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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
Good evening all,
I am new to tripawds and have been reading and crying over the stories for a week now. My vet suggested this site after taking my boy in for what I thought was a sprained ankle that turned out to be osteosarcoma, which wasn’t even on my radar. Within a week I have had meltdowns, doubts, sadness, anger..everything. But tomorrow, my senior golden retriever, Marley, will have his front right leg amputated. It doesn’t even feel real saying this. But it’s real, and has happened so fast. I’m so scared, but this site has made me feel like I’m part of a club now, like I have people who understand me and don’t think I’m the crazy dog lady for doing everything I can for my dog. I rescued Marley 7 years ago and he was already an older guy then. My boyfriend and I just fell in love with him and he fell right in with our pack. We have 2 other senior dogs, and just lost our black lab last June. (I had 2 dogs and my boyfriend had 2, so like the Brady bunch, we made one big family!) We weren’t ready to lose Marley too. I feel more hope since reading your stories that we might have this guy around longer than what we originally thought when we got this diagnosis last week. Thank you and keep some positive vibes as we go through this new phase with our Marley. It feels good to know we aren’t alone.
Welcome and best wishes for Marley!
We have moved your post to a new topic here where it will get the attention it deserves and others can follow along as you provide updates.
While you wait for comments from others, use the Advanced Search above to refine your forum search results with specific phrases, and you're sure to find lots of helpful feedback. You can also search all blogs here . Or, consider downloading the Tripawds e-books for fast answers to common concerns and feel free to call the toll-free Tripawds Helpline anytime!
Please keep us posted. Your future forum posts will not require moderation. Meanwhile, start here for help finding all the helpful Tripawds resources and assistance programs.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
YOU ABS ARE NOT ALONE!! AND YOU ARE DEFINITELY SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE WHO UNDERSTAND THE DEPTH OF YOUR LOVE AND COMMITMENT TO MARLEY MORE THAN ANY OTHERS COULD!
And we understand your fear, your uncertainty, the stress, the pit in the stomach, the non-stop crying. We also understand that you are doing the right thing for Marley to ensu he has a pain frre quality. And we understand, as will you, you are doing this FOR Marley and not TO him!
Goldens are such sweet Soils. A Golden with a frosty muzzle melts my heart❤
Recovery is no picnic fot a couple of weeks. You may have some sleepless nights. It is major surgery and Marley won't feel like doing much at first. He needs rest, rest, rest, short potty breaks and more resr. He'll most likel come home with Gaba, Tram, Rimadyl and an antibiotic . The hospital meds are out of his sys in a couple of days and that's when tweaking the pain meds based on Marley's pain level starts kicking in.
No worries if hes mot movile fot seceral days. "Mature" dogs take a bit longer to get their sea legs. If you have hardwood, uou'll want nonslip scatter rugs for traction .
Earing and npooping may take a few days, but drinking and peeing are important.
Remember, you are taking away his pain and giving him his quality back so Marley can be Marley.
We are all right your side, okay? Ask any questions anytime. We'll be cheering for your sweet Marley❤
Eat lots of chocolate!! It helps!!
(((((((((((((((HUGS)))))))))))))))
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie 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!
Well, we dropped him off this morning and I am so scared. I’m scared I won’t be able to handle seeing him like that, will he wonder what I’ve done to him?? It’s breaking my heart and I’m terrified
No, Marley won't "blame' you for taking away that painful leg, he will thank you! Dogs don't "blame", they just accept and move on. Besides, if dogs did blame, Marley would blame the Bet, not you!!0
You can search on the site to see pics of the incision. The thing I found most startling was how much fur they shaved! Bery clipper happy Surgeons!! Some dogs come home with a compression bandsge, so e don't. Ypu xan ask your Bet about that if you feel like it will be beneficial to you (and to Marley).
When you go pick him up, don't even draw attention to the incision. He won't be looking at it. He will feed ,off your strong and confident energy for clues that ecerything is okay. He'll be looking at your smiling face telling him what a good boy he is and he's going home!! He loves you!!
Is !Marley spending the night at a 24 hr staffed clinic? Just kmow thst sometimes with "mature" dogs they have to stay two or three nights before they are able to start navigating. Goldens are resilient pups thpugh.
Let us know when surgery is done, okay?
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie 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!
Ashley, we are sending you and Marley lots of healing thoughts right now, and cheering for a speedy recovery 
Anyone who's been through this tough decision understands your worries. But what we all learn in the end is that our animals don't blame, regret or mourn the way we do. They just want to get on with life, feeling good and enjoying every day. Marley's not going to hold anything against you, it is impossible for him to do so, it's not in a dog's nature.
The best thing you can do right now is to learn to Be More Dog . Marley will look to you for guidance and your pawsitivity and great attitude will make all the difference in how recovery goes. Keep up a good attitude and when you feel things are getting to be too overwhelming for you, take a deep breath and remember we are here for you.
Keep us posted, we'll be waiting for the pupdate!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Strange turn of events...the surgeon didn’t think Marley would be a good candidate for the surgery so she called it off. We had originally brought him to our vet, then to NC State university vet school, where an internalist recommended the amputation. (They could do the amputation there, but are very expensive and backed up for months) Our normal vet doesn’t do amputations so we found a vet in our town who does them. She called us this morning and said she was working with Marley and noticed his back end was a bit off and she believes he may have some nerve issues or something else going on. She was surprised that the internalist didn’t send Marley to a neurologist or perform any ultrasounds on his stomach (because Golden’s are prone to tumors in their spleen she said). Anyway, now we have to figure out what to do. This osteosarcoma is painful for him, but he’s such a happy and aware boy. He does also have cancer that was found in his nose, so we were hoping chemo would help with that...but now we have yet another obstacle. I guess the next step is meeting a neurologist. Just thought I’d update you guys. What a whirlwind of a day.
Oh yikes I'm sorry to hear that, what a whirlwind but it's good the vet was being so thorough. Any chance they may be able to get you into NC State for the diagnostics? Oftentimes you can get bumped way up the list in an osteosarcoma situation, because the vets understand what a painful disease it is for the dog. NC State really is one of the best places to get care in a complicated situation like this.
If the uni isn't an option, did you get a referral to a private practice neurologist? Let us know how we can hellp.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Geez, a whirlwind of a day for sure!! And Marley is blissfully unaware of all the stress. Ahhh, the joy of being dog!
I'm really glad you're going to get another opinion somewhere. For whatever it's worth, even IF there are issues with his rear legs (which clearly didn't seem to bother him at all), it still doesn't necessarily take amputation off rhe table. We've seen dogs with Wooblers, with arthritis, etc manage three just fine.
Couldn't tell uou anything on the ultrasound, whether it's actually standard with Goldens before amp or not. I don't really recall seeing that mentioned, but that doesn't mean anything.
This Bet wasn't an Orthopedic Surgeon, correct? I hope you have one in your area. Or, as Jerry said, another appoi6 at NC. Maybe a Bet could call and get him in faster.
It sounds like Marley is handling everything okay. If you haven't already done so, you can get him started on some pain meds to keep any pain at bay and con jis quality. Ask about Tramadol and Gabapentin.
If he isn't a candidate for amp, ask about alternatives. Perhaps biophosamate (okay, screwing up the spell badly,,,someone will come along and tell you what I was really trying to say!).
Continue to spoil, spoil, spoil and make every moment the best moment ever!!! And remember, Marley has no worries!!! He's just happy veing vy uour side getting extra treats and tummy rubs!
Extra higs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie 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!
1 Guest(s)
