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
Temper is our 6 year old black lab mix. She was in excellent health until one day she showed up with swollen leg just above the joint above her paw. We took her to the vet and at first they thought it was a soft tissue injury and she got medicine and rest. The swelling went down but came right back in a day and just got bigger every day. The first xray wasn't conclusive. Could be an infection or cancer. A biopsy showed osteosarcoma. Her chest xray didn't show any obvious spread of the cancer.
We weighed the options and decided that she would adapt to three legs easily, so yes to amputation. We decided against chemo, though. The odds are so high that the chemo would most likely only have given her a few extra months. This wasn't going to be cured. We figured we'd give her the summer and warm months free to hop around on 3 legs to her hearts content. We know the chances are high that at some point the cancer will come back somewhere and we will do the right thing then.
Our Temper's greatest joy in life is to run, jump and chase. She couldn't do this with that leg still attatched. We wanted these months to be pain free - amputation, and carefree.
So far, she is getting around great. She had the surgery June 26. She has a pocket of serum, seroma , that I am hoping will soon resolve itself or the vet will drain it. We go to the vet July 7th.
I just hope she has a fabulous summer, and with any luck she'll be one of the few who doesn't have any cancer spread.
Hi pennyann,
Good to know that Temper is hopping along with no problem. As Jerry said, the fluid build-up is pretty common. Hope that it will go away soon.
Wish Temper has a speedy recovery. Let her recharge. Keep her on leash for frequent short walks, so she can gradually build up strength before doing the usual things she likes, i.e. run/jump/chase!
All the best.
Jessie
Thanks for joining the discussion forums Pennyann! And thanks for taking such good care of Temper.
Sounds like you have the right attitude for what you're going through – prepare for the worse and hope for the best.
Doctors gave me 3-4 months to live after my amputation in November of 2006. I did not undergo chemotherapy at the time, and I am still here Loving Life On Three Legs . Yes, eventually that nasty cancer metastasized in my lungs. But my people put me on an oral chemo they can administer as part of my metronomic protocol therapy. And it's working! You can read all about my canine cancer treatment and progress in my three-legged dog blog.
Thanks again, and best wishes for a speedy and complete recovery. We look forward to hearing more about Temper...
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
2 Guest(s)
