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.
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Hey guys! My beautiful 12 year old Shiba Inu, Seri, had her front left leg amputated today. She had a really bad cancerous tumor, and was barely able to use her leg. After an x-ray showed that the cancer had not spread past her leg yet, the vet suggested amputation. My family decided to go through with it, and hopefully she'll be okay! We're a little worried that she's too old for such a large lifestyle change, but we're hoping that since she had not really been using her leg very much anyway, it won't be too different. Anyway, just wanted to introduce ourselves, and we'd appreciate any words of advice from any body who has dealt with this in an older dog!
Thank you,
Caroline
Hi Caroline 🙂
I can't offer any advice since we'll be a new tripawd family soon. My piper is only 2 and I'm nervous about the surgery as well. Good luck to your Seri...Im so glad it hadnt spread past her leg 🙂
Kelly
Welcome Caroline and Seri, sorry you had to find us here. Was the tumor bone cancer? Many here are dealing/have dealt with that.
We've had lots of older Tripawds do really well here. Too of our current "more distinguished" gang are Zeus and Lylee. Both are doing well. I'm sure they'll chime in when they see your post.
If she hasn't been using her leg anyway, she should adapt pretty well, once she recovers from the surgery itself. Don't be surprised if she crashes in a day or two. Once the heavy duty meds from the surgery wears off and she's stil transitioning to the at-home pain meds, she might seem to be more down than she was when she first came home. It happens with lots of folks and is very normal!
We're here if you have any specific questions during her recovery.
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!
Welcome to tripawds. I'm sorry you are dealing with cancer, but you have found a great community of folks who have 'been there'.
As far as an older dog adapting- I think the pup's personality might have more to do with it. My pug Maggie was only 7.5 years old when she had her surgery. Maggie really took her time, it was close to two months before she came around- waaaaay longer than the average dog here. But Mag had always been obstinate and she hated any change in her routine. So her taking her time to adapt was just her being herself. She did adapt and spent almost 4 years as a Tri-Pug, she had mast cell cancer and beat her prognosis of 6 to 9 months.
I hope Seri's recovery is smooth. Most of us experienced lots of ups and downs during the first couple of weeks, so don't get discouraged if Sari has down time.
Stop by often with questions or if you need support.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Hi Caroline & Seri
This is Lylee's mum, one of the more mature tripawds currently cruising around and having a grand time (thanks Auntie Jackie - Lylee would approve of the "more distinguished" title!).
Our girl will be celebrating her 13th birthday this year and is coming up to her one year ampuversay (June 20th), and what a great year it has been for us. She has adapted really well and truly having one less leg is not something she considers an impediment (it's only us humans who have a harder time adapting). Understandably we no longer do the hours long hikes through the hills but we do go walking everyday and have her chariot for when she gets tired so she can go the whole distance.
Check out her blog to see her having fun on the beach and in the waves: http://www.lyle.....ipawds.com
The first few weeks after surgery can be challenging, Lylee thankfully had a pretty uneventful recovery, but take it slowly.
Let us know how she progress's. Would love to see pics of her 🙂
Hugs
Joanne & Lylee
http://lyleegir.....ipawds.com
AngelAbbysMom said
We've had lots of older Tripawds do really well here. Too of our current "more distinguished" gang are Zeus and Lylee. Both are doing well. I'm sure they'll chime in when they see your post.
Ha! Zeus said he likes 'distinguished' much more than my use of 'mature'! Welcome Seri and family. Yes, Zeus was 11 at the time of amputation (due to osteosarcoma). We just passed his six month ampuversary and he is doing well. He did strain his back about a week after amp so his recovery was a bit longer than some of the other pups. He did great on three legs right from the start, but I think the older dogs' bodies aren't quite as resilient and his muscles protested a bit to the new hop/walk. Any other complications that we had (and they were mostly minor) were pretty much related to having chemo.
As for lifestyle changes, Zeus has seen it all!!! We amputated his leg, changed his diet, underwent chemo, he started coming to work with me everyday, etc, etc, etc. How did the changes affect him? He hasn't really missed the leg, he LOVES LOVES LOVES the new diet, he loves coming to work with me. Can't say that he loved chemo, but he put up with it for us.
Good luck with the recovery. Please don't hesitate to ask if we can be of any help to you!
Lisa and Zeus
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/
Hi Caroline, welcome! You'll soon find that Seri will be just like she was before, only happier because she's out of pain from that bum leg. 12 years old is nothing when it comes to senior Tripawds, check out our Size and Age Matters topic to read about our Tripawd elders' amazing journeys!
What kind of cancer did the doc find?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Caroline and Seri!
This is Rizzo's mom Suzie and she is eleven years old and is a 2.5 year Mast Cell Cancer survivor. We here at Tripawds like to call our pups warriors or warrior princesses as they are true warriors of this awful disease. So Seri is an official Warrior Princess! When does Seri get to come home? Let us know how she is doing and if you have question or concerns maybe we can help you out. We'll be thinking of you and hoping the recovery goes smooth for you.
All the best,
Suzie and Rizzo
Jack Russell born in 2001. Mast cell cancer found Dec 2009 and right rear amputation. Five rounds of chemo done before all treatment stopped. Living life to the fullest!! Read my story at http://rizzo.tripawds.com
We're six weeks post amputation and Chico's cancer had spread to his lymph node and he's now on chemo. He's at the vet for his second IV dose right now. He's handling it quite well. Within 4 weeks he was almost 100% back to normal. He's back to fetching his tennis ball already--as if nothing happened. He's a little klutzier, but he doesn't care!
Welcome! My Chili Dawg was just over nine when we did his amputation. He adjusted fairly well. He was happy that the pain was gone. The first 2 weeks were the toughest but once he came off the meds, figured out his new hop, and got his staples out he returned to his normal self. Make sure you get some rest yourself 🙂
Jenna & Spirit Chili Dawgs pack
Diagnosed with OSA: 5/2/2011 Ampuversary: 5/11/2011 OSA returned in hip: 8/26/2011
Chili Dawg crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 8/30/2011 & is now pain free. He was my heart dog, and I miss him every day.
Hi Caroline,
I cannot offer any advice regarding the amputation or the amputation with regards to your Shiba's age BUT I did want to reach out to you as my beautiful girl Shiba, Ping, (6 years old), just had her front leg amputated today. She had an aggressive tumor on her front right leg which has already been operated on 2 times. We are not sure if it is a cancerous tumor, but in any event, the tumor was aggressively spreading and causing her mobility issues. Maybe we can share our experiences and some photos. My Shiba is a red. She is still at the hospital and I am hoping she will be home tomorrow. Hope Seri a seamless recovery.
Best,
Tina
tinahm said
I did want to reach out to you...
Thanks for joining and welcome to the community Tina! Your future posts will not require moderation. Please consider starting a new topic to share ping's story.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Wow, everyone! Thank you for the warm welcome 🙂 Seri had a soft tissue sarcomas, I'll post some before pictures as well. She seems to be doing pretty well today. Hasn't eaten much, and doesn't like to be left alone at all. But she's been hopping a little bit, getting used to it! She tried to rip her bandage off, but we caught her before it got too bad. Hopefully tomorrow's another good day!
Seri, before any tumors.
Two days before surgery.
Post surgery!
welcome to the tripawd family!! seri is very beautiful, glad the surgery went well. my gayle also had a STS, and had quite a long happy time as a tripawd. she lost her battle to melanoma, not the STS. you might want to check out maggie, the border collie, who had a STS and is following a holistic approach post amp. she's at about 2 1/2 years post amp, and has a blog you might want to look at.
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
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