If your vet is not comfortable doing surgery on such a big dog then please look for a second opinion.
Let me know if you have any specific questions!
Pam
Thank you all for your advice and support. Our family and a few close friends have discussed the options and really there is no option to us. She is getting the leg amputated. She is healthy and strong in every other way and sure does deserve to live and thrive. Even with the pain she is in now, she seems happy. I'm going to call the vet tomorrow and set up a time to speak with him about some of the things I learned from this site. Overnight supervision, blood-pressure monitoring, etc. He is kind of an old timey country vet, so I want to get more of a "feel" for him. Maggie just isn't just another dog. She's OUR baby. I will continue to learn more about all of this, but as far as Maggie...she's got plenty of spirit. She loves life. Again, thank you all so much for the advice and the caring!!
Ben
mastiff said:
He is kind of an old timey country vet...
Best wishes for a perfect procedure and speedy recovery! As much as we all like our "regular" vets, please consider what is best for Maggie when is comes to such a surgery. If you haven't aleady read it, don't miss this post in the News blog :
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I must echo Admin's post above. Several years ago Zeus' brother, Merlin, had surgery with our regular vet for a torn ACL and their requirement was to keep them overnight. But, they did not have 24 hour service and I refused to leave him (he had already escaped from his cone of shame twice while they were there with him - what would he do when left alone for 12 hours?). I was adamant that it COULD NOT be better for him to stay at an unattended facility alone overnight when we could be right beside him to keep an eye on him. They finally relented and let us take him as long as I returned at 7:30 the next morning so they could check him over.
I am certainly not saying that you should bring Maggie home right away, just that you should be prepared to use common sense and follow your instincts when making some of the decisions. Good luck and keep us posted!!
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/
My vet is also a self-described good-old-boy who learned all about weird diseases and ticks and mange and on and on...but even he told me to take Dakota elsewhere for his amputation. He was phenomenal when Dakota came to us with misdiagnosed mange. He knew, though, that he couldn't amputate that leg because of no overnight supervision. Taking it off is no problem; supervising and managing pain overnight might be. So we went to CSU, whose teaching hospital is 2 hours away.
I know you're made up your mind, but I just wanted to add my 2 cents. Having gone through this with an arthritic, highly-anxious, 85-pound older dog, I would do it all again in a heartbeat. I have learned that age and size matter, but they aren't the trump cards. And if I had to put one before the other, I believe that I personally would say age matters more than size. When vets say they aren't sure the dog is a good candidate due to size, I think it's time for a new vet. If the dog is so old that they simply cannot adapt, that might matter. But I doubt that dog exists. Honestly, the trump card in the whole affair is the human attached to the dog. If they are committed, almost anything is possible.
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/
Hello,
Haven't been posting as I work 12 hour shifts all weekend. Thank you for all the advice. I sure do need and appreciate it. I am going to sort of interview the vet tomorrow and get a gut reaction on what he says. Kind of get an idea on his view on amputation. If he ain't feelin' comfortable about it, I will ask him for a reference or check around a bit. Again...thank you all so much and I will keep you updated.
Ben
Hi Ben,
Be sure you remember to log in before you post- that way you don't show as a guest, and more importantly your post will not have to wait for moderation.
Good luck with your vet visit tomorrow.
Karen and the pugapalooza
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