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Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

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Mini Schnauzer about to lose right rear leg
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Member Since:
23 May 2013
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29 May 2013 - 3:39 pm
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Seems really really big...oh-my

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23 May 2013
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29 May 2013 - 3:41 pm
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<img alt="Dotty, at the end of summer. " src="http://tripawds.....eg/page-2/[Image Can Not Be Found]" />

Here she is again, my little wing-woman.

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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29 May 2013 - 5:51 pm
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Those photos are wonderful!! Thank you for sharing! She is sooooooo adorable....bet she gets anything she wants, anytime, anywhere:-) :-)

Yeah, it's not all that uncommon for dogs to have to stay longer than planned. Glad she's eating and already peed.....that's really good.

Look forward to hearing from you when you get a chance.. She's still pretty drugged up so has no real desire to be hopping around yet.......in her drug high mind, she's probably doing back flips:-) :-)

Sally and Happy Hannah

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!

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23 May 2013
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29 May 2013 - 6:03 pm
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laughing

Starting to get very excited to be seeing the wee madam again. I have missed her, since her diagnosis we have all made such a fuss of her and have been appreciating her deeply. To not have her around has been odd. The house is quiet...too quiet. 

Dotty's cousin Duke, a retired seeing-eye dog, came over to visit yesterday and stood on the front porch and groaaaaned at me when I opened the door without Dotty's customary shouting and carrying on. He sniffed around the house, checked out the back garden and then slumped onto the kitchen floor, crossed his front paws and stared at me expectantly. Where is Dot?

 

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29 May 2013 - 6:07 pm
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Duke is a big yellow lab, didn't mean to imply he was a schnauzer like Dotty! He is my brother's dog and hence the Cousin Duke moniker. A bigger, smarter/stupider, sweeter lunk you will never meet. He adores Dotty, she treats him like crap. That only makes him love her more. Sigh.

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30 May 2013 - 2:05 am
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Well, we are home. The vet decided that Dot was depressed and homesick and needed to be with her people. She was just not motivated to even try to walk. She just sways on her three legs and relies on the sling holding her in one place. 

We were given a tour of the grassy patch by the vets with Dot in the sling (a lovely soft bandage), she apparently had had a pee there just before we arrived. She just stood there groaning, no tail wag, no real spirit evident. We were all very positive and cheery, lots of 'good girls' and 'well dones'. The vet tech showed us the physio we have to do on her remaining hind leg to move the fluid out of it back into her body, we got our drug chart and the all the pills and potions and then we were on our way home. Dot rested her head in our daughter's lap and snoozed through the drive home. 

We have settled her with us on a foam pad with a towel on it, her water nearby and the fire on to warm the place up. 

She is just lying there.

I managed to get her to take a small blob of peanut butter with her codeine pill in it, all other treats failed to rouse any interest. A friend suggested wet cat food (an illicit love of Dotty's) so we will get some to try.

I carried Dot up to the corner of our street to her favourite "dump spot" to try to encourage a poo. Success! She leaned into the sling and performed a small miracle on the grass. Very happy about that. No pee, but she had already been and isn't exactly gulping the water down. 

I am worried about her swollen vulva and surrounding area, I have photographed to have something to compare during the night. I am also going to take her out to the back garden and put her in the sling to try to rouse her interest in the world or at least generate a pee before bedtime. I have to do physio on her leg every two hours so it won't be a great night's sleep.

I am glad to have her home and am clinging to all the wisdom from this site that this is in the bounds of normal and that they all recover at their own speed.

Here's a photo of our little wounded warrior, flat and introverted. Poor dear.<img src="http://tripawds.....eg/page-3/http://i1292.photobucket.com/albums/b573/Victoria_Spence/photo-9_zps4584edb0.jpgImage Enlarger

" />

Lancaster, PA
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17 May 2013
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30 May 2013 - 6:00 am
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Hi Victoria, 

I don't have any first hand advice to give you (since Barret hasn't had his surgery yet) but if there is one theme on this site it is to hang in there! First couple days and weeks seem to be rough and all dogs respond differently. Sometimes pain meds can make dogs listless and generally not be themselves. Give it time and patience and give Dotty lots of love and encouragement and things will improve with time. Of course, call your vet if there is something you're really concerned about. They are they to help you.

 

Heather & Barret 

Barret was diagnosed with Hemangiopericytoma May 16, 2013. Front left leg/scapula/pectoral muscle was amputated on June 11, 2013 and we've never looked back. Follow our story on http://barret.t.....pawds.com/ and read my column on That Pet Blog

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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30 May 2013 - 10:04 am
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Good job Heather, you're getting the "after surgery logo" down really fast!

YAAAAAAY DOTTY IS HOME:-) :-) :-) :-)

YAAAAAAY DOTTY HAS FIRST POOP:-) :-) :-) :-) :-) :-)

Yes, every recovery is different while still falling in the boundary of "normal". And dogs do react very differently to pain meds. What does your vet have her taking?
Dose age? Frequency?

As far as the swelling, maybe you could hop over to the Ask A Vet thread for that one. I do recall Happy Hannah's remaining rear leg swelling and the vet said it was just fluid readjusting. Now, here's a two cents worth..nd I'm no vet...I couldn't touch Hannah's surgery site for weeks, so I would be real, real, gentle with any rubbing, especially the first few days.

One other thing, some dogs actually sort of "freeze up" when using g a sling. Once she wakes up a little more, you might try a step or two without it and see ow se does.

And TONS and TONS of applause to you for staying so step g and so cheerful for your girl!! Under that drug induced haze, she feels your joy, love and strength! You are having a rough spot right now. You are doing a great job of hanging in there!!

When you can, let us know the pain med protocol she's on

Sooooo glad your girl is home and, slowly but surely, on the road to recovery:-)

We are all here for you!!

Sally and Happy Hannah

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!

Virginia







Member Since:
22 February 2013
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30 May 2013 - 10:09 am
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Duuuuuh.....misread the rubbing her LEG... not the surgery site....what a relief!!

Let us know how the drinking and eating goes the next 24 Mrs. We have tons of tricks for that 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!

Member Since:
23 March 2013
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30 May 2013 - 11:15 am
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So glad Dotty is home!  Sounds like she's making progress, even though I know it's hard to see her down and listless.  That was the toughest part for me - Lili just wasn't herself.  But it just took lots of time and lots of patience.  

Fingers crossed that you sail through these first few days no problem!

On The Road


Member Since:
24 September 2009
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30 May 2013 - 1:01 pm
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Victoria, keep your vet in the loop but this does sound very normal. Try to put yourself in her paws. Would you be happy and in a good mood if you had just had a limb removed? Probably not I'm guessing. Time and rest is what she needs. She took a poop? Well that is GREAT! Some dogs take DAYS to do that! So do a little poopy dance and celebrate this accomplishment, she's ahead of the game!

Hang in there!

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

Member Since:
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30 May 2013 - 1:02 pm
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My reply just vanished! I'll start again...

Dot is taking little ladylike slurps from a saucer of water (seems bothered by her big steel water bowl) and is letting us slip codeine into her in blobs of peanut butter.

Pain relief: codeine 15mg 6hrly, metacam 8kg dose once a day.

Plus two antibiotics, trichozole and clavaseptin.

She is peeing outside when taken, she collapses in the sling and then you have to quickly stand back.

No real interest in even the most illicit treats or old stand bus. Forget about it.

Still just a little limbo doggy. Come on Friday, let's have a little more progress. just a little. Please?

Thanks for your support, I'm hanging on your every word.

 

big-grin

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23 May 2013
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30 May 2013 - 1:04 pm
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Stand bys, not stand bus. Autocorrect is laughing at me.

I'm going to call the vet first thing about the swelling around her anus and vulva, sorry to leave you with that charming visual image!

Remaining back leg responding to all the massage, seems better than last night.

On The Road


Member Since:
24 September 2009
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30 May 2013 - 1:06 pm
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Come by the chat, we're in there now if you want to talk. Let us know what the vet says.

Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet

New York, NY
Member Since:
3 December 2012
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30 May 2013 - 1:15 pm
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Hi!  Does the swelling look at all like this? (I know this is not the same area, but jill's belly and lower area was SO swollen, no that is not a big pott belly, I swear lol that was ALL swelling!).  If so, Jill was like this for almost 2 weeks, vet said it was totally normal and to alternate heat/ice on it for 15-20 minutes at a time

http://i1289.ph.....7038E2.jpg

Jill is a 9-year-old tuxedo kitty. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in June 2012 on her toe in her right hind leg. Her leg was amputated on 12/12/12 and she completed four rounds of chemo (2 of Carbo, 2 of Doxy) in April 2013. "Like" Jill's facebook page: https://www.fac.....tty?ref=hl Proud member of the WINTER WARRIORS!!!! Her blog can be read at http://jillsjou.....ipawds.com. xoxo

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