Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My main man, Cody is a 10 year old Rott/Shepard/Lab/Husky/Heinz57 mix. Cody lives in Cleveland, Ohio with his two humans and sister Bailey - an 8yr old Lab/Retriever mix. Last week he was diagnosed with a peripheral nerve sheath tumor on his L7-S1 nerve. This is the main nerve that branches off from his spinal cord to his left rear leg. On Friday we were told we had two options – control the best we can with meds and try to make him comfortable, or remove the tumor which would render his leg useless so also a leg amputation.
It became apparent to us that the meds would not be an option – he is so miserable and just not himself. So that leaves us with amputation or euthanasia. We found this site over the weekend and have been reading every bit of information we could get our hands on. While we feel he is a good candidate for amputation, we are nervous about our home environment being able to accommodate him (steps to get outside, hard wood floors) and dealing with the recovery process. We had a call with the surgeon this morning, to go over questions and get more information. The amputation is no guarantee – we wouldn’t know what type of tumor we are dealing with until after the surgery when it can be biopsied. There is a chance it is super-aggressive and we could be facing this same problem in his other leg in 6 months. Or, it could not be and he could live out his remaining time a happy three-legged dog. Or, we may be able to control any future growth with chemo. We just don’t know – which is really the hardest part.
Even at 10, Cody is a young at heart dog who still loves to chase a ball, go on walks and wrestle with his sister. So my husband and I feel we have to give him a chance to live out his life on his terms. We decided this morning that we will go ahead with the amputation. Surgery would most likely be Wednesday and he would come home anytime between Thurs and Sat depending on how fast he recovers.
This is definitely the hardest decision we’ve ever had to make. However, the surgeon has been awesome to work with and finding this site has been a real blessing. Thank you for sharing everything that you have went through because it really helps those of us facing this decision.
Hi Cody and family! Your future posts won't need approval so post away. Back in a bit with some thoughts, on the road now.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
It's always such a hard decision to make. None of us have had any guarantees for the future of our babies ... some were given a prognosis that they surpassed and others barely had time to get through the recovery of surgery. All we ever know is that they can't keep going the way they are and we need to try to do something for and we hope that we are making the best decision possible. It sounds like Cody is a delight. The recovery can be difficult, especially the first 2 weeks or so, but after that, they start coming back around to themselves. You can get throw rugs or yoga mats for the wood floors, and he'll figure out the steps.
We'll be here for you!
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Welcome Cody and pack.
It is very hard not knowing...that is unfortunately part of this sucky cancer journey.
I had the impression that my Pug Maggie's left rear amp for mast cell cancer would be curative. After the biopsy her prognosis was downgraded to 6 to 9 months, with chemo, because of lymph node involvement. Although she had some additional tumors Maggie beat mast cell cancer and lived almost 4 years post op.
I learned from my journey with Maggie to Be More Dog . Live in the moment without looking too far ahead, appreciate each and every day. It is definitely an acquired skill that I am still working on!
The recovery period can be bumpy so don't get discouraged. This is a major surgery and Cody has a new normal to get used to.
You are taking away his pain, you are giving him a chance at more quality time with you. Each day you have together will be so special!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
We are right here by your side, okay? We understand like no others can. You have been on in an emow nightmare. I hope making the decision on how you are going to proceed now gives you almost a sense of "relief".
As Donna said, there are no guarantees and we can only follow our heart AND "listen" to your handsome Cody! It sounds like he has a lot of spunk and is showingnyou "Heck yeah! Let's do this! I want a chance at more QUALITY time full.of @pving and spoiling!"
Everyone makes their own individual decisions for their own individual reasons and circumstances. For some of us, we feel like we must "try", even IF the outcome doesn't go very well. As awful as it woukd be to have a bad outcome, at least we tried.
I don't know if you woukd be able to build a ramp over the stairs outside. For rear leggers, they usually can go down stairs, but sometimes going up is hard.
Remember that Cody isn't worried about a thing! He doesn't give a rip about statistics or prognosis! Means nothing to Cody! Cody does not jave a timeframe stamped in his butt!! And ya' know what? Cody doesn't care about the days in a calendar! Means nothing to Cody! But living in the NOW, in the moment, with his humans and Bailey pain free...yeah, that means a lot!!
Besides, in human terms, six months is the equivalent to seven years to our dogs!!
STAY CONNECTED! YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Recovery is no picnic for about two weeks, more or less. Getting pain meds balanced can be hit and miss for a day or two sometimes. Yiur Vet will.probably send you home with Tramadol, Gabapentin, Rimadyl and an antibiotic.
When you pick Cody up, don't even waste one second looking at that incision, he sure isn't! Just look I to his druggy happy eyes and smooch him and applaud him for doing such a good job! One thing that will be hard to not see thiugh, is the amount of fur they shave! I found that more disturbing than the incision itself fkr my Happy Hannah!
We'll be cheering for Cody! Update us when you can. Oh, and we love pictures around here! Cody's avatar picture is sooooo handsome! Love that gentleness of that smoochable mug!
Love!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Check out the download books here. http://download.....-library1/
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!
Cody looks adorable! I'm sure he's a total love bug.
I think everyone struggles with the decision to amputate, even when you know it is absolutely the right thing to do or when you know you have no other choice. I know when we were faced with the decision, our first thoughts were also about stairs (and floors and size...). But all those things turned out either not to be a problem at all (stairs) or easy to fix (temporary runners). And our Ellie was also older (10+) but like you, we really felt like she deserved a chance. She certainly wasn't ready yet to say goodbye!
There are no guarantees of course, but there never are. If you've been reading here, you'll know that the recovery is sometimes rough with ups and downs. But dogs are really resilient and you'll probably be surprised how well Cody will do. We'll help you as much as we can.
Denise, Bill and Angel Ellie
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
Yoga mats! That is brilliant! I would have never thought of that and it's so much cheaper than rugs and anti-skid mats. Thanks Donna!
You've gotten some great advice, I'll just add that when you have time, if you haven't already, do check out Jerry's Required Reading List and the Tripawds e-books Library, you'll find lots of tips there. When it comes to your home, the best things you can do are to get the yoga mats or carpet runners (you can find them for about $10 at Costco. Traction will give him the confidence he needs to get around in your home. Be sure to block off the stairs for now, and raise his bowls to make it easier for him to balance when he eats. Even something simple like placing his bowls on top of a milk crate will help so much.
Your surgeon sounds great, that's so nice you've got a great advocate for Cody!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
lol I can't take credit for the yoga mats idea ... it's something that's shared on here a lot! We have carpet 🙂 But that's what we're here for, to share ideas and helpful hints.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
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