Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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amylou said
Sorry, just searching through the gear page and noticed that the AST custom support suit information says that it is good "For hard-to-fit breeds with exceptionally long or short torsos, or a very thin belly compared to the chest," does the Ruff wear harness have issues with adjusting for dogs with thinner abdomens than chest? Molly has a very deep chest and her waist is tiny (think almost a greyhound type body), so now i'm worried it may not fit her.Also i just realised i cant order her harness tonight because i need to get the measurement anyway.
I tried the AST custom support suit because but I found it cumbersome to get on and off..its like velcro-ing a corset on everytime you want to use it. I would give the ruffwear a try 1st, in my opinion its must easier to put on and off for the time the dog is being helped.
Spirit Samson was Spirit Tripawd Daisys four legged "brother" and ruled as the self proclaimed head of the Monkeybutt Federations East Coast Division. Lady Chunky Monkey stayed from Oct 2011 and left for the bridge in Apr 2012. Miss Perdy is left and has some big pawprints to fill.
Do you have what it takes to be a Monkeybutt? Find out more at the Monkeybutt Federation
Hooray for a good update! Glad to hear she is doing so well.
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
amylou said
basically the bone was cut fairly high up still and then the vet left a lot of the muscle etc and used that to wrap over the end and stitch it up. Basically it looked like some sought of stuffed meat that you tie up at the end (wish i'd gotten some photos).By far the coolest part of the surgery was seeing the vet put cautery on the sciatic nerve and see the entire leg twitch. We also sent of the lymph node to see if theres any evidence there that it was spreading, fingers crossed that comes back all clear. I've got her leg in storage at work so i'm going to figure out what to do with
Amy you are most definitely in the right profession! I am totally grossed out reading this! hee hee! Nothing personal. You just made me laugh the way you described these things.
As for what to do with the leg . . . that reminds me of this conversation we had a while back;
"Mika's Looking Good . . . Now What to Do with that Bum Leg?"
That's super wonderful that Molly is doing well! Yay! Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome to tripawds!
I'm coming in late but congrats on a successful surgery! Molly sounds like a real trooper....and a super star indeed!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Hi Amy,
Welcome to you and Molly. Tripawds rule! I'm a front leg amp. The first 2 weeks after my amp were a little rough...mostly because the tramadol made me feel icky. I went off of tramadol on day 5 and continued on Deramaxx and I felt better....no more excessive panting, no more severe leg spasms, and no more yelping and being anxious (the vet said I had a side effect called dysphoria--think opposite of euphoria).
I felt soooooo much better on day 13 when my staples were removed and was back to 90% myself. My staples were uncomfortable and I just laid around and wasn't even hungry….and I was only a 2 year old lab when I had my amp.
I has OS in my left front leg (proximal humerus) and I had my leg and scapula amputated. I did 5 rounds of carboplatin chemo and it didn't affect me at all! 🙂
Sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers to you for a super speedy recovery! You'll be running and playing soon!
Hugs and chocolate labby kisses,
Charley (and my mommy Ellen)
18 Month OS Survivor…and counting!
Charley's Blog: CHOCOLATE KISSES
DOB: 3-29-08, male chocolate lab
Dx: OSA L proximal humerus 10-19-10
Amputation: L front leg & scapula 10-28-10
Chemo: 5 rounds of Carboplatin
Video (12 weeks post amp):Tripaw Charley Playing
♥♥♥ Lots of supplements and love!!! ♥♥♥
Hi everyone,
Geez it's been a busy week since Molly got home! She is doing pretty good, ive been at work still I only had the Thursday off when she first got home but she had a babysitter Friday and I was home sat to mon but since then she's been home by herself. The wound is healing well but there is still some oozing, but hopefully stitches will come out Monday next week.
We got a ruff wear harness
and she doesn't mind lazing around all day in it, it's great at getting her in and out of the car and for getting her up when she doesn't want to go anywhere. She has been quite lethargic and seems depressed and isn't eating properly which has caused her to loose even more weight (she's already very skinny, so now her spine and ribs stick out 
). The harness isn't the best fit for her, even with the strap around the waist done up as small as I could (which has caused the padding to scrunch up -hope this doesn't make her uncomfortable) it is still fairly loose but I think it does it's job just fine.
Lol Jerry, that leg conversation is great. One of the girls at work offered to have it cremated for us ( the girls at my work are so sweet, they also put money together for us to either get Molly a ramp for the car or for chemo 
they are fantastic!). You would also be disgusted by the amount of comparisons we make with disgusting things and food at my work, almost every disgusting thing is compared to some sought of food (my boss always says the cautery smells like BBQ), it's a good thing I forget quickly all the things I say I'll never eat again because otherwise I'd have very few options lol.
Charley and mum, it's great to hear your story, first because I have a bias towards labs owning one myself, and also because it's a relief to hear that you went back to eating at the 2 week mark (hope Molly does that too), and because we're looking at doing carboplatin chemo for Molly soon too, so hopefully she doesn't have any problems with it. If we can afford it ( we're still not too sure how much everything will come to- the rads, bone biopsy, amputation, meds and some food has so far come to about $4000 but luckily I get a discount because I work at the vets it doesn't get discounted until the end of the month though and they haven't gotten around to working out chemo costs) we will do 6 rounds of carboplatin but at very least 4.
She is coping well with only 3 legs, running around, getting up and down stairs, but mostly sleeping. My lab is not giving her any room and is always excited and spinning in circles which has almost knocked her over on a few occassions. He also tried to mount her a few days after she got home, needless to say I wasn't very happy with him.
thanks for all the support everyone
Molly sounds like she is doing pretty well for the first week or so. Maybe Molly has a little lazy or obstinate pug in her
. Tri-pug Maggie took weeks before she would do much without coaxing by me. I don't think she had much of an apatite at first. In hindsight I think all the meds were really messing with her.... but she was kind of an obstinate lazy pug too!
My other pug Tani, Mag's little sister, was constantly knocking Mag down. A little easier for Mag as a rear amp, she usually would fall into a sit- but sometimes Tani just bowled her over. Not on purpose- Tani gets focused on one thing and doesn't care what she has to run through to get it. Usually food, but chasing toys too. If Mag was in her path she often got knocked down. And there was one memorable and a bit scary time that Tani knocked Mag down the stairs! You can read that story HERE if you like.
I hope Molly starts eating! Having pugs I never really have had a problem getting them to eat, except those first couple weeks after surgery, and then when Mag was having kidney issues. It is a little scary to see them so thin.
Thanks for the update- hopefully Molly will be a little more herself when she gets the stitches out.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Hey thanks for the update! I'm glad that things are going so well and other than her low weight, sounds like this is a great recovery! I'm sure her appetite will perk up again, but it sounds like this could be an issue when she goes through chemo, so be prepared for that. Have you tried tempting foods like gamey, unusual meats (i.e. venison, rabbit, etc.) and adding things like egg into her diet?
Glad you found the leg lamp convo funny! With all of that kind of talk at work, you've got to have an iron stomach! That was really nice of your co-workers to have her leg cremated, what a great group of people you work with.
That Lab of yours sounds so classic. Silly dog, he'll learn I'm sure.
Hope that things keep hopping along smoothly, keep us posted!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Sounds like Molly is doing pretty well. It's pretty normal for them to seem depressed post-amp. Our Abby seemed SO depressed. She would only perk up for visitors. Not really for us. Her appetite was also pretty bad, but she had never been a chow hound before either. But once the pain meds were done, she quickly got back to her old self.
Keep us posted,
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Glad to hear a good update on Molly! It all sounds pretty normal. So I don't think there is any reason to fret! I'm sure she'll be eating well soon.
Good wishes to her!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Good to hear how Molly is recovering. She is a true Warrior Princess.
Heather & Spirit Shadow
Hi all,
It's been a long time since i posted on here, but i have occasionally been checking in to see how things are going but have ended up crying every time cause it makes me think of the cancer aspect of Molly's situation so ive sought of been avoiding coming on here as it can be a bit depressing thinking how short her time might be. However, theres also a lot of inspirational stories too.
So I've gotten to the point where the cancer is pretty much slapping me in the face and i cant avoid thinking about it.
A lot has happened since ive been on here. We hit the 3 month post diagnosis mark, so Molly had an x-ray of her chest which was all clear!!! YAY!!
Chemo on the other hand hasn't been a fun journey. So the first chemo had Molly's WBC and platelets drop really low and we had to push the second dose out to 4 weeks and decrease the dose. She has been on antibiotics the entire time and still managed to have skin problems and an ear infection! The second dose had her vomiting all the time and she went onto Ondansetron, as well as the protexin she is on. we tried metomide but this didn't help so had to have something a little stronger and even that had to be given 3 times a day before she stopped vomiting (although this didn't happen until at least 3 weeks post chemo anyway). Now we are 5 weeks after the second chemo dose and her WBC is still too low to have the next dose of chemo (which has again been decreased in dose even further).
So this bad news came this morning and my vets said we'll test her WBC again next friday and maybe do chemo then. Its really starting to wear on me trying to get amped up for chemo each time only to be dissapointed with the white count being too low. Am i doing the right thing? is there any point giving chemo that far apart? At what point will the chemo dose be too low to even do anything?
I've sought of looked into other options but so far haven't been overly impressed with anything else due to all the potential risks, side effects and complications.
Really not sure where to go.
Any suggestions or similar stories would be awesome. thanks guys
Zeus also had a hard time with low WBCs during chemo. We also ended up on a four week, reduced dose schedule. He threw up after his first treatment and for each subsequent treatment they would give an injection of Cerenia at the chemo appointment and that seemed to do the trick.
The one thing that I would stress to you is to pay attention to her body and the signs that it gives you. A few days before the sixth/final treatment Zeus seemed to feel under the weather, but his CBCs were normal so we proceeded with the chemo. Unfortunately, he came down with pneumonia and was very sick. In hindsight, I would have skipped, or at least postponed, that final treatment to give him time to get over whatever bug he had. I think that the chemo weakening his system on the heels of that bug allowed the pneumonia to develop. So, keep an eye on Molly and take note of the reactions so that you can make an informed decision.
Just remember that there is no right answer here. Many dogs haven't followed the conventional protocols and have done just fine! Hope that things calm down for you soon!
Lisa
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
I'm glad to hear you got clear xrays. That's aweseome 
. I can't help you much on chemo. Magnum tolerated it reasonably well (6 rounds of Carboplatin). It sounds like a detailed and frank discussion with your oncologist might be needed.
I also found it hard to visit Tripawds at first, finding it all too sad. It can be hard. But we are here to help if we can. I'm sure there are others who have had difficulties with chemo who will chime in with their experiences.
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
Hey Amylou it's great to hear from you, sorry we missed you in the chat.
First of all congratulations on THREE months! Three's a lucky number you know. Woo hoo! I hope you were able to have a little celebration of this milestone. If not, we're having one for you and Molly right now!
I'm sorry she's having such a hard time with chemo. It's such a crapshoot as to who will have issues and who won't. You just never know. But one thing we do know for sure, is that each and every day is precious, especially when it comes to living with cancer. I know that you want to do everything you can for your girl, and you've been doing a great job at that. But what you have to ask yourself at this point is, are the bad days outnumbering the good ones? Are your days filled with more stress and challenge, than good times and loving? If the bad aspects of the chemo are outweighing the good ones, maybe it's time to ask yourself if it's worthwhile? I'm not saying what you should or shouldn't do, but with any situation, if it's dragging you down and making both of you unhappy, maybe it's time to take a different route. Should you chose to discontinue treatment at least you will know that you did everything in your power to give her a chance at beating cancer. And when all is said and done, there are no guarantees either way, so it's still a win-win even if you decide to stop chemo.
Geez, did I make any sense here? I hope so. I know you're torn and it's a tough decision you've got here. I know others will help by offering their insight, so I'll just sign off for now. Thanks for finding the courage to be here, you are always welcome to come by no matter what.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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