Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My husband, daughters and I have spent hours reading your stories and advice. You're all beautiful, supportive people and I'm so sorry any of us had to find our way here.
Our 6 1/2 year-old male 125 lb. Anatolian Shepherd, Koda was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in his front left leg two days ago (3/1/16). He's been a relatively healthy guy, besides having had both knees replaced a couple years ago, and learning the hard way that his teenage sister's lycra underpants don't pass right through like all the cotton ones did. 
(The glasses make him look smarter than he is, unfortunately.)
Yesterday, the oncologist confirmed the diagnosis and further scans showed his abdomen, lungs and other joints look clear. His bionic knees are in good shape, although he has some pain in his hips. Their osteo specialist said Koda "could be amputated, but that he would be at a higher risk than a normal dog of having problems getting around due to his large size and pre-existing arthritis." Still, the oncologist thinks Koda would do well and said that if he were her dog, that's the choice she'd make.
So, we'll be dropping him early tomorrow morning, and spending the weekend getting the house ready for him to live on the main floor for a while. As many of you recommended, I asked the surgeon to call in a prescription for Gabapentin, which I'll pick up and start him on today.
Thanks to you all, I'm not nearly as much of a blubbering mess as I would have been. Hugs to you and your fuzzy families. I'll keep you updated, and I'm sure I'll be around a lot in the coming weeks.
xo
Julie
Mom of Koda, 150 lb male Anatolian Shepherd age 6 1/2 (DOB 10/4/09).
TPLO both knees - one 11/2012 and the other 2/2013;
Underpants-ectomy (a/k/a blockage removal) 8/2013;
Osteosarcoma in front left leg diagnosed 3/1/16;
Joined Tripawd Nation 3/4/16
Forever missing Koda's big brother, Sully (a/k/a James P. Sullivan), our first Anatolian and the Original Big Man (tm), who passed at age 10 1/2 from degenerative myelopathy on 6/27/13.
Welcome, and thanks for sharing your story. Please keep us posted on Koda's progress. Your future forum posts will not require moderation.
PS: We deleted your "testing" topic. 
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome and sorry your diagnosis brought you here. Great job everyone on educating yourself ahead of time. It's so important to project pawsitivity and calmness around Koda and it sounds like you're ready to just that. Koda does look very intelligent with glasses on 😀 He's definitely a very handsome boy! This whole tripawd nation will be sending you strength and prayers for tomorrow. Please keep us posted. If you need anything from us please just let us know. Hugs to you all (((())))
Linda, Ollie, Riley & Spirit Mighty Max
Julie, we're so glad you are here, even though you're dealing with osteo. You have all of us to lean on and this entire community is sharing Tripawd Power with you and especially Koda as he joins the Tripawds Nation.
Did you see our recent story about Cemil, an Antolian and SEVEN YEAR osteosarcoma survivor? Check it out, I hope it puts a smile on your face:
http://tripawds.....tee-cemil/
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Best of luck to you both! The next two weeks will be hard and pretty sleep deprived, but it is amazing how quickly it gets better (although it doesn't feel quick at the time). Big dogs can rock this.
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.
Lots of love and healing Julie!
Looking forward to updates!
Deb, Belle and Angel Zeus
We're now a few hours post-amp. The surgeon said our boy did great and "woke up beautifully." *whew!*
He's at Blue Pearl just north of Atlanta, and this surgeon -- Dr. MacDougal -- is the one who did his knees years ago. Koda loves her and the staff there is wonderful. Our oncologist there is Dr. Regan and we think she's fantastic, too.
Dr. MacDougal had x-rayed Koda's hips before surgery (because the osteo specialist thought he had arthritis), but she said they were in excellent shape. (For the first couple hours after we dropped him, we half-expected to hear he shouldn't have the surgery after all!) The surgery took a long time because he's enormous, but there were no complications or any surprises in there. She sent some bone and a lymph node for biopsy. The lymph node looked normal, she's just being cautious.
We just ordered a twin memory foam mattress (+ a waterproof cover) from Amazon, which should be here Monday. Regular dog beds just aren't big enough -- even the largest ones, he hangs off both ends! Our main level has a lot of wood floors, so we also ordered some Pawz rubber booties. Luckily, our stairs, bedrooms and family room are all carpeted.
Assuming he has a good night and morning, we plan to visit tomorrow and take him home Sunday or Monday, depending on how he's doing. We'll spend the rest of our weekend tripawd-proofing and educating ourselves.
I can't figure out how to edit my original post, but he was 150 lbs pre-amp, not 125. Let's see if I'm smart enough to insert photos...
This made me laugh yesterday when I REALLY needed to!
Arriving at the hospital early this morning -- happy to be here!
It's important to get educated about your options.
While we wait to bring our boy home, here are some older pics:
Me and Sully, our first Anatolian
Sully and his sisters -- they're 17 and 14 now!
My all-time fave pic of Sully
Sully meets his baby brother, Koda at 8 weeks
A much more recent picture of Mike, me and Koda
That's all for now. I'll update when I hear more news... xo
Mom of Koda, 150 lb male Anatolian Shepherd age 6 1/2 (DOB 10/4/09).
TPLO both knees - one 11/2012 and the other 2/2013;
Underpants-ectomy (a/k/a blockage removal) 8/2013;
Osteosarcoma in front left leg diagnosed 3/1/16;
Joined Tripawd Nation 3/4/16
Forever missing Koda's big brother, Sully (a/k/a James P. Sullivan), our first Anatolian and the Original Big Man (tm), who passed at age 10 1/2 from degenerative myelopathy on 6/27/13.
What a beautiful guy! Love your photos, especially the sleeping arrangements - he sure looks comfie. Cheap yoga mats are great to put on the tile or wood floor areas of your house. And glad he didn't drive himself to the surgery!
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.
So happy to hear this! There's such a sense of relief when we hear surgery is over and everything looks good. Get some rest the next few days you need to be well rested yourself to get through those first few days. Thank you for sharing the pictures of Koda! He sure is one beautiful boy. Looks like such a gentle giant. So happy step one is done now it's on to step two and we'll all be here to help you. Hugs,
Linda, Ollie, Riley & Spirit Mighty Max
What an awesome breed of dog! And I thought Angel Zeus was big, 146lbs before dx...
Keep us posted, as you can see Julie were all in love already!
XO
Deb, Belle and Angel Zeus
These are great photos! I always loved the disclaimer about driving too! LOL
Healing energy your way!!!! Keep us posted!
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Oh my goodness! I love your avatar picture! And all the rest, too! Koda looks like he's just smooshable! (And so does Sully) Wow, he really is a big guy lol
You did such a great job educating yourselves! I feel like there's really nothing more to add right now. But if you need us, we'll be here for you. The first couple of weeks are the hardest, and the big guys sometimes have a harder time getting the hang of things.
Keep us updated.
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
Online
Nice to hear the surgery is done and was successful, whew!
Cemil, the Anatolian that Jerry gave you a link for, lives in my town. He was the first Tripawd my little pug Maggie met after we found Tripawds. I've seen Cemil many times and he got around great until recently- those 7 years of hopping have taken a toll on him. But he is still happy watching over the pack at home.
For a smile here is a picture of my pug Maggie and Cemil at one of our Nor Cal Tripawd parties with a friend.
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
I've been a little in-my-head, so I apologize that I haven't thanked you all for sharing info, links, support and mostly for just being there. I'm sure I'm not saying or feeling anything new, but I can't imagine going through this without the beautiful two, three and four-legged members of Tripawds Nation!
When I spoke with the hospital this morning, they said Koda is doing "pretty well." He's trying to get up, but hasn't figured it out, yet -- kinda expected since he's a frigging giant. He hasn't eaten for them, so they're cutting back on the heavy narcotics. We plan to visit today and she said to bring some of his favorite (not-too-fatty) snacks and maybe he'll eat for us. Good thing I kept last night's pizza crusts, 'cause our boy LOVES pizza night.
Much as I hate this ride we're on, I'm so thankful we had the opportunity to do this for Koda. I have a Facebook friend who always posts funny pictures of his gorgeous Golden Retriever. They got the same diagnosis two months ago, but the cancer had already spread to Dakota's lungs, so my heart's been breaking for them as they make the most of their time.
Here are some pics from happier days, though I don't suppose Koda's lifestyle is gonna be too deeply impacted by tripawd-dom...
Mom of Koda, 150 lb male Anatolian Shepherd age 6 1/2 (DOB 10/4/09).
TPLO both knees - one 11/2012 and the other 2/2013;
Underpants-ectomy (a/k/a blockage removal) 8/2013;
Osteosarcoma in front left leg diagnosed 3/1/16;
Joined Tripawd Nation 3/4/16
Forever missing Koda's big brother, Sully (a/k/a James P. Sullivan), our first Anatolian and the Original Big Man (tm), who passed at age 10 1/2 from degenerative myelopathy on 6/27/13.
I just wanted to pop in and say Hi. I love your pics---Koda is sure a big (!!!) beautiful boy. I love the big boys.
As I'm sure you've read here, the first couple of weeks can be challenging. The gradual progress can be hard to see when you're in the middle of it but there will be progress each and every day. Keep on top of the pain and try not to worry when the little setbacks happen.
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
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