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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Let us know when surgery is over so we can celebrate with you! Karl will be seeing pink elephants and in no pain. So try and get some rest tonight.
We all understand how jard it is to hear this. You now jave a plan and can get rid of that painful leg. Every day is a bonis day so fill them with love and spoiling and fun! The bond you had before...OMD...it will be deeper than you can ever imagine! I'm glad your husband got on board. This piece of crap disease makes you make awful "forced choice" decisions. Once you see how resilient Karl is and how he just gets on with living his life ro the fullest, you will be so happu! You are doing this FOR Karl. On some days during recovery it may feel like you are doing it TO him...not the case!
Recovery is no picnic. There may be some whining and restlessness. It may take some fiddling around with pain meds to get that under control.
Lots of hugs and love to ya'!
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!
Sending you lots of positive energy!!!! Keep us posted!
alison with spirit shelby in her heartÂ
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Many hugs going out to you today! And remember, you don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.....keep us posted
Paula and Nitro
Nitro 11 1/2 Â yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Â Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
Thanks so much everyone. Karl had a chest X-ray before the surgery and it still looks good. So the surgery is just underway. We had an upbeat morning, I don t know if he pooped this morning though. Oops!
The vet let me pray with him that was awesome!Â
Thank you so much for being here. 
I had to work today, but thought about you & Karl several times throughout the day. Hope things went well!
Donna
Donna, Glenn & MurphyÂ
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17 Â
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Surgery went well, and he is at the 24 hour specialty vet for the night. I saw him, it was rough. He's quite restless and I'm sure confused and in some pain. I have to remind myself that we needed to do this if he is to have any chance at fun again. Hard though. Tomorrow he should come home late in the afternoon.Â
Thanks everyone.Â
YAY... he made it through.... yeah.... the first sight is a bit hard. The drugs really make them loopy and the first couple of weeks are tough. BUT stay close to us and we'll help guide you through it!!! Get some rest before he comes home. You'll need it!Â
HUGS!Â
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Glad he made it through surgery! Stay strong, you can do this.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Surgery is over and Karl is on the road to recovery!! what you're seeing with Karl is perfectly "normal". It's hard to watch. Keep in mind though, he's coming out of anesthesia and on heavy drugs, so he'll act a little weird, plus major surgery hurts!!
It's hard to see that his sparkle will come back right now, but it will!!
Stay connected! Try and get some rest. You'll still have some rough days ahead, but the good ones, actually the GREAT ones, are just around the corner!
Love!
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!
We're home. Yikes. He was wining and became very uncomfortable. Weird thing happened, he kept panting and whining and going a little potty on himself and became increasingly agitated. So we took the plunge to take him outside potty. He squealed when we helped him up, and then we did it, got him hopping outside, yeah! He stopped and peed for a super long time. Hopped with us back in and now he's finally content. A lot of firsts for both of us. Amen.Â
What an adventure, he is pretty awesome! 😉
Yep, they get tons of fluids during the surgery so a good looooonnnng pee is what most of them want first! His bladder was probably bursting.
It is really hard when they yelp when you're trying to help them. It was like a knife in my heart each time. Luckily it fades quickly. The next few days can be the roughest period, so stay strong.
Denise, Bill and Angel Ellie.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
Oh Sweet Karl!
Hang in there sweet boy. The first few days are horrible...........BUT..........it gets better! Panting BTW, is a sign of pain or distress of some sort even fever so I'm not surprised that he did this.
Karl will be back to being Karl before you know it. The magic number seems to be 2 weeks. Quite literally it was exactly 14 days for us. Also, don't be surprised if Karl doesn't poop right away (It took Buddy a week). The pain meds, decreased appetite will slow things down.
This is the tough part but we are here for you and we are all praying for you to be a strong pack leader and for Karl to make a speedy surgical recovery!
Hugs and puppy kisses/prayers from me and my Tripawd!
Julie and Buddy
Made it through the night. Yeah!
Karl did it! His first tripped poop! Problem now is that he keeps wanting to go outside. He's unsteady, yet still wants to do it. I'm concerned about him moving too much.Â
Help?
Disclaimer: I'm not a vet 🙂  So I'll give you advice from experience and best guess.
First of all, congrats on the first POOP!!!!! YAY! It's the small things, right??
Please remind me: is Karl front or hind amp?
Buddy was very restless is first 48hrs. This could be the case with Karl. He manifested by pacing and just kind of being restless. What is Karl on for pain control?
Short potty breaks are OK. My vet put is on 2 weeks of activity restriction. No jumping, no steps (just the few to get in/out) and very short walks just enough to potty.
Please feel free to email me directly Julie.darling@me.com or call/text if I can help in any way 240-743-8178. Again, not an animal professional but just from experience.
Keep us posted!!!
xoxo
julie
First, hurray for poop! Second, Karl probably is still feeling a bit pumped up from all the surgical/hospital meds & really strong pain killers etc. So he's probably trying to overdo it right now. It is great that the desire is there, don't get me wrong. But I think you are right to be worried about him doing too much. Right now, he needs to recover from major surgery, so he's better off w/ just short breaks to do his business and then back inside and keeping quiet as much as possible. Managing pain (and activity) are two of the big post-amp hurdles.
He might well have a few really rough days coming up when the soreness seems to finally hit them. So don't get discouraged if that happens.
Denise, Bill and Angel Ellie.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
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