Hi Jerry,

Yes, you're absolutely right about the traction . I'm going to to try and find some pads for her paws and if not I'll put runners down where she walks most often. 

We have little rubber booties for her that we used when she was paralyzed and learning to walk again when she was a puppy, but they tend to cut her circulation off.

Thanks for the tips!!

Jamie & Lyla xo

They are on my list!

Question: should I take her harness off when she's inside? I mean she gets up on her own now (jumped up again and yelped 🙁 ) but I'm just so worried about her not being comfortable when she sleeps. 

What is a good indicator that the harness can come off?

Thanks again!!

Day 5 Pupdate!

Lyla is having another quiet sleepy day.  She ate a little around noon and has taken her meds (she LOVES bologna which they are wrapped in).  She is peeing 4-6 times a day and still wags her tail and gets up when she sees her boy. She will get up and come and lie by my feet also (which she is currently doing as I type this).

Her paw swelling comes and goes and I find it the worst in the morning when she gets up. The vet said it could be from sleeping on her leg and/or the intravenous.  She is a little red on her leg where they shaved it and I’m treating it with polisporin, which seems to be working. She also had a couple of body trembles earlier this afternoon.  I covered her with a blanket and they subsided.  The only time I’ve see her tremble is when she ins’t feeling well. I’ve never known her to tremble when she is cold, but normally she sleeps on the couch all day.  Her bed is close to the floor and it does tend to get chilly down there, I know because I sleep with her and get cold during the night.

The other thing I wasn’t prepared for was being absolutely obsessed with every little thing that she does.  I am a helicopter by nature, but this has made me 10 times as bad and not just with her, but my other two too.  It’s crazy.

I like that she is sleeping as much as she is because I think this will be key in her recovery.  I’m also looking into physio therapy for when her stitches come out because her remaining legs have to be getting sore from supporting her weight.

So all in all, all good considering.

Jamie & Lyla xo

Hi Katie's Mom!

I'm soooo happy you found this site and my posts. 

The decision for me was excruciating given how heavy Lyla is.  I was sick with worry about whether I was doing the right thing. Jerry and Benny were my saving grace. This forum was my saving grace. 

While nobody can make this decision for you, just KNOW that after day 2, I knew I'd made the right decision. Lyla wagged her tail when I picked her up. Lyla continues to wag her tail and get stronger everyday. 

We are one week post amputation and she is now getting up on the couch on her own and while she is still navigating life on three legs, I know, without a doubt she is happy to be alive and happy to be with her family and siblings.

I won't lie and tell you it's going to be easy, because it won't be, but what I've seen is that it will be worth it. 

Please feel free to reach out to me anytime. You can look me up on FB, Jamie Bashtanyk. I post photos and videos everyday.

Much love and strength.

Jamie & Lyla xo

Day 7 PUPDATE:

Lyla is doing well again today.  She didn’t eat much breakfast, but demolished her dinner.

I haven’t taken her surgical shirt off yet, but I check the stitches and they look good.  No redness or sign of infection.

She is getting on the couch on her own and gets up like a champ.

Worries: I think her remaining legs are sore. She licks at them quite a bit.  I am going to speak with her Oncologist about massage therapy and physical therapy. She’s always been a licker, all of my pups are, but of course now I am hyper focused on every little thing she does.

Also, when does this feeling of dread go away?  When can I stop feeling like a piano is gonna fall from the sky?  Every little tremble or lick is freaking me out.  When she breaths heavy I immediately think it’s travelled to her lungs. The logical part of me KNOWS we caught it early with the first presentation of the limp in September, X-rays that showed nothing in October and then diagnosis and amputation in November (8 days after diagnosis). I have these awful feelings of maybe I should have let her go so that I don’t feel this way.  How awful is that? I’m ashamed of myself.

I swear to goodness, once my three cross the bridge, I don’t think I’ll ever have another, I just don’t think my heart can handle it.

Jamie & Lyla xo