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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Hi there!
I'm glad to hear Ajax is doing well. I've been on vacation so I'm a little out of the loop. Sadie had a bump in the road around the second week, right before her staples came out. Getting them out and decreasing pain medicine seemed to help. I had that fleeting thought at that time that I had made a mistake by amputating. Turns out she moved on and is now doing great. By the way, how did Ajax get his name, I think it's a neat name.
Sadie is my 9yr old Rott/Shepherd mix. Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right scapula 1/28/10. Our brave girl had her amputation 2/13/10 and her last chemotherapy on 6/6/10. Unfortunately, a tumor appeared in her back right leg and on 10/7/2010 Sadie's earthly journey came to an end. On 10/24/2010 we adopted Ranger, a handsome Rott/Lab mix tripawd (got hit by a car) I think Sadie sent him to us.
http://ranger.t.....pawds.com/
Leslie, I can try! I was taking some pictures of the gang today and they are worse than children, everytime I point the camera, they look the other way! I will see if I can find my camcorder and see if I can get him to do it. He puts on his very best performances at night, in our bed, when we are playing the "I am gonna get you! so you better run! before I kiss your feet!" game.
Alicia
At the middle to end of the first week, we had several days of no sleep and several crying sessions by me thinking I had done the wrong thing by amputating. After I figured out too much Tramadol and too little Tramadol can cause the same symptoms (staring off into space, panting, pacing, needing to be outside all the time to just stand there, not allowing me to sleep, following me EVERYWHERE), we reduced this intake to basically nothing & things greatly, greatly improved.
We had our staples removed late (due to me having to be out of town and then the Thanksgiving Holiday) so we were closer to three weeks post op. The only problem we ran into with waiting so long was Harley's hair had grown so much, they had problems finding all the staples. Otherwise, we didn't have any problems (itching wise or anything else) with them being in so long.
Good luck! Sounds like it is going well so far, & I hope it continues to do so!
Amputation on 11/10/09, due to Histiocytic Sarcoma in left elbow. Angel Harley earned his wings on 06/24/10.
Thanks all, Ajax is 6 days post amp and doing well. The patches came off last night and he was fine through the night; this afternoon he has started shifting around some more so I'm thinking it may be getting a little painful. No crying, though -so I'm not shure if/when to start giving Tramadol.
BTW, his stitches are hot pink (so they can be seen on his black skin) - pretty rock and roll!
He's been getting around great - one wipeout outside in the rain, one in the kitchen on the slippery floor ... but amazing nevertheless.
Thanks for the great update! When in doubt, it's better to under-medicate.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Glad to hear that Ajax is doing well just 6 days post-amp! 
My Jake had his staples removed at around 14 days... His wound looked good and there weren't any problems. Jake was also on tramadol the whole time, and luckily for him, he never had any bad side effects from it. By the end of the 2 weeks post-op, he was pretty much weaned off it. Dogs don't necessarily cry when they're in pain... they may pant alot, or loose their appetite, or look depressed... I'd ask the vet about when and if you need to start on the tramadol.
Sending Ajax a big hug!!
Angel Jake and Wolfie's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
Thanks for the update on Ajax! Sorry it took me a bit to get over here and read up! It sounds like it's going well. Surgeries are never pleasant! If only they could talk!
I haven't done the amputation but have gone through many a dog ortho surgeries. My Comet cries like a baby - literally. She opens her mouth wide open and lets out these "waaaaa" sounds. Of course, she is looking straight at me when she does it! My mom was here during her second surgery and she couldn't hold back the tears. To this day, she says that is the saddest thing she'd heard!
I sat up with her during two knee surgeries and I finally figure it out that if I talked to her about her favorite foods she'd get, she'd listen to me and didn't cry. She wasn't hungry but she loved hearing about her favorite foods!
Keep up the good work! And hang in there!
Hope the winds didn't knock out your electricity!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Hot pink!! That has to look pretty cool with his dark color. However, not too manly, don't let the other dogs see. Then they'll really think he's a Momma's boy!
Glad to hear he's doing so well. Hopefully he won't ever start the crying fits, that's stressful. Keep up the good work Ajax!!
Leslie
Thanks all! Ajax is doing well. Yesterday (first day post patch) I think he may have had some pain, but he didn't cry, his panting was light and very intermittent, and he didn't look particularly depressed (until I put the conehead on). So I didn't give him any Tramadol. The vet said it was possible we might need it - his dog walker is checking on him around lunch and will call if he seems in pain, but I think he's doing ok. The Tramadol makes him cry so I'd rather not give it if not necessary.
We had a small moment where he refused to go back in the kitchen after a wipeout. (Actually, he got up, ate his food, and then ran back to bed in the other room and refused to go back in to drink water). I sacrificed a few more yoga mats (excellent floor cover, by the way) and now all is good.
Here's a question re: weight control. Putting aside this period of time when he is resting, once the stitches are out, do I need to affirmatively cut back his food? The vet says he is "perfect" even for being a tripod. So my question is this: if he doesn't go as far, but it's taking him more energy to get there, do I keep along his normal food plan, assuming it will all even out?
And to sadie's mom, the answer to how he got his name: We adopted him at 9 weeks old from Guiding Eyes for the Blind released puppy program, the whole litter had "D" names and his was "Dapple" because he has brindle markings. Clearly we were not going to be shouting "Dapple" at a 75lb Lab throughout Manhattan, he would have been humiliated. "Ajax" is a name my husband had been saving for his dog, for 2 reasons: 1) Husband was a classics major, Ajax was a Greek warrior (If you watch Glee, there was an episode where Jane Lynch mentioned this); and 2) We had our second date in Aspen, where Aspen Mountain has historically been called, and still is called by the locals, "Ajax". So he's our own double (now triple?) entendre
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