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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I have a German Shorthair Pointer named Oakley. A month ago he broke out of his shipping crate in route to out family farm which is 160 miles from where I live. He jumped off the trailer somewhere in a 50 mile part of the trip before we stopped again and I didn't know he was gone. Sunday he finally let a lady get close enought to him to read his collar and call me. It was such a relief to have my handsome boy back home but after i got him to be get Monday I was faced with another blow to the stomach. His rear left leg was broke in 2 places and in the hip. The hip and break below the knee are healing great on their own but the break close to the ball joint is bad. They are telling me $3500 to try and fix the break but ther isn't much bone to attach to the ball or if there is the question is if the break is clean enough to work with. They are leaning more toward the idea that they can not fix it. This vet said if they can not attempt to fix it he's still going to charge me "a few thousand dollars" but another vet said he would amputate for $700. I still plan to consult one or two more
Vets. Does anyone have some insight for me? I am a 23 year old guy struggling to make ends meet already and this is going to be hard financially even for the $700 amputation.
Welcome, sorry to hear about Oakley. Your futur forum posts will not require moderation.
Please know that we are not vets, but far too many times we hear from people who put their dogs through multiple, painful, expensive surgeries trying to "save the leg" only to end up doing the amputation anyway. While many accident related issued can eventually be healed with extensive rehab work, if the bone cannot mend on it's own no amount of surgery can help and amputation is likely the best option, regardless of cost.
If quality of life is a concern just check out Bart, a three legged Vizsla who appeared on the recent cover of Gun Dog magazine. We also have another member with a German Shorthair Tripawd who still hunts regularly and loves farm life.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Oh no - what a horrible accident. It is a huge shock when something like this happens. Our pup broke her front leg and we were told it would cost about the same as you to fix it and that it might not work anyway. we went with amputation and Kayla is now a typical naughty almost 1yr old pup, who has a great time help us chase our few cows when needed. Can you talk to the vets about the possiability of arranging some sort of contract for paying the bill off. We had to do this also and the vet we went to was very good about it. Dogs recover amazingly quickly after amputation. Good luck!!
How old is Oakley??
Sarah
My dog had a failed hip replacement that caused a shattered femur that was wired back together. It ended with him contracting MRSA in the bone and a second break. Amputation became our ONLY option.
We caused him 3 months of pain trying to save the leg. He seemed immediately better after it was gone. A year later and he does it all...hikes...swims...sleds...keeping up with his kids.
Only you can decide what is best but after our experience we had a long list of "we should of...".
Healing and speedy recovery wishes.
Goodness what an ordeal. As others have said, we've seen folks come here after trying to save the leg. Don't feel badly about having to consider the financial side of the decision too.
As Sarah said, maybe you can work out some sort of plan with the vet.
Dogs usually recover from the surgery in about 2 weeks and then once they build up their stamina again, they can do pretty much everything they did before.
Keep us posted,
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!
ditto about not being a vet. And had I not had our sweet dog Spencer, I don't know that I would be giving the same advice that I'm about to give to you.
I'd get the leg amputated. There is no way of telling if you are going to be able to get it repaired. Even if you do, it is going to cost thousands of dollars. And then, you don't know if that leg is going to continue to cause pain.
Spencer had his amputation due to cancer. Pre-amp he was about 85 lbs. He lost just over 4 lbs with the amputation and then we got him down to a healthy weight of 75 lbs.
I was AMAZED at how fast he adapted to 3 legs. Day 1 I wondered if I had done the right thing; but by day 2 there wasn't a doubt in my mind.
I now know if I'm faced with a situation like you are in, I will consider amputation the 1st choice unless a doctor can give me very good odds that they can fix the leg and my dog will not face pain down the road from the injury.
As for cost... spencer's amputation was around $1,100. They took his leg and scapula (front leg). I live in the suburbs of Atlanta. I did just have our family vet do the surgery, though he was already consulting the oncologist who we started seeing shortly after the amputation.
Jac and Angel Spencer. Spencer was 5.25 years old. He fought a grade 3 fibrosarcoma, started on his shoulder. Left front leg amputated in August 2011. 15 weeks of chemo finished 12/22/11 (mytox and adria). Lung mets found on x-rays 12/28/11. Started carboplatin 1/6/12. Went to Heaven on 2/27/12. I miss him like crazy every day. See his blog here: http://spencer.tripawds.com/
Oh man, I'm so sorry to hear this about your dog.
I adopted Jack with a leg that became crooked as the result of a break that never healed right. I'm one of those people who paid thousands of dollars to try and fix it. My vet gave us an 85% chance of full recovery/perfectly normal leg with the surgery he recommended - the initial surgery was $2900 (that didn't include the required x-rays and further check ups if everything went well). But after complications, medications, bad luck, and so on and so forth, it came a lot closer to $6000. We spent 8 months with this surgery as well. I figured an 85% chance was pretty good - obviously too good to be true.
Even if the vet is saying right now that it's going to cost $3500, you have to figure on eventual x-rays to recheck, possible complications --- more than likely, you should expect to add significantly to that cost in the event something goes wrong.
If your vet is telling you they're not sure if they can fix it, that's a pretty tough call. Hindsight being 20-20, I wish I would have gone with the amputation right off and never even considered the rest of this.
In the end, Jack has been so much happier since his amputation and I don't have to worry about any further complications...that peace of mind is more than I could have ever hoped for. I don't regret the amputation at all - I regret the time and money I wasted trying to save the leg. Jack's recovery was quick and he's adapted beautifully - you'd never know that he had a fourth leg. I imagine Oakley would be just fine once he's fully recovered - dogs don't worry about missing a limb, they just want to get back to the good life of love and play time and treats.
Jack - adopted with a crooked leg at 4 months old, managed for six years, and now much-happier Tripawd as of 5/24/2012!
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