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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My 9yo Doberman, Louis (pronounced "Louie"), has been limping for a few days. We assumed she slipped on the hardwood floors when the mailman came one day. I took her to the vet on Thursday and received the devastating news that she has a tumor on her left front leg at the "ankle" joint. The biopsy was inconclusive but they are telling us it is cancer. Her lungs and chest are clear per imaging. They have presented us with the options of (1) Amputation and chemo or (2) Radiation. Radiation, as you all probably know, will only help with pain but will do nothing to stop the cancer.
We have been researching the best we can but are struggling so much with this decision. I haven't been able to stop crying in days. How can we make this decision without KNOWING it is cancer?!? My husband is so worried that she'll wake up without her leg and not understand/hate us. We are so scared that she won't be able to do the things she loves - walking/running.
She is so "top heavy". By chance, does anyone have an older Doberman or other barrel chested dog that lost their front leg? I would love to hear from you. Is your dog able to do stairs? How far can they walk? How was their recovery?
Any advice that anyone can give would be go greatly appreciated. We are heading back to the vet on Tuesday to meet with our regular vet and to have the laundry list of questions answered that I emailed her yesterday.
I just found this site and have been trying to navigate through. It's hard. Any suggestions where I should start?
Hello and welcome. Your future posts won't require approval so post away.
We are so sorry to hear about this tough situation you're coping with. The good news is, you are not alone, we are here to help.
First, you can begin your search for answers on the Tripawds Start Page. You'll find lots of great reading including Jerry's Required Reading List and the Tripawds e-books library. Also, check out the Size and Age Matters Forum topic, you'll find many examples of dogs much larger than Louis who have done great on three.
I apologize for having to run back to work, but stay tuned, more will chime in OK? Hang in there.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Louis' family and Louis! So sorry to read about your pup. I'm on the same path - just over a week ago, I took my dog Clyde to the vet for a limp (lame on his right front leg). I thought he'd just strained something leaping at the fence line after possums. The x-rays showed a different story and I was told it was likely bone cancer. My vet ran a test to rule out fungal infection, and this past Tuesday confirmed he has some type of bone cancer.
Before the blood test came back, I spent Memorial day weekend doing just what you are doing now - obsessively reading up on what to do and crying my eyeballs out. My options were euthanasia (bone cancer is incredibly painful and Clyde was still having some pain even on meds), palliative care (try to manage him medically), amputation or amputation with chemo. I can't afford chemo, and so made the choice to go with amputation. For me, I was really concerned that his pain wouldn't be completely managed medically even with radiation therapy, and even worse, he would be at risk for a pathological fracture. Ask your doctor about that - that fact was probably the biggest factor in my decision.
I will tell you what others on this site told me which really helped - dogs don't mourn the loss of a limb like we do. They simply get on with being dogs. That is what I see Clyde doing (he just had his surgery on Friday) - he's figuring out how to manage his body. He's living in the moment like dogs do, and isn't thinking how sad he is that he doesn't have his front leg anymore. He's wagging his tail, has been eating, and just a few minutes ago went to his toy box and picked out a couple to bring back to his bed.
Whatever decision you make will be fine. Don't let well meaning people make you feel bad (I'm dealing with a little bit of that) - you and your family know what's best for your dog. But I'd just say don't automatically rule out amputation because of concern that she'll miss her leg - dogs don't react as we do, and Clyde and the other dogs on this website are proof of that.
Maybe show some of the videos to your husband to show how well tripawds do! That really helped me too when I was making my decision. Many people here have large dogs that have done well. Is she overweight or have any arthritis or anything in her other legs? You'd want to discuss any issues like that with your vet as well.
Good luck and I hope Louis does well!
Dobemom has a doberman who is, I think, about two years post-amp. http://nitro.tr.....pawds.com/.
My Sadie is only 8 days post-amp, but she's doing well. No more than 3 stairs at a time yet, but I have to watch her like a hawk to keep her from running around the yard like a crazy dog. However, she lost her leg to being hit by a car, not to cancer, so not 100% sure how it would map to your experience. However, she doesn't hate me for the leg. Hating me for the cone of shame .... well, that's a different story. 😉
Hello:
We are one month post op front left with a very, very, deep chested dog. 11.5 years old - Malamute x Greyhound. He has done SWIMMINGLY as a Tripawd and I personally would not be worried adaptation. Granted, my Pofi had been lame for a longer time (long story) and this helped make his transition easier. And we knew it was cancer.
I have only just started my blog, but it does show a few photos pre and post op so you can see for yourself how it is going.
Pofi has been walking, running, romping and going up and down stairs. Differently then before, but with no less enjoyment. We are headed to the dog park now to enjoy beautiful weather. On yesterday's dog park excursion, everyone who saw him commented on how happy he seemed and spirited and joyful. If I had it to do over, I'd do it again - I only wish our diagnosis had come much sooner.
Lisa and Pofi
Lisa, Minneapolis
On October 27, 2016, nearly 6 months after amputation, and 18 months since his cancer likely started, we lost Pofi to a recurrence of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in his spine quite suddenly. His canine sister also succumbed to cancer on March 1, 2019 - we lavished her with our love in the interim, but life was never quite the same without her only real canine friend. Cliff kitty had to leave us, too, suddenly, in August 2019. Lucia kitty grieved all these losses, but helped us welcome two new Lurchers into our home and our lives, Shae and Barley.
Otis is 100 lb lab/Dane mix, also barrel chested. We have a blog if you want to see photos. Next week will be his four month ampuversary (front leg).. He cannot take long walks - really only 7 houses, with a long rest break at house 5. But he can go up and down the stairs, chase cats and squirrels, steal food off the kitchen counters, jump on the sofa, pretty much everything he did before. Obviously, recovery took some time - the sofa was week 3, our first walk was almost week 4 and we waited until almost month 3 for the stairs. The first two weeks of recovery are hard (but easier than the cruciate repair my other dog had last summer). And dogs do not think about things the way people do - Otis does not spend time thinking about his missing leg. He just figures out how to do whatever it is he wants to do. Otis loves me just as much as before and he must appreciate not being in pain anymore. Amputation is a really hard thing to consider, but I am 100% glad to have made the decision to amputate.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Hi There---so sorry your pup is facing this. We all understand how devastating it is. It does seem an impossible choice to take the leg when you're not 110% sure. Unfortunately, most dogs don't get that type of answer pre-amp. Biopsies are often inconclusive. And OSA (if that is what the vets are thinking) seems to be quite distinctive on x-rays. It certainly isn't out of line to ask for another opinion, perhaps from an ortho specialist if that would help.
When we were facing the decision, we knew it was OSA and we knew it was incredibly painful. For us, it was either amputation or saying goodbye. We knew that at least amputation would take away the pain so whatever time she had left it would be w/o that terrible pain. I never thought about Ellie being mad (as someone said, they just get on w/ being a dog post-amp), but I did think about the opposite---what would she think if we took her to be PTS instead? Other than her crappy leg, she was fine! She still had so much life still in her! She had squirrels to chase and UPS men to bark at and walks to take and snuggles to soak up. So I kept thinking she wouldn't understand why we wanted to get rid of her. And we just couldn't face taking that step while she still had so much living to do and while we had a chance to take away the pain and give her as much time as possible.
I know it seems hard to believe when you first face the decision, but most dogs do fine as tripawds. Of course there are no guarantees, but other than the post-amp period (which can be rough!), after the first couple of weeks most dogs are back to most of their previous activities. Walks are shorter (better more often but shorter) and they'll need some PT to help their muscles build up for their new gait. But she won't care about that rotten leg being gone, because you'll still be there to spoil her and love her and take care of her!
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
Hello! we all understand how hard this decision is. Take your time, and - yes - the final diagnosis usually comes after the amputation. Johnnie's biopsy wasn't conclusive, but the ortho-vet insisted that it was OSA and we went further into investigation and there it was.
Don't worry about your dog being mad at you. They don't make the connection. Our Golden (100 lbs before amp) didn't even associate the orthopedic surgeon to his missing leg. He is a front-leg amp, and our experience is like Otis's: he has to take some pit-stops to rest, but otherwise is doing fine. We are now 2-yrs post-op, and counting.
Daniela & Johnnie
Our awesome Golden Boy was diagnosed for OSA in April 2014 in the proximal humerus, front-leg amp on 05/20/2014. Finished chemo (Carbo6) on 07/10/2014. Ongoing treatment: acupuncture + K-9 Immunity Plus ( 3chews) and home-cooked no-grain diet. Stopped Apocaps because of liver issues. Liver issues: controlling altered enzymes with SAM-e and Milk Thistle. October 17: started having seizures. Taking fenobarbital for seizures. April 18: started prednisone.
I'm sorry you are facing this decision with Louis, we have been there and certainly understand the shock of the diagnosis.
One thing that might make the decision a bit easier to make- how damaged it Louis' leg? What are the other things that it could be? OSA if often diagnosed by x-ray alone. If the leg is damaged anyway is there any way to save it if it isn't cancer? Many times the leg is so damaged that no matter what the diagnosis it can not be saved.
After my pug Maggie's amputation for mast cell cancer she was not happy for several weeks. She wasn't mad at me, she was not happy because her routine had been changed. She was very stubborn and set in her ways, any change upset her. She took longer than most to get used to her new normal, but she did and hopped happily through life for almost 4 years. It was a hard decision for me because unlike most bone cancers, Maggie's tumor was not causing her pain- it was hard to come to grips with the fact that a bump in her knee was only fixable with amputation.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
When Murphy was diagnosed, he had been limping for several months. His original x-rays were not clear and we were told he was fine, so he was just given anti-inflammatories & pain medications. When it continued, we got a referral for an orthopedic specialist. His 2nd set of x-rays showed a tumor, but they said there was a possibility of it being a fungal or bacterial infection, so we grasped at that straw. We also had a biopsy which was inconclusive, and from what I've learned here, they often are. His 3rd set of x-rays showed that the tumor was obviously growing & eating away at the bone, so without a confirmed diagnosis we decided to go ahead with the amputation and get the diagnosis afterwards.
Here is a video of Murphy 24 hours after his surgery:
It's obvious that he's not upset or angry with us, just happy to be going home. All he knows is that his leg was painful and now it was gone.
Recovery takes about 2 weeks, sometimes a little longer, depending on the dog. It's a roller coaster of emotions, you will definitely wonder if you did the right thing, we all did, but it gets better. Murphy came home on 3 different pain medications, so we wrote out a schedule to help keep track of them all. Make sure you keep up on them around the clock for adequate pain control.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
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
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Hi Louis and family 
We all know what a shock it is to get those sort of news ... one is never, ever prepared for this ...
My girl Eurydice is a great dane and weighed 170 lb/77 kg pre amputation so I can absolutely assure you they can recover, it just takes longer than for smaller dogs !
My partner was adamant he didn't want to go ahead with amp, he could not come to terms with seeing her on three legs and really wanted a biopsy done, he kept on saying "how about if it isn't cancer? After amputation is too late!"
We asked the vet that did the X-ray, the oncologist and the surgeon and all of them said bone cancer is very easily identifiable on the X-rays. They were 99.9% sure. So was I. Like you, I had spent the agonising 24h before the X-ray reading as much as I could about osteosarcoma and saw tons of photos of X-rays so when I saw Eurydice's I could see it right in front of my eyes.
Like everybody said, dogs don't think the way we do. They get on with their lives and adapt surprisingly quickly. No chance they will blame us, they are just too happy to be with us, four legs or three! Also, the amp doesn't change their personality at all, Louis will continue to enjoy life as she does now.
I was really worried my girl wouldn't be able to get her balance right, being so heavy and having such huge chest (she is a front leg amputee) but she did remarkably well, first couple of weeks were very hard for both of us but as soon as she was off her medicine I could see progress every day.
It's been almost five weeks after amp, she isn't allowed to go upstairs yet (I am too terrified of her managing to go up and then not being able to come down...) but she jumps on the bed and in/out of the car which is terrific!
Life has changed, of course, she cannot do long walks anymore but hops around really fast, I think being so heavy, it's probably easier for her to move fast so she can use her back legs with more power. So I am doing a lot of jogging too.
As for radiation, we didn't do it because we felt it doesn't fight the progression of the disease as amputation/chemo does and also because we were told most certainly at some point she would have a pathological fracture and then she would have to amputate her leg but at that time maybe she would no longer be a good candidate for amp.
Also, she would need to be under anaesthesia for the radiation treatments which is more risky with big dogs, we try to avoid anesthesias as much as we can.
Bone cancer is excruciatingly painful, the oncologist told us we can manage the pain with medicine but no medicine is 100% pain proof whilst amputation removes the pain instantly, for ever.
These are such difficult times for you but believe me you will strangely feel better once you make a decision because then you will have a plan.
I am sure you will make the right decision for Louis as you obviously love her so much!
Sending you a big hug and lots of cuddles to your gorgeous girl
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Welcome!
My Molly is nearly 1 month post amputation and she's doing amazingly. I had a similar dilemma in that she had a lesion growing on her leg which was eating away at her bone and all biopsies were coming back inconclusive! When the vet told me amputation was my only option I was terrified! All the thoughts that run through your mind are horrendous!
Molly also suffers with bilateral hip dysplasia so I also wasn't sure how she would cope with that with losing one of her rear legs but I can tell you it was absolutely the right decision!
Molly is getting around just as she did before! She jumps in and out of the car, loves going for a walk over the fields and is (if possible) even more cheeky than before! It's actually hard to think back to her having 4 legs!
We have since been told that following further tests done on the leg since the amputation that the lesion was in fact an osteosarcoma so we caught it at the right time as the staging scans showed no spread!
Honestly we all know on here exactly what you are going through and every person on here has been through a similar experience! I couldn't have got through it without this Tripawd family so please feel free to share your worries 😊😊
THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH! We did elect to amputate and Louis's left forelimb was removed on the 8th. (We meet with oncology on the 21st for chemo.). I am very surprised at how well she is doing. She gave me a mini-heart attack yesterday when she decided to RUN down the hallway. Thankfully, I was able to stop her before she headed down the stairs. She still hasn't pooped since being home but my vet tells me not to panick at this point. She has been eating primarily baby food and soft dog food which both has high water content. The meds also can cause constipation. We started mixing some of her normal dry food in with the baby/soft foods yesterday. I am hoping that we'll see some poopy progress today or tomorrow.
Last night we removed the bandages and the Fentenyl patch. WOW that was difficult! (Since my husband is a physician, they said we could do the removal ourselves vs. bringing her in.) Unfortunately, there is a large strip that is stuck to her fur and skin. We tried soaking it with warm water but it wouldn't come off. We didn't want to traumatized Louis any further, so we left it. Does anyone have any suggestions on how to remove it? I have a call into my vet as well...
Also, how do you stop them from trying to lick the sutures?!? We have a t-shirt on Louis but she just licks the outside of the t-shirt. Is a cone the only way? (Cones push on her ears...so I try to avoid them.)
Thank you all again! And thank you to Dobemom for helping me through this process too. You have been an ANGEL!!!!!!
You can try canned pumpkin for the constipation - not the kind with all the spices in it already, but the kind you would have to add spices to if you were making pie. A couple of spoonsful every day should help.
Murphy didn't have a fentanyl patch, so I'm no help there, sorry. If it's sticky, maybe something like detachal or some coconut oil maybe would help?
I think after a day or so Murphy just left his staples alone and the t-shirt was all we needed. We even took it off after a bit and he left them alone. Louis might just need to get used to the feeling.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
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
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Oh, we are so happy to hear Louis has had her amp and is back home and full of energy too !!! Paws up for her !!!!!
Don't worry too much with the 
situation, I was worried sick but the surgeon reassured me calmly that "it will happen for sure, when she has to go she WILL go" and so it was, almost one week after the operation and in the middle of a rainy, stormy night too !
As for the bandages, we have no experience at all.
Eurydice came back without bandages (she stayed at the hospital for 3 days after the amp as I was far too worried I wouldn't be able to treat her as competently as nurses did, I am sorry to admit...) and we got her t-shirts until the stitches came out. Luckily she never attempted to fiddle with the wound.
From what I read here, the cone seems to be the only solution and an inflatable (?) cone was also used successfully but I cannot quite remember by whom.
Sending you both lots of kisses and cuddles
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
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