maggie said:

One of the things I haven't really seen addressed and wonder if vets and/or owners take into account before amputation is the dog's structure/conformation...can the dog physically take it?  And I'm not talking weight issues but the build of the dog.  I have gone to two Pat Hastings structure seminars thru the years and it sure was an eye opener on conformation.  For instance, how a dog should be built to withstand the rigors of a sport, such as agility.  There are issues such as the forelimbs not being attached well at the elbow that I could easily see would be a SERIOUS issue for a Tripawd - especially a front limb tripawd.  Or the angulation of the rear legs...for instance the comparison of the ChowChow vs the German Shepherd.  The Chow is very 'peg legged' and has legs like a table with little angulation vs. the GSD has alot of angulation and bred to "squat"...  The Chow type dog would have an easier time with being a rear leg amputee vs. a GSD with alot of angulation and already squatting with four legs.  Then there's an issue with the hocks that is common, called slipped hocks where the dog cannot support itself well and that's on four legs.

So, I do think the structure of a dog needs to be taken into account.  Not just size, weight, age, etc.

Just my opinions!

Tracy, Maggie's Mom

Interesting....Before doing Magic's amp, we went in and they folded his leg up and wrapped it...had he not had the bone biopsy four days before, they would have done it to his body but they didn't want to cause him great pain.  THey wanted to see if he could manage on three legs...this was the surgeon.  I was very glad they tested him that way..because I was amazed he could do it.

The canine body worker (to always forevermore be MY body worker....that was a lasting gift from Magic) said she was very very focused on the way her dog was put together and did a lot of research and got a puppy that fit her criteria...this was her first dog (me, I get them out of cardboard boxes usually...well til now)

But normally for the rest of us we aren't really looking at the structure, but good good points!!

abbydog said:

But how do you know if a dog is having phantom limb pain? You can not ask them.  I wonder if phantom limb pain is a problem that people have ecperienced with their dogs?

We experienced, what we assume to be, phantom limb pain with Harley.  Obviously, you can't ask them, so you don't know for sure, but I can tell you our experience … Harley would intermittently let out a yelp and jump (sit up quickly), like someone had "shocked" or "poked" him.  Sometimes, this would cause him to jump up and run over to me.  Most of the time, he didn't feel the need to come to me, but he would look to where his leg should have been after this "shock" happened and quickly start to lick his pillow where his leg used to be (Harley had never been a licker, so this was definitely new).  

Gabapentin greatly reduced the frequency of this happening … also seemed to lessen the severity of it when it did occur.  As this went on, the yelp stopped, but you would see him jump and lick at times.  Others here have described what I took as their dog being much more vocal when this happened … crying out in pain; for us it was always just one yelp (if any noise at all) and that was it.  It did last several months for us, though … for others, not at all or only a few weeks.

abbydog said:

I did not mean to offend anyone by saying Tripawds is pro-amputation.

Honestly, I don't think you offended anyone here.  I don't think of us as pro-amputation, but more pro-quality of life.  It's gut-wrenching to have to amputate, but we just want people to know, if you need to do this, it is okay.  Your dog can have a great life missing a limb.

Having now had a tripawd dog, in the future, I would have no qualms about amputating again.  None.  If cancer was even suspected, cut the leg off … get the cancer outta here.  We were misdiagnosed for 6months … I would do anything to have that time back and have been able to amputate sooner.  

abbydog said:

But in my research I have discovered some information that some dogs do not do well with amputation. I don't know if this is discussed on Tripawds or not. What are the issues that can be a problem, and is there a way to avoid or get around them.

Obviously, you know your dog best.  You know what Abby can handle, or not handle.  I would think the major issues would be keeping your dog trim, not over-exercising or over-stressing the remaining limbs, and a good joint supplement, to start with.

Best of luck, no matter what road you go down.  Whatever choice you do make will be make with nothing but pure love of Abby.  Keep us updated!