Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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First off, these forums are amazing! I have been checking them out and using them for research after our Border Collie mix, Abbey, was thought to have osteosarcoma. Our sweet Abbey girl is 5 days post op from her amputation today. The past day or two have been the worst thus far. She wants to play with her (puppy) sister and can't. She wants to lay on her spot on the couch and watch the birds outside and can't. I am counting down the days till those staples are out and she can resume some of her normal activities. We are waiting on her cytology reports to confirm osteosarcoma or not. When she had her biopsies done they both came back inconclusive but her Dr's know there is cancer there but it hasn't progressed very far and they can't get a good reading on it. Good news that we caught it early. Bad news is she doesn't qualify for any of the clinical trials being offered because of it. Knowing that it was a cancer of some sort, we made a plan with her Vet's and decided that amputation was the best option. Now they can do a much more in depth test of her bad leg since it's gone! Abbey continues to amaze me with her resilience. When leaving the hospital less than 48 hours after surgery, she was so ready to get home that she didn't wait for anyone to help her into the car. She just hopped right up! I told her that was a big no-no but she was ready to come home to her bed. Hoping and praying for good news and answers about our girl this week. She's kind of a big deal! 
Hello and welcome.
I'm sorry your post had to wait so long for approval today- the good news is that your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
Sounds like Abbey is doing pretty well- having to keep her from playing with her sis is a good problem to have! You are smart to keep her calm and confined, it's hard but will pay off in the long run.
Let us know if you have any specific questions, we are here to help.
Here's hoping for the best possible results this week!
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
Oh yeah for Abbey! Sometimes there's a little bit of a crash when the rest of the hospital meds leave their system, so that's pretty normal. What medications is Abbey taking for pain now? Before you know it, she'll be laying on that side, chasing after the birds & hopping up on that couch like nothing ever happened! It's not uncommon for biopsies to come back inconclusive - it sounds like they put her through it twice ... ouch! poor thing 
Well, pretty soon she'll be feeling better!
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 home Abbey! The good news is that once the staples are out, about day 10, you will likely see remarkable improvement. My Otis was back up on the sofa the day they came out. For now, rest and short leashed potty breaks are best. And continue to monitor her pain. Many of us had to work with our vets at this point to adjust meds or dosages. But, sounds like she is doing great!
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Abbey's avatar picture is just precious!! Can't wait to see more!
Your Abbey doesn't care about what any ole' diagnosis! Clearly she's just getting on with a pain free QUALITY life! She's just living in the NOW with no worries about anything!
Really glad to hear how well she's doing! She has a lot.of spunk and that's a good thing on this journey!
Stay connected and keep us updated. You're doi g great! 🙂
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
Abbey slept all through the night last night with no whimpering! YAY! I did have to wake up at 4 am and check on her because she hadn't woken me up all night and it kind of scared me! Abbey is on Tramadol on Gabapentin currently. She seems to be doing ok with her meds as of now. She does have a little fluid build up right now under some of her loose skin from the surgery. Talked with the Vet yesterday and they don't seem too worried about it as of now but we need to monitor her for any changes. Hoping the problem resolves itself! Her incision looks great and seems to be healing quickly. She has minimal bruising so far but I am sure that can take time to reveal itself. She still refuses to wear her e-collar. When we put it on her the first night she kept lodging it in her kennel door so we couldn't shut it. She's too smart sometimes! We have been putting her in a t-shirt when she goes into her kennel at night and she hasn't seemed interested in her incision at all yet. Hoping she continues to find it uninteresting so we don't have to use that e-collar. We have started heat compresses and she doesn't seem to like them as much as she liked the ice on her incision but she is tolerating them at least. Tomorrow marks her one week post amp surgery! One week down, one week to go! Here's a pic of Abbey (pre surgery) and her new sister Harper. (If I can get it to upload) They miss each other so much!
We took the cone of shame off Otis really fast. It was actually cutting into his neck - like he needed that pain on top of everything else. He was just fine with the t-shirt, and never bothered the incision as long as he was wearing it. Hopefully Abbey will be the same way.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Murphy also never wore the cone - we just used a t-shirt to keep his incision clean. You can try gentle massage around the incision to help that extra fluid get re-absorbed. Sounds like she's doing great!
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
Just wanted to pop in to say welcome. Sounds like Abbey is doing really well! Hopefully you have the toughest part behind you already and it's smooth sailing for week two.
Just out of curiosity, when did everyone start weaning their pups off of their pain meds after surgery? I noticed this morning that Abbey only has a day's worth of Tramadol left. She's only a week out of surgery today. I don't want to over medicate her but I also don't want her to be in pain. Any advice? Thanks!
Most of us here went between 2 to 3 weeks on some type of pain medication. I would think 2 weeks at even the low end of spectrum. I would definitely ask for more. Plus always nice to have some on hand for sore muscles from time to time in the future.
Yep, ditto Linda! Every dog is different, but the large majority here were in pain meds approximately two weeks. My Happy Hannah needed a reduced amount through the third week. If what she's in now, I woukd continje for a bit longer then you can test weaning off some of the doses. So yeah, I would definitely ask for more Tramadol for all the reasons Linda said.
Glad she's doing so well!
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
Ask for more - tramadol is an opiate, so some vets are cautious with how they dispense it. And some dogs do not do well on it, so perhaps they are trying to keep you from paying for a lot of medicine you might not use. If you call, they should give you at least enough to get your through your next visit. Otis was on it in week 3 as well, but at reduced dosages.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Sweet doggie!
When my girl had her amputation, I was definitely not sent home with adequate pain meds. I think Izzy was on Tramadol, Rimadyl and Gabapentin for at least 2 to 3 weeks. Don't be afraid to ask the vet - dogs hide their pain and an amputation is a big deal!
Hugs to you and your sweet pup!
Momma to the world's most beautiful American Bulldog, Izzy!! Lost her front leg to OSA 9/18/15. Diagnosed w MCT in June 2016. Celebrated her 1 year ampuversary with knee surgery on 9/18/16! MCT recurrence in Dec 2016. Happy & hungry til nearly 14, earning her wings on 7/31/17.
Good news and not so good news. We got the results back today and the vet confirmed that Abbey does have osteosarcoma. We knew that was the most likely outcome but I had a little hope that maybe it was something different. The good news, the refilled her pain meds so she will be all set! I have been reducing her tramadol a little the past couple days because we were running low and I think it has made things better for her! She was much more her usual rambunctious self this morning. It's been a rainy few days here and Abbey does not care for the rain...or baths... or really anything to do with water. I found out this morning that she may dislike umbrellas even more so than the water! I was trying to keep her dry and she decided to go back to the carport and refused to go potty. She's a stubborn girl just like her mama! She also doesn't care much for loud thunder. I witnessed just how fast her 3 legs can carry her when outside yesterday and it thundered before the storm and she hobbled/hopped to the door much faster than expected. Needless to say, she needed a nap after that! I am counting down the days until those darn staples get out. She's recovering well and her incision looks so good! Very minimal bruising and the fluid seems to be gone for the most part. Waiting for the oncologist to call and set up the appointment to get a plan in place for our girl!
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