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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Oh my dog! Holly you are so cute!!! You look like you are wearing goggles! LOVE IT!
You are going to make a darling tripawd girl and all the tripawd boys are going to go nuts over you! And then the Monkeybutt dogs (the 4 legged siblings that live with tripawds - that go overboard for attention.) are going to pester you because you are going to be so popular as a tripawd!
Now Holly, tell your mom that you can't wait to be a tripawd girl! When you become a Tripawd Girl, you also become a Tripawd Warrior Princess! It's the bestest title in the whole wide world!
So get that leg off! Hurry! Life will be so much better without it!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Oh, Comet! Thank you for the lovely post! It brought tears to my mom's eyes. I think I might have to have her hang that up on the wall to help her think positive thoughts. Being a Tripawd Warrior Princess sounds pretty fun!
xo Holly
Best of luck with the surgery. Get lots of rest. We pawrents tend to worry so much we wear ourselves out! Remember - Holly is living in the moment (we can learn a lot from our furbabies). She's not worrying or regretting or blaming. As long as she's with her humans, eating, & sleeping and rid of the pain, she'll be a happy camper. We're the ones who over-think things and make ourselves crazy. It's a stressful couple of weeks, but you'll get through it and before long she'll start finding her 'new normal'.
Hugs and Slobbers
Judy and Baby
hollybeans said
Shelley - I'm so sorry to hear about Stella. 🙁 This is all so unfair. Holly has had a bit of trouble with arthritis in her back legs (the cancer is in the front), and that is one of the things that scares me - if her back hips are weak, making her a little bit wobbly to start, does that hurt her ability to adjust? I saw on your thread that someone mentioned keeping weight down - I don't know if that is your Stella's problem, but I know that a couple of years ago when we got Holly's weight down, it helped a lot with her wobbliness and hip problems, so maybe that could help? Like you, my vet says that she will do just fine...and I guess you're right that she knows more than I do! Also, many of the answers above give me confidence (when I'm reading them....all of that confidence goes away when I'm lying awake at 3am!). At least we'll be on pretty much the same surgery/recovery schedule, so we can compare notes if we both go ahead with this...
Stella is not overweight, and the vet said that the fact that she's not heavy will help her. We have decided to go ahead with the surgery and are keeping Friday's appointment. I'm sure I will be here asking tons of questions as she recovers, so let's definitely compare notes!!
Wishing you the best of luck on Friday! Also, if you can stand a bit more advice, I would offer the following:
-Get as much rest as possible before the surgery and while Stella is in the hospital. The next couple of weeks can be a bit tiring (partly b/c the dog will need a lot of attention but also b/c your paranoia will cause you to jump up at every sound through the night!)
-Prepare your house as much as possible before she comes home. Throw rugs or runners on slick surfaces, etc.
Let us know if we can help!!
Lisa
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/
THANK YOU! She will be coming home the same day--is that unusual???? My vet is amazing though, so if he thinks she needs to stay, I know he'll keep her. Honestly, I'd prefer for her to be home rather than at the vet all weekend.
From what I have seen, most vets keep them at least one night so they can observe and also so they can keep them on the serious IV pain meds. However, I have seen a few people post that their pup came home the day of surgery. Honestly, we only left Zeus overnight b/c it is a 24 hour facility. If your vet is not open overnight, it might be best for her to be home with you! (We once had a vet try to keep Zeus' brother overnight after knee surgery, but I refused to leave him b/c he would have been completely alone from 7 pm until 7 am - how could they possibly think that would be better than him being at home with us watching him!!??)
If you do bring her home the same day, be sure that you are prepared with the number and location of the closest emergency vet. You likely won't need it, but don't hesitate to use the number if you have any concerns!
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/
With our Abby we had the option to bring her home the same night. She had the surgery on a Friday afternoon and we planned to take her home, but the vet called and suggested that we come in and see her, and if we didn't feel up to taking her home, they would help us load her in the car to take her to a nearby overnight hospital (since our vet doesn't have overnight care). When we saw her she was very shortly out of surgery and wasn't even standing up yet. We were a little freaked out so opted for the overnight in the hospital. It added $300 to the total cost, but was worth the peace of mind and worth it to have her on the IV pain meds for the night.
The next day, she came hopping out looking like a new girl - she ran out of the hospital so fast I couldn't keep up and dropped the leash!
I know we would have gotten through it if we did bring her home, but I'm sure all 3 of us slept better with her at the hospital.
So... I guess I'm telling you all this to say be ready for what she will look like post-op. Also, know that you absolutely can do it if you need to bring her home that night. She'll most likely sleep - but you probably won't, because you'll be listening for every little sound. It can be very tiring, those first few nights at home. Try to rest up before Friday!
Like Zeus's mom says, have the # handy for the ER just in case.
Keep us posted. Best of luck on Friday!
Jackie, Angel 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!
I'm glad you feel better!
Tripawd Warrior Princess' Rule the World!
(beautiful artwork compliments of AngelAbbysMom ↑ )
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Welcome to Tripawds Holly and Alex! I know how awfully scary this all is. When I first noticed my Great Dane Valentina's limp I thought she had arthritis so I took her to the vet expecting to just get some Rimadyl or something and I was shocked when they told me she probably had cancer. I seriously felt like I was in the twilight zone. I wished and hoped that the vet was wrong but we had xrays done 2 different times and the radiologist said he was sure that it was osteo. At the time of her diagnosis Valentina still seemed relatively happy and her limp wasn't terrible. When the vet mentioned amputation I was strongly against it. I thought that I could manage her pain with meds and I thought that it would take a while for anything to happen. But I was wrong. The meds only seemed to work for about 5 weeks and then Valentina was in unbearable pain. When faced with losing her or doing the amputation I decided on the amputation even though it was very scary to me, losing her seemed worse so she had her front left leg amputated on July 5th 2011.
Valentina's recovery was longer than most Dog's because she had some complications but from what I have seen on this site since then it seems like most Dogs are getting back to normal in 2-3 weeks. They may tire more quickly for a while still but everyday they get a little stronger. After they are all healed up things can be wonderful again. You can go back to your usual routines and your new Tripawd will brighten your days.
The time that a Tripawd has after the surgery varies greatly from a few months to years but no matter the amount of time seeing your Dog out of pain and back to their happy selves again is something you couldn't regret. Valentina lived for 7 months after her surgery and I would do it again if I had to make that choice again. It wasn't as long as I had hoped but the quality times that we did have was worth it.
Good Luck with the surgery. You and Holly will be in my thoughts and prayers.
Tripawd warrior princesses rule!!!
Keeping my fingers, and Kali's paws, crossed for a successful surgery and relatively uneventful recovery.
Hugs,
Laura of Kali and Tai (Angel Tripawd warrior princess)
Tai – 9 yr old lab. Diagnosed Osteosarcoma Dec 18/09. Front right leg amputated Dec 21/09. Started chemo Jan 7/10. Lung mets discovered Sept 16/10. Valiant to the end on Oct 26/10 when cancer reappeared in a leg and we made the decision to set her free. Forever in my heart where not even cancer can take her from me.
UGH! Another Tripawd Warrior Princess joins. UGH. UGH. She'll probaby be another Tripawd Warrior Princess who will want to kiss the fearless leader of the Monkeydogs!
Gross. Gross. Gross. Gross. Gross.
-MBBVP out.
Holly, being a Tripawd Warrior Princess is very fun! You get to wear a pink cape and chase Monkeybutt Bunny dogs and threaten to kiss them! (They hate that!!)
TWP's rule!
Angel Abby
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!
angel said
I seriously felt like I was in the twilight zone.
Such an accurate description! I explained it to someone as feeling like you're having an out of body experience.
Many, many thanks to everyone for your encouragement, support, and advice. I am trying to take the getting rest tip to heart, but it's pretty much impossible to sleep - I'm hoping that after the surgery, while she is still at the hospital, I will be able to rest a little bit since it will be done and I won't be freaking out about making the decision (not to mention the anxiety of any surgery!).
Please continue to keep my girl in your thoughts tomorrow and keep your paws crossed that everything goes smoothly.
Alex and Holly
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