Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Hello,

Thanks to all for your insight this is very helpful and much appreciated.

Jackie who is approximately 8 yrs old mixed beagle Bassett that i rescued about 6 yrs ago. She weighs about 48 lbs a little on the chubby side but we are working on that. She started to develop a limp that at first the vet thought was from playing and over did it. It never got better and they took an x ray that showed a small piece of bone missing from her tibia. They suspected it could have been from an injury from before I adopted her. They put her on 75mg Rimadyl and 300 Gabapentin, thinking arthritis might be setting in. Things got worse and I noticed a lump on the inside knee and took her in for another x ray. This time they saw a mass and they referred me to an oncologists who said it was likely Synovial Cell Sarcoma. He recommend amputation as he said she would likely do well. An orthopedic surgeon performed the procedure and actually took Jackie home with him that night after the surgery. I took her home the next morning and she was given 2 100mg Tramadol, 2 200 mg Gabapentin, 1 Antibiotic all 3x a day and 1 50mg Rimadyl once a day. The first two days were heartbreaking as others have experienced with crying and whining all night and day.  But she was able to get up the first day and began eating a little the 2nd. She has progressed nicely all things considering, but I can tell she is still uncomfortable at times. Today I called the orthopedic surgeon and told them I had left over 300 mg Gabapentin and 75mg Rimadyl from my main vet and that I wanted to give her Gabapentin twice a day and divide the 75mg Rimadyl and also give twice a day. He agreed that would be suitable and so Im trying that dosage and keeping her walks limited to simply going out for bathroom breaks and a little fresh air 3 or 4 times a day. Last night she slept decent but got up a times seemingly to walk off her discomfort and then go back to bed. In the meantime we are waiting on the pathology report to confirm if it was in fact synovial cell. 

Thanks to all! 

Jackie and Tim

It has now been 3 weeks as of Tuesday post surgery. Jackie got her sutures out Monday. She has been off all medication for about a week. Once the meds got out of her system she became more active. Her walk is now always at a quick pace even if she is simply walking to her water bowl. I'm not sure if the quick pace helps her balance. I'm just grateful she is walking regardless. She's eating back to normal but is still napping more often than pre surgery. The oncologists had thought the cancer was Synovial Cell, but the cytology report came back sort of inconclusive. It stated it may be a soft tissue or possibly histiocytic sarcoma and may need additional staining test to rule out histiocytic sarcoma. So this is a little worrisome. In the meantime I'm happy she is getting back to be a sniffing little hound dog. 

Tim and Jackie!