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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First time on here, so very glad I found ur website feeling a little bit better about it all now!
So rocky my baby...is a 7 year old Rottweiler. We got him when he was around 1 from a rescue home, he had been with 8 different owners and no one wanted him! God only knows why but then we saw him and fell in love. He is just the best, a very big rotti (tall rather than stocky) weighs in at 48kg.
We have been to Fitzpatrick referrals today and been given two options....amputation or put him to sleep. There was another but our insurance won't be enough to cover it. I have never wanted to go down the amputation route, I didn't want to put him through all that but since reading a lot on here I feel slightly different now. He is in pain and it will oly get worse which is why the vet has said its just not fare on him.
I'm still really scared, how will or will he cope? Am I making the right decision for him? Will his quality of life be any better? Rotti life span is 8-10 so am I doing the right thing? I'm just so torn, I don't want to be selfish and I need to do the right thing for rocky not us. I wasn't able to make the vets today as its a 2 and half hour drive away from where we live and we have a 6 month old baby. I will be speaking to the vet tomorrow as we have been advised to act quickly. Rocky had a MRI scan today and the cancer hasn't spread. Will he still need chemo?
Thank you sooooooo much
So, does Rocky have bone cancer, is that why they're advising amputation? Front leg or rear leg? Does he have problems with arthritis in any of his joints?
If he has bone cancer, the most common type is osteosarcoma which tends to be aggressive and spreads quite rapidly. It is certainly GOOD news that no metastasis was seen on the MRI, although, unfortunately, they cannot rule out microscopic spread of the tumor.
The way I look at it, doing nothing gives NO chance of survival. Amputation, at the very least, removes the source of the pain, as bone tumors tend to be increasingly more and more painful as they grow. Statistically, amputation followed by chemotherapy has the best odds, but you will meet lots of folks here who did not go the chemo route for various reasons. I would definitely recommend consulting with an oncologist to go over all your options.
You asked if his quality of life would be better with the amputation. If Rocky has a bone tumor, I would say that 99.999% of the time they are much happier having the painful leg gone! Dogs do not fret over losing a leg... they just want to be pain free and loved by their people. Some dogs fly through the early post-op period (like mine), some dogs take several weeks to recovery from the pain and physical trauma of the surgery... but they DO recover. Most people with tripawds look back and wonder what did they ever worry about because most dogs do so spectacularly well on 3 legs, even great big dogs!
EDIT to say that I see that Rocky does have a diagnosis of osteosarcoma from the title of your thread, sorry, I missed that the first time around!
Right hind limb amputated 7/3/12 for OSA, started on alternating cycles of Carboplatin and Doxorubicin and oral Palladia. Single lung met 9/1. Met in the neck muscle removed 9/30. Large mass in sublumbar lymph node 10/2. Rescue chemo with ifosfamide 10/6. Mets to the rib and axillary lymph node 10/21. Started Leukeran and Pred 10/25. Wookie left this Earth for a far better place on 12/4/12. I miss you, Boo, you were my heart.
Hi there. Thanks for joining us, your future posts won't require moderation.
Facing cancer is tough, but I guarantee you it's always worse for the humans. Like Wookie said, dogs just want to have that painful leg gone so they can get on with living life. Your dog is still quite young, and probably has a fair shot at living a long, happy life after amputation. While there are no guarantees about who will beat those depressing statistics and who won't, the thing to keep in mind is that every day after amputation and recovery is icing on the cake. At first, many people wonder if they're considering amputation more for them than the dog, but in the end, for most people, being able to have quality time without being in pain is such a gift.
If you haven't already, check our Required Reading List and ebook, "Three Legs & a Spare" which can help answer many of your questions. And of course you can come here anytime to talk with others who know what you're going through.
What country are you in? Just curious.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Making the decision to amputate was probably the hardest one we've had to make. I drove Trouble to the vet the day of her surgery and still wasn't sure we were making the right decision. I really don't know that I was sure until the day we picked her up and I saw how well she was doing already navigating on three legs.
The recovery period is no picnic, but if you are lucky, the bad will quickly pass and there will be pain free fun days ahead.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
I'm sorry you had to find us here.
With our pup, I felt like not doing the amp would mean she would never be happy and totally pain free again. It would be nothing but pain management ahead. Granted our pup was very young, so it's a different decision to make, but I wanted to have the hope that we'd have a chance to get her back to the beach, back to having fun. Did she ever!
I can honestly say in all the time I've been on this site, I only remember one person saying they regretted doing the amp. Mind you...lots of people have doubts during the tough couple of weeks of recovery - but eventually almost everyone ends up saying they are glad they did it.
Still, having said that, amp is not for everyone. There are options for radiation, or you can check out the Yahoo Group "artemisinin_and_cancer". There was a Dane on there when I used to be in the group who did not have an amp but just treated it holistically. Granted this is probably a rare thing - but her fracture risk/pain were reduced via a routine of serious supplementation. You can find her protocol on the site.
Best of luck and 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!
You have come to the right place! I felt so alone with Jake's amputation until I came to tripawds. It has only been 6 1/2 weeks since, but what an amazing short time it has been. Jake lost a leg, but I still have Jake. Oddly, he is a better Jake. I discovered the depth of his character. Dogs do not have the cognitive ability to stigmatize their loss like humans do. Jake was walking less than 24 hours post amp. We had some set backs (read Jakes story at on this forum "Share Your Story: For the Love of Jake), but he is flourishing and inspiring others.
Your sweet Rot was only given one life, every minute you give to him is a gift.
You are in our thoughts.
jerry said
Hi there. Thanks for joining us, your future posts won't require moderation.
Facing cancer is tough, but I guarantee you it's always worse for the humans. Like Wookie said, dogs just want to have that painful leg gone so they can get on with living life. Your dog is still quite young, and probably has a fair shot at living a long, happy life after amputation. While there are no guarantees about who will beat those depressing statistics and who won't, the thing to keep in mind is that every day after amputation and recovery is icing on the cake. At first, many people wonder if they're considering amputation more for them than the dog, but in the end, for most people, being able to have quality time without being in pain is such a gift.
If you haven't already, check our Required Reading List and ebook, "Three Legs & a Spare" which can help answer many of your questions. And of course you can come here anytime to talk with others who know what you're going through.
What country are you in? Just curious.
That is exactly it.....I don't want to do it for me, I want to do what's best for rocky. I honestly feel he isnt ready to go jus yet, some days he wants to play, he gets excited about his walks....although we haven't been able to walk him since we found out it was gone Tumor.
I'm from the uk. Thank you for your reply 
Thank you everyone, your replies have really lifted me and made me feel better. It's such a tough decision to make, in my opinion. I'm still very worried about the size of him n that he will need a lot of help from us and at the back of mind I'm thinking wot if he doesn't cope? But then I suppose I can say I gave him a chance to live? He's still full of beans I hope that will still b the same on 3 legs
All people who've been through the amputation ordeal will tell you they've had doubts about whether or not it was the right thing to do. But in the six years since Tripawds has been online only one person that I can recall says they regretted it. Even when dogs didn't live up to the minimum prognosis, their people have just been glad that the got to spend pain free time together after recovery. What does your vet think about him being a good candidate?
Oh and welcome from across the pond!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Magnum was a 9 yr old rottie when she was diagnosed with bone cancer in her left rear leg. She was 40kg before amputation.
She took about 1 month to fully recover from the amputation but she was amazing. She adapted so quickly to 3 legs it was as if she'd been born that way. She got another 8 months of "extra time" and it was 8 glorious months that we will always cherish. She walked, she ran, she swam, she still bossed everyone around. She had a wonderful quality of life. It wasn't as long as we had hoped due to mets to her other bones but it was worth every single extra day.
Whether or not to do chemo is a difficult question. Some dogs do chemo and others don't. There is lots of info on this site to help you make that decision. There are also no guarantees as to how much time you will get no matter whether you choose chemo or not. But, almost everyone who has done the amputation has had no regrets regardless of how much extra time they have ended up getting.
Good luck with your decision. I can still see the pain in Magnum's eyes before the amputation and I can still picture how ecstatically happy and pain free she was afterwards (although admittedly she was still high on morphine). Bone cancer pain is horrible and rotties are very stoic dogs. If Rocky is admitting he is in pain it must be really bad.
We are here for you whatever you decide.
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
So our vets called me last night, he doesn't think rocky is a good candidate for amputation, the MRI shows arthritis in his other front leg, although very mild. He wants to save the leg and agreed to do the op within our insurance buget.....but we have to find money for chemo. I'm now thinking do I want to put him through chemo. Our vet recommends 5 bouts of chemo after op 3 weeks apart and then 4 times a year. I need to read up on chemo, or if anyone can offer advice r experience that wud b great. Thank you again
princess said
Magnum was a 9 yr old rottie when she was diagnosed with bone cancer in her left rear leg. She was 40kg before amputation.
She took about 1 month to fully recover from the amputation but she was amazing. She adapted so quickly to 3 legs it was as if she'd been born that way. She got another 8 months of "extra time" and it was 8 glorious months that we will always cherish. She walked, she ran, she swam, she still bossed everyone around. She had a wonderful quality of life. It wasn't as long as we had hoped due to mets to her other bones but it was worth every single extra day.
Whether or not to do chemo is a difficult question. Some dogs do chemo and others don't. There is lots of info on this site to help you make that decision. There are also no guarantees as to how much time you will get no matter whether you choose chemo or not. But, almost everyone who has done the amputation has had no regrets regardless of how much extra time they have ended up getting.
Good luck with your decision. I can still see the pain in Magnum's eyes before the amputation and I can still picture how ecstatically happy and pain free she was afterwards (although admittedly she was still high on morphine). Bone cancer pain is horrible and rotties are very stoic dogs. If Rocky is admitting he is in pain it must be really bad.
We are here for you whatever you decide.
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Thank you so much for sharing magnums story 
being a fellow rotti owner I'm really glad you shared....thank you
I'm confused; your vet wants to do chemo but not amputate?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Yes, I'm confused too. Chemo w/no amp would be unusual. Usually w/no amp, radiation might sometimes be tried.
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!
We did chemo but with the amputation. We did 5 rounds of carboplstin three weeks apart. We were very lucky and had minimal side effects. Had some minor nausea the first few hours and had some chills with one of the later treatments. Generally within 24 hrs all effects were gone. We never had a bloodcount drop. All treatments were delivered on schedule.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
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