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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
My dog Sophie was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in July, and she underwent surgery August 14, 2008. She is adjusting quickly to her new situation, all the while being taunted by the new kitten in the house.
Great to hear she's doing well! Yes, do tell, what kind of dog is she, how old, all that good stuff! Oh and photos are always great.
Thanks for joining Tripawds, by the way! We are so hoppy to have you here.
Love,
Jerry
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Sophie is a 9.5 year old female retriever mix. As a puppy, she was discovered left abandoned on the side of the freeway, and I adopted her when she was 1.5 years old.
The first night after her surgery was tough on both of us, but she came home last night, and has already mastered the difficult art of squating in the back yard. We are currently looking for a dog door solution that will allow her not to have to hop so high. I've also purchased the ruff wear collar, but I won't be able to use it until her wound heals.
Other than being a little tired, she is her old self again.
Welcome! Good to hear that Sophiesue is adjusting so quickly. We tried to keep Radar away from the dog door also thinking the 4 inch lip would be too much. Radar had other ideas and as soon as he had access was using the dog door like he had 4 legs. I would wait a bit till she is stronger and has her balance worked out but then give her the chance at the existing dog door. She may surprise you.
Connie & Radar
Yeay Sophiesue! What a trooper! Nine and a half years old is a good age; that's my age too.
Glad to hear you guys talking about dog doors, because a while back someone asked me about them, and never being a dog door user myself, I couldn't offer much help.
Sophiesue, if you can, and when you're strong enough, it would be great if you could get someone to take a movie of you going in and out of the dog door. We'll put it here on the website so that others can learn from your awesome abilities!
We send many warm wishes for a speedy recovery. You go, girl!
xoxo
Jerry
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
That is great news Sophiesue! What a trooper you are. Don't try to do too much too soon girl.
Titan
After just 10 days, Sophie is back to doing most of what she used to do. Aside from going down the stairs, she can get out the dog door, eat standing up, get up on the couch, chase the cat up the tree... all the good stuff. Tomorrow I'll be calling the oncologist to see about her appointment for chemo therapy. Any advice on this next step in the cancer protocol?
sophiesue71 said:
Any advice on this next step in the cancer protocol?
Boy that's a tough one. My people chose not to put me through chemotherapy treatments after my surgery. Primarily because the doctors only gave me a few months to live.
Well, I showed them. But over a year later, the mets showed up in my lungs. I'm now on an oral chemo treatment (Cytoxan) as part of my metronomic protocol therapy. I'm also participating in a K9 Immunity clinical trial.
Would IV chemo have kept the cancer away longer? We will never know. The best advice we have is to pick a treatment plan, stick to it, and let us know how it goes. With such little data out there, the more we know about specific protocols the better!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Sophie - we're glad to hear that you're doing so well. You go girl 🙂
I'm 10 1/2 golden retriever diagnosed on April 3rd and we amputated on April 9th of this year - so that makes me about 4 1/2 months post op. We opted for chemo and did 4 treatments of carboplatin. I had absolutely no side effects except for being a little lazy after treatment. Mom scheduled them in the morning (it was a 10 minute IV as long as the CBC was clear) and worked from home in the afternoon - no big deal actually. The other treatment that her oncologist recommended was 2 treatments of pamidrinite (spelling?) each one month apart - which is supposed to help strengthen the bones. There is no scientific research that proves that this helps, however, our doctor indicated that she sees positive results in all her cancer patients that do this (and mom's best friend who is a vet second that opinion). I go for my last pamidrinite treatment this coming Wednesday.
We get xrays as well on Wednesday so hopefully there are no mets in the lungs.
There is no right or wrong answer here - it's what works best for you taking into account many different factors that only YOU can analyze - in other words...don't let anyone try and influence you either way - listen to your heart. My mom had a lot of naysayers tell her that she was being cruel by amputating my leg and putting me through all that hell and that I would never be the same and wouldn't handle it well - how selfish she was being...well, we showed them! The only thing that I cannot do anymore is take very long walks...so we take many short ones and spend a little more time outdoors than we used to so I can lay in the grass and chew my sticks (a favorite pastime of mine).
Anyway - we hope this helped a little. Keep us posted - we'll be thinking of you.
Much love,
Mom and Zeus
Heather and Spirit Zeus - Our life changing journey…from the earth to the heavens…one day at a time…always together
sophiesue71 said:
Any advice on this next step in the cancer protocol?
There is another website that lists veterinary clinical trials (not all of them cancer-related, but interesting, none the less.
1 Guest(s)
