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 name is Liz and am from Long Island, NY and I have been rescuing Siberian Huskies for about 14 years. I have 4 of my own and I just joined the Tripawds community yesterday. I have already received great advice and I thank you for that. My 7ish? year old Husky Astra just had her amputation today. She was diagnosed with a hemangiopericytoma in her right front leg in March. I opted for surgery first ( they could not get all of it) and then we tried holistic medicine which I cannot say it didnt work, but the tumor came back with a vengeance shortly after the surgery. I toyed with the idea of amputating her leg and I hae to say it took me a while to come to terms with it.
The vet performed the surgery and he called me at 12:30 this afternoon that everything went as well as could be expected. Right now I am ok but I won't be able to take my baby home for a few days. Her older sister is looking all over for her and younger brother Buddy just wants his playmate back. I know they sense something has been wrong with her for a while.
Anyway, I just wanted to say hello and I will keep you posted on her progress.
Liz
Hi Liz, glad to see you here, it was nice chatting with you in the chat yesterday.
We're thrilled that Astra came through the surgery. Don't worry, she's getting great care and if she can stay in the hospital for a while that will give her the advantage when it comes to healing.
Lots of other folks here have gone through recovery with multiple pack mates around. They seem to instinctually know to give the patient a lot of space when healing. Astra will be back to her old self in no time!
Keep us posted on how she's doing, let us know how we can help OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Liz
We have a pack of huskies also. When Cali had her amputation, I worried about pack reaction a lot. They were fine, I just gave Cali a week or so to figure out the balance thing, and she did fine. Never lost her place in the pack, and was back to romping in about 2 months. Good luck.
Welcome to the family. The one thing our vet told us was to make sure Gus didn't get to active to fast, could cause a seroma then we might have to have it drained. I have also seen some here, especially rear amps, that get to feeling good quick and find out the remaining leg needs time to build up strenth for the added stress. This is the place to be for advice, good luck, Paws up, Spirit Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
Hi Liz,
I have a sweetspot for Huskies! 🙂 Good luck with your girl and here's to a quick recovery! You'll get lots of support here...
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Welcome to Tripawds! Hope you get to bring Astra home soon. Just don't let her overdo it. Have you viewed any pictures of pups that had an amputation? It helped me to be prepared when we picked Skyler up. Make sure you also get lots of rest these next 2 weeks. Sending you lots of golden hugs…please keep us posted.
Cathy
Hi Liz! I was also on chat with you and Mr. Admin Guy and Jerry the other day. I'm happy things are still plugging along well for Astra. Keep us all posted on her recovery. I just wanted to let you know lots of people will be thinking about you and Astra, and you'll get tons of help here.
Shari
From abandoned puppy to Tripawd Warrior Dude, Dakota became one of the 2011 February Furballs due to STS. Our incredibly sweet friend lived with grace and dignity till he impulsively raced over the Bridge on 12-15-12.
Dakota's thoughtful and erudite blog is at http://shari.tr.....pawds.com/
Thank you all for the well wishes! My spirits are SO much better! I called the vet first thing for a report and they told me that Astra was up walking around and she ate her breakfast. I cried Happy Tears 
and promised to call back later!!! I called everyone to let them know the great news.
I am hoping to be able to pick her up tomorrow but I know I should not rush that. I will bring a friend with me for the Homecoming. It will be quite emotional to see her. 
I will also spend a lot of time on this forum and website gathering more information. Hoping the Harness will arrive soon as well.
I appreciate all the advice you can give!!!!
Liz
huskylover said:
I appreciate all the advice you can give!!!!
Be sure to bookmark Jerry's Required Reading List for lots of recovery and care tips. For immediate answers to the most common questions consider downloading our e-book Three Legs and A Spare.
Try to remain strong for Astra, if you want life to be normal, you must act as though it is. She needs a strong pack leader to show her everything is OK! Glad to hear she's doing well. Best wishes for a speedy recovery!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Liz and Astra,
Welcome to the club no one wants to HAVE to join!
Glad to hear your girl made it through surgery and is up and around. Don't forget that many pups crash after coming home. Some lucky ones sail through recovery- but be prepared. Many of us had lots of ups and downs the first couple of weeks. There are lots of meds and new balance to get used to, and this is a major surgery.
Be sure you ask your vet if you can use the harness- some want you to wait until the sutures or staples come out.
And be sure you are strong and positive when you pick her up. You are the pack leader and she will look to you to know that everything is alright.
Keep us posted,
Karen and the pugapalooza
Be strong for her when you first see her...that was really tough for me and was glad my sister(who is a Vet Tech) was with me and told me how great Maggie looked and how well she was getting around. (huh?! I didn't believe her!)
I tried using my harness too soon as it hurt Maggie(rear amp). You may not be able to use it until after her two weeks are up...
Glad to hear she's doing well!!
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
I went to see Astra in the vet's office Friday night. I just went there actually to get an update, its on my way home. all the staff's faces lit up when they saw me. They beamed as they told me how well she was doing. With that I hear Astra in the back room, she heard me!!!! One of the vet techs brings her out and asked me if I wanted to see her. I had NO time to react....I didn't even cry!!! She was sooo happy to see her mommy and showered me with kisses and love!!! She dragged me to the door rthinking she was going home 
I looked up and saw Dr Kahn's eyes filling up with tears. The staff was just sitting there watching us.
Astra's homecoming was yesterday. Immediately upon seeing the others, she growled, and then fought with my 12 year old husky. Certainly I am keeping them all separated and I am hoping her crankiness dissipates as she recovers. She is laying here next to me as I write this
and is doing really well. Problem is how to keep her wounds covered, she is ripping all the shirts I put on her. I may have to put the cone back on! It is just so hot and she is doing nothing but pant.
I am totally amazed at how well she is doing and know that she handled this better than I did!!
Thanks for the great update! Glad to hear Astra is home and recovering well.
In our chat with Dr Waldman yesterday, she stressed the importance of keeping that e-collar on! Or, consider these cone of shame alternatives. If Astra is ripping shirts with her rear leg you can try putting a sock on that paw, or try Power Paws on all feet which will also help provide traction on slick floors.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Looks like you are right about the cone. I will have to put it on her especially at night. She sleeps with me so I spent all night waking up to check on her when I heard her stirring.
Yay for a good update for Astra! Cone of shame sucks but its only for a couple weeks and then its over... Hope she continues to do well!
-Chloe's mom
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
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