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
Mornin' all: We adopted Bonnie (an American Cocker Spaniel) in 2013 at 1 1/2 yrs old. On Wednesday, she is booked for amputation of her left rear leg for MCT. She's had a lump on her "knee" for awhile now but last Sunday it just ballooned and she began to limp a bit. By Monday morning, the lump began to bleed so we took her in to our vet, who immediately diagnosed her just looking at. The vet aspirated, did blood work, ordered Gabapentin and said she would be in contact with us after she talked to the surgeon. Woke up Tuesday morning, Bonnie had bled through her dressing and was leaking puss from the wound. Brought her back in again for dressing change but she had a very high temp so we were advised to take her right to emergency. There they came to the same diagnosis. Her CT scan of the abdomen was clear and chest x-ray clear. Blood work looked good except for elevated WBCs due to infection. She was released on Prednisone, Benadryl, and Pepcid. Next day, returned to our vet for followup and she gave her a shot of Corvenia (antibiotic). Bonnie is now almost 100% back to baseline. It's hard to imagine what the outcome is of all of this!! Cancer sucks!!
We have our house as prepared as we can, thanks to all of the tips that I've already read.
We will keep you posted on her recovery. My husband is the tech savy one so he may be interested in starting a blog to help document Bonnie's recovery. Also help us old folk who don't even know what day of the week it is anymore!!
Bonnie and family, welcome to the club nopawdy wants to join. But we are soooo glad you found us! It sounds like you have everything ready for a successful recovery. Be sure to check out our What to Expect series of articles, and Jerry's Required Reading List . We would love to see a Bonnie Blog too! Just holler with any questions and let us know how things are going with your sweet girl. We are sending lots of love for a speedy recovery!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Wow, what a whirlwind for Bonnie and her hoomans!!
I know you have to be exhausted mentally and physically. I also know that there is a relief in going forward with a treatment plan that will give Bonnie her quality back!
Recovery is no picnic for a couple of weeks, so make sure you stay connected and let us know as questions may arise. Managing the pain is a bit tricky at first sometimes, as all dogs are different. Every recovery is different. Most dogs come home with Gabapentin, Tramadol, Rimadyl and an antibiotic.
Is Bonnie staying overnight at a fully staffed Clinic? Most dogs spend one night, sometimes they have to spend two or three. Just depends on the progress of their recovery and if they are able to get a little bit of mobility going.
Will be by your side the whole way and cheering for your sweet body! Update this Wednesday when surgery is done.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Hello and welcome.
My Pug Maggie lost her left rear leg to a MCT. If you are interested you can read her story and about her amp and treatment, the links are in my signature below.
Sounds like you are ready for bringing home a new Tripawd- please let us know if you have any specific questions.
And do keep us posted on how surgery goes and when Bonnie comes home.
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
Mornin':
Bonnie will not be staying overnight and that's fine with us. Being retired I think is a blessing right now, one less pressure to deal with and we can devote our time and energy into taking care of her. I was a CNA hundreds of years ago so I consider Bonnie my "next assignment". I am a strong believer in staying ahead in pain management , not chasing the pain!! My only worry right now is we ordered an xpen from Amazon and my fear is the order is delayed. We have a very small house so I'm studying how to coral Bonnie in the kitchen to keep her close to activity if the pen doesn't arrive before she comes home tomorrow evening. Other than that, we're ready.
It's difficult to fully grapple with understanding that she will become a Tripawd tomorrow after seeing the remarkable improvement she has made since last Monday. She chased a squirrel yesterday afternoon, not as fast as she use to be but still chased anyway!! What helps is I am a breast cancer survivor so I relate that the lump in my breast was removed to save my life, so her leg has to be removed to safe her life.
I will definitely keep you updated as we venture into this journey. God bless all!
Sounds like Team Bonnie is well-prepared and good to go! Paws crossed the x-pen shows up in time. We are here with any questions that come up. Stay pawsitive and keep us posted!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Carol! Bonnie is clearly in great hands and I applaud your mindset. Life as a tripawd takes adjustment for both the pup and her/his family, and I well remember struggling with the idea of Griffin becoming a tripawd the day before his surgery. Fast forward almost 7 weeks and I'm happy to report that we have both adjusted quite well. Good luck to Bonnie tomorrow - I'll be sending healing vibes from NYC! ~ Stacy (Griffin's Journey)
Griffin lived an amazing life for 11 years! Diagnosed with osteosarcoma on March 17, 2020, Griffin's right forelimb was amputated on April 2, 2020. Ten days later he was running and playing fetch! Lung metastasis discovered in July 2020 did not slow down Griffin and he lived joyfully for the next 7 months, passing peacefully at home on February 11, 2021. https://griffin.tripawds.com
Well...Miss Bonnie is just amazing (so far)!! Brought her home yesterday afternoon. The surgeon was very pleased with the outcome, the vet said she went out to pee & poop with minimal assistance. Of course she did....she was high as a kite!!! Wasn't interested in eating or drinking so I gave her about 1 oz of water on the hour by syringe. Took all her meds (Tramadol & Gabapentin) and went into her pen for the night. She whimpered a bit around midnight so my husband laid down on the floor next to her pen and talked to her until she fell asleep. And was not heard from again until this morning.
She stood up on her own in her pen when she heard me get up. She walked unassisted to the back door and took her outside but she didn't do anything. Came back in and she drank on her own and ate a bit and took all her morning meds. Now back in her pen sleeping quietly.
I have a feeling tonight will be a different story but that's OK. She's back home and our family is now complete again. God is good!!
Wooohooo! What a great welcome home story. I hope the rest of recovery goes just as smoothly. Bonnie, you are such a rock star! 
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome home Bonnie!
Keep track of each of those little victories- they will add up.
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
YAAAAAY!!! If the first night is a sign of things to come, she may ot have too bad of a recovery! Usually coming home day of surgery can be quite rough. And she's already peed, pooped, eating some, drinking g and mobile??? WOW!!!
Keep us posted ! And loooove her sweet avatar picture!
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
1 Guest(s)
