Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Greetings! My name is Shari and I have a Golden cross who's 9th birthday is likely sometime in February. Dakota has an unidentified (as yet) sarcoma that will require amputation of his left front leg. Surgery is scheduled for Friday, the 11th. Thankfully the cancer is not a bone cancer, so we aren't dealing with that. Biopsy results will likely be waiting for us Friday.
I've downloaded the Tripawds ebook and am educating myself. We've had more notice than a lot of people--about a month--but of course we're still not ready. For the last month, I've been feeding Dakota from an elevated food dish so that will be status quo. I've also been making him wear the non-slip socks from Woodrow Wear so he'll be used to them. Today I'm shopping for a new bed for him and have been looking at Craig's List ads for a crib mattress.
More than anything, I'm worried about getting Dakota home post-surgery, because we are almost 2 hours from the hospital and live literally on a mountain with a very winding road full of switchbacks. Dakota hates the car, salivates great gobs the entire time he's in the car and refuses to lay down. I've explained to the surgeon that she must somehow make sure he's sedated enough to lay down in the car and not try to get up.
Surgery will be done at Colorado State University and D will likely stay one night. I'm staying in a local hotel while my husband holds down the parental fort.
Because Dakota is not lame or in pain, they've said recovery may be more difficult. I'm wondering if he may not experience phantom limb pain since his leg doesn't hurt now. Other than being a big, honkin' lump, he has no problems with anyone doing whatever they want to it. Oh, and we were at CSU again yesterday and the surgeon said Dakota appears to have a slightly torn ligament in his right rear leg, another reason recovery may be slower.
So there's our intro. D hasn't a clue, of course, what Friday means to him. He'll just be very anxious when I lead him to the car for another hated ride. I'll feel better when he's back home in an environment I have some control over. Except for the bulldog, of course...but that's another story. 😀
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/
Hi Dakota and family!
Welcome to the tripawd family! You have certainly already done your due dilligence downloading the ebook, getting non slip socks (I just have lots of carpeted rugs since my dog will not tolerate anything on her feet). Good Work! After the stitches or staples come out 2 weeks later, I suggest getting a Ruff Wear Harness since it will make picking him up and getting out of tight places more easily (harness with handle).
First of all, good news that it isn't bone cancer. There are a few of us here who have dealt with sarcomas, Chloe had a soft tissue sarcoma known as spindle cell (low growth rate, low metastis rate). Amputation cured her. She had full use of her 4 legs pre amp and had a smooth and fast recovery after amp since she didn't need to undergo chemo or radiation. With Dakota's ligament issue, it may be a bit more difficult, but if the amputation cures his cancer too, it will be possible for him to get back on his feet so to speak.
Chloe just celebrated her 6 month ampuversary and her birthday is sometime in February too (she will be turning 10)! I just celebrate it on Valentine's day since it is easy to remember. You are welcome to check out my blog to see videos of Chloe hopping, running, chasing etc... and to read her post amp story (menu on the right). The link is in my signature box below.
Good Luck! If you have more questions feel free to ask! I am sure more will be chiming in soon!
-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
Welcome to the family, sounds like you've done your homework. God job. Gus had phantom pain about 5 days post, he was not using his leg at all before surgery and was in extreme pain. The phantom pain lasted about 4 weeks, but I can't say for sure about what your asking, my thought would be that phantom pain is coming from the nerves that are left that went to the amputated leg, so the fact that he has no pain now might not mean anything after surgery. I think you might be surprised how well these guys adapt, yes, it's not a cake walk, but these guys heal very well, it's us humans that have all the anxiety, so one suggestion is to try and treat just as you did before surgery. The spoken code is your first 2 weeks are the roughest, ups and downs, Dakota will have times when he doesn't seem himself, appetite might not be normal at times. If you get a chance to grab some sleep, take it, you'll find out there are times you don't get much. Don't be afraid to ask questions, experience gives the best answers, Paws up, ,good luck Friday, 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
Oh m gosh! I can't imagine a two hour car trip with a dog that doesn't like the car. Yikes.
I don't think there is any correlation between a dog having Or not having pre-surgery pain and phantom pain following surgery. If Dakota does have phantom pain be sure to let your vet know. There are drugs like gabopentin (sp) that can help with it. When Emily got her leg amputated the vets at Ohio State University told us that "people pleaser" dogs do better following amputation than more sedate dogs.
It sounds like you are as prepared as you can be. My thoughts and prayers will be with you on Friday. Keep us informed.
Debra
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
Sounds like Dakota is in very good hands! You are very fortunate to live near CSU (we spend our summers in Red Feather lakes, outside Fort Collins), and have taken great preparation to welcome home your new tripawd pal.
We hope you find the links in the Tripawds e-book helpful. If you haven't already, be sure to bookmark Jerry's Required Reading List too. Finally, welcome and thank you for joining! We look forward to following Dakota's progress in his blog. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Shari and Dakota, welcome. We're so sorry you're going through this but you watch, Dakota's gonna bounce back and recover a lot faster than you think.
He's in the best hands in the world at CSU. Try not to worry about the distance to CSU. I had my amputation six hours from my house (UC Davis), and the most helpful thing we did was to keep my regular vet in the loop. I only had to go into her office for wound draining and stitches removal, no big deal. Sounds like you have everything under control but if you need anything at all, let us know. We'll be thinking of you on Friday. Keep us posted.
P.S. Could we be neighbors? Like my Dad said, we're in Red Feather Lakes in summer. It would be wonderful to meet you when we return.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks so much for the warm welcome and well wishes for Dakota's surgery tomorrow. I am not really worried about it because I know he's in good hands at CSU, and we have no alternative. We've made 2 trips to CSU already and met the oncologist who will do the surgery, in addition to about 6 others there who looked him over trying to see if there was any alternative to amputation. Earlier this week we participated in a clinical trial there that may improve the outcome for dogs like Dakota in the future.
Dakota's lungs are clear, his blood work is great and he is in good shape for a senior dog, especially one who started life in our family on death's door as an abandoned puppy. When we stopped the car and gave him the first water he'd had in who knows how long, then let him in the car, we knew we had started a lifetime committment. Dakota is a package of anxieties due to his rough start (it's why he hates the car so), but he doesn't get to decide this one. The humans in the family do, and this is his only chance at more years with us. He is joined at the hip to me, and I can only imagine he trusts me to make the right decision for him.
Spirit Jerry, we may indeed be near each other when your folks visit the area in the summers. We live at 8300 feet between Boulder and Nederland, up Boulder Canyon. Perhaps this summer when your folks visit, we can meet in the middle and you can give Dakota some guidance on how it's done with style!
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/
Hi Shari and Dakota,
Welcome to Tripawds. Good luck on Friday- I hope everything goes smoothly, including the car rides.
My pug Maggie was a rear amp due to a mast cell tumor. She did not have a lot of pain pre surgery either- although her knee function was beginning to be compromised. She did not have phantom pain , but she really took her time to adapt. She was walking the day of surgery, and found her balance fairly quickly, but was not happy with her new situation. She was never very adaptable so it made sense in hindsight that she took her time. She had her amp before this site was here- so we went it alone. The only advice the vet really had was 'most dogs do fine on three legs'. So when she seemed so discouraged the first few weeks I was really questioning if I had done the right thing. But she did adapt and thrived for almost 4 years after her amp.
So my message is don't get discouraged if Dakota takes his time. Some pups seem to bounce right back, but some like Maggie really take their time.
Let us know how it is going when you have a chance.
Karen and the pugapalooza
shari said:
We live ... up Boulder Canyon.
Were you affected by the fires last summer? We are practically neighbors, only about one mountain range away... Jerry's Acres sits at 8500' and we'll be heading back once it thaws out this spring to plan the annual Tripawds Gathering in Longmont. See ya there!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm
truly impressed at the proactive way you've been preparing Dakota for the amputation - getting him used to the socks and the elevated dish is such a great idea! Well done! 
I doubt there's any correlation between phantom limb pain and pre-op pain, because it's a result of injury to the nerve combined with lack of the limb, as I understand it. I've heard that physio can help phantom limb pain, but I have no personal experience since Sid had had his limb amputation about two years before we took him on.
Thanks, Jay. It was easy to start Dakota with an elevated dish because our bulldog was using it. I just stole it from her. Dakota did not like it for several days. He circled it from side to side and gave me dirty looks. As for the socks, that was also serendipity. We had some from one of our angel dogs (our best dog ever) who needed them for spinal degeneration. She drug her feet and these protected her toes and gave her traction . Dakota does not like these, either. Oh well.
Now we'll wait to see what he thinks of the crate I just bought from a neighbor. It is humongous, so he won't be crammed in there, but it will certainly provide a retreat and literal support for the ride home. I'm going to take him for a car ride this afternoon and hopefully convince him to get into it. I should sell tickets because it promises to be the best show around. The best part will be he won't do his anxiety slobbering all over the back of the seats now.
And Jerry, we were not impacted by the fires in September, though they were close. The road to our house was closed for some time and I did the whole pack-up-the-photo-album thing. I arranged for a place for our dogs in case we had to evacuate. Thankfully it wasn't needed. We had some ash in the air and many, many friends on that side of the canyon were evacuated for almost a week. Thanks for asking! And I had no idea about the Longmont doggie meeting. I look forward to that this summer.
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/
I just wanted to say "welcome" and to send my best wishes for tomorrow's sugery. We'll be sending lots of healing thoughts to Dakota!
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, best of luck tomorrow with the surgery.
My 8 year old Lab, Ajax, had a right rear leg amputation in July due to chondrosarcoma (again, low grade with low risk of metastases). If you look it up in a vet book, it is often listed next to bone cancer, but technically it is also a soft tissue sarcoma.
I can't speak to the other issues, but I asked the same question you did above re: will recovery be harder, since he is currently using the leg that is to be amputated?
For us, the answer was absolutely not. Ajax spent 2 nights in the hospital, and got up, walked out, and got in a yellow cab to come home ... and after a few weeks of recovery, he's been zooming along ever since. If you search "Ajax" on this site, you can see my posts about his recovery - I think they will make you feel pretty good. Most recently, I posted videos of him running through 18 inches of snow in Central Park less than 7 mos. after his surgery.
Also, you might be surprised - Ajax was showing zero signs of pain before the amputation. Neither we nor the vet could find any signs, he was running and fetching - we only found the tumor b/c we check routinely for ticks, and Ajax is black so we pretty much have to do it by feel.
Anyway, after a couple of months recovery, I began getting comments from friends who have seen him in the park every day for years, and neighbors, that he seemed "happier" than he did the months before his surgery - and they were right! So while he might not have had much pain, he definitely felt "wrong" and feels much much better now. I can't remember when this started - after they initial physical recovery - maybe 8 weeks or so? Anyway, you may see the same thing.
Good luck tomorrow!
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