Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

jerry said
Jennifer I'm so sorry to hear this! First, welcome to Tripawds, your future posts won't require approval.

Now, why did Bo lose his leg? Just curious.

About the limp tail: please call your vet asap and make an appointment. I'm going to bet it's like Murphy's mom said, and is merely a sign of a sprain, but it can't hurt to have them examine him just in case. I have also heard of dog's tails getting sprained.

Also, just want to make sure that your vet is a qualified rehab practitioner. It's hard to believe but just about anyone can call themselves a doggie rehab practitioner, but there are criteria that we recommend looking for when taking your dog for therapy. I know nothing about your vet's qualifications but I just want to make sure Bo is getting great, safe care that will be beneficial. This blog post can help you determine if the rehab therapy is helping not hurting

Canine Acupuncture and Rehab Therapy Tips for Tripawds

Please let us know what the vet says and how Bo is doing. We hope that he feels better soon!

Bo losing his leg is kind of a crazy story! Where to begin.....when Bo was about 2 or 3 yrs old he tore his ACL during the winter. We never had surgery to repair it and it didn't stop him from running and playing. A year later he did ACL damage in the other knee....also during the winter. As before, we did not have it repaired and it didn't stop him from all his fun activities. Slowed him down a bit....but did not stop him.

Now that you have some background information....this past winter Bo was getting somewhat gimpy on his left hind leg. I assumed it was the onset of arthritis. My husband brought him to the vet at the end of December for his yearly check up and shots. The doctor told us to keep an eye on him but the symptoms appeared to be arthritis. In May Bo fell coming up the basement stairs. At that point he went from limping to not walking on the leg at all. He never cried out or whined and he let me move the leg and touch it with out pulling away. After 4 days of not walking on the leg he became antsy and whiny and panting. Very uncomfortable.

I brought him into the vet the next morning. An xray was taken and I was told it looks like bone cancer. The tumor surrounded the knee and a bit above and below it. The bone was gone.....I was given 2 options....amputation or euthanize. The vet said he couldn't let me take Bo home in that condition. The bone was so fragile he was concerned the leg would break. I opted for the surgery....he had a clean chest x-ray - nothing showed on his x-rays that the cancer had spread and his blood test was good. He was healthy other than the leg.

Bo came through the surgery well. I had to hold him back from activity until his staples were removed!

The leg was sent out to a lab for testing and to everyone's surprise....NOT CANCER!!! An infection had settled into the injured joint and ate away the bone. We were so happy!!

A week after Bo came home he tried to nudge the patio door open with his snoot (like he always did). He lost his balance and his front paw slid into the door frame. He injured his dew claw and first digit forming an abscess. We used multiple antibiotics to try and clear up the infection....then the paw swelled real bad. An x-ray was taken and something was going on with the first digit. A needle biopsy was taken of the abscess and the vet said there may be cancer cells....whatever was going on the bone was deteriorating quickly. I once again opted for amputation....this time the dew claw and first digit.

Bo came through this surgery well also! This time however the diagnosis was cancer....one of 3 types....and of course the worst type. The vet called the lab and questioned why an exact diagnosis could not be made. The lab said the cells were changing to rapidly and very aggressively. And the hind leg results were also reviewed and again determined to be cancer free.

We have reached our limits financially and made the decision that pain management would be the way to proceed.

Up until this tail thing, Bo has been active and enjoying his walks and home therapy we have been doing. Now he has no interest in going for the walks.....he is eating/drinking/going out to take care of business but not interested in doing anything else. Then again...it is also 95 plus degrees with humidity making the heat index higher. I don't want to go outside either!!

Thanks for all the feed back!!

I have an update.

Bo was pale this morning and I rushed him to the vet.

His temp is normal, heart rate a bit elevated along with his respiratory. Not overly concerning though. The doctor ran a blood test and he is anemic. Not critically....his labs were all normal in December, May (before his leg amputation), and June (before his digits amputation)

Obviously the cancer is somewhere.

He still has an appetite and loves drinking his ice water. He takes Carprofen twice a day for pain management , but seems to be having separation anxiety at night. Vet prescribed some Xanax to help.

As for the anemia....OTC slow release Iron supplement.

I am doing as much activity with him as he will tolerate. He tires easily right now. Our walks will consist of close neighbor visits. No distance.....just more frequent short walks.

I am going to make him some Beef Tea. That always seemed to work for me as a kid. And I did it last summer while giving hospice care to our kitty Tigger. He had a cancer tumor in his abdomen. He loved it and I think  he felt a little better having it.

This whole thing just SUCKS!!!

jerry said
I'm so sorry to hear this Jennifer. What is the vet's plan for pinpointing the cause? Or are you at the point of hospice care now? If so, stronger pain meds will help alleviate the pain. Either way, we are here for you during this ruff time.

Here's to beef tea, I hope it helps him feel better.

Thank you Jerry!

I guess I would consider us at the hospice care stage. But I do know from experience with humans and animals that it is not always the end.

The lab is unable to pinpoint the type of sarcoma. The cells (from what I understand) were rapidly changing like it couldn't settle on a type.

Bo is a fighter....and as long as I see that in him I will do what I can. I hate saying that money is an issue....but it is.

The vet and I have discussed how we should proceed with this. We are taking it one day at a time, keeping him comfortable and happy(spoiled). Yesterday Bo had a thorough exam...heart rate was a little elevated but good, respiratory seemed ok (no signs of difficulty or congestion) temp very normal....

I mentioned previously about anxiety at night, the vet has me trying a type of Xanax. We gave him his first dose last night......never again! He is like a limp noodle!! He could not walk, was barely able to hold up his head.....terrible! We still have residual effects today. He can't move his bowels....well standing that is. The noodleness is slowly going away. I have a call into the vet already. The dosage he prescribed was lower than normal for a dog his size....obviously he metabolizes differently than usual! Bo has always gone against the norm.

The Tripawds site has been helpful and hopeful. I am so glad the vet recommended I use it for information and support.