Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Hi everyone My name is Gator , I'm a 7 yr old yellow lab.and here's my story

Back in May i jumped off the bed and came up sore. mom made an appointment with the vet (which is not my favorite place) to check me out Doc thought I just pulled a muscle. I heeled up pretty quick like in a month but then 2 weeks later I was running with my brother Gunner and pulled it again. Didn't have to go to the vet that time just figured it was the same deal until one morning I got up and was restless so mom called Doc again and got another appointment for me,grrrrr.

In the meantime I was in such pain I was walking like a drunk mom got some meds to get me through.Go to Docs thurs and they take x-rays bad news found a spot on my forearm and it might be cancer,good news lungs are clean. Doc sets us up for a second opinion with a specialist Mon June 30th.So over the weekend mom and dad weighed all the pros and cons and mom did some research to learn more. But at least while they were thinking I got to go swimming,which is my favorite past time. But they had me on a leash didn't like that much but at least I was getting wet.

So Mom comes mom loads us up in her suv and off to the vet we go. Should have known it wasn't going to be good when dad met us there he never goes to the vet with us. so anyway we meet the oncologist and they re x-rayed my lungs to make sure they were still clean. We were told it could spread pretty quick, lungs were clean so I say see ya later to mom and dad and off I go to have my right front leg amputated.

Surgery went well and I got to go home Tues afternoon. I got to tell ya I was feeling pretty perky til the nerve block wore off, then it was like I hit a brick wall. They had me on Tramadol and Deramaxx. I didn't lose my appetite, ability to go to the bathroom or beg. That kept mom and dad's spirits up through the rough times.

Glad mom found your web site Jerry,after reading some of the forums she FINALLY stopped looking at me every other second and second guessing whether they had made the right choice.

So here I am day 8 as a tripod feeling a little better. I still get real tired and half to lay down seems like all I do is sleep but that's okay cause I'm healing. Going Mon to get the stitches out and find out what kind of cancer it is. Who knows maybe we'll get real lucky and it might just have been a fungus. Hopefully i get a clean bill of sale on Mon cause mom and dad want to take me swimming or at least to get wet.Will keep you updated and thanx for all the great reads and info

Gator