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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I have no doubt Luna is going to be one of the cutest tripods ever! I'm sure she'll be quite spoiled too as it's impossible not to spoil a tripod!
This is wonderful news! So glad surgery went well and Luna is probably seeing a lot of pink elephants about now! So this is a perfect time for you to get some rest knowing that she's in good hands and in no pain!
Sounds like you have a good setup for her homecoming and now it's just one day at a time as you get further and further away from recovery. Drinking and peeing are important, but don't worry if she doesn't feel like eating much or if she doesn't poop for several days. That's all normal.
Will look forward to your update and her wonderful homecoming!
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!
YAY! Way to go Luna!
I'm hoping that by now you are having a lovely homecoming with your sweet new Tripawd. Please holler with any questions OK?
Pretty funny about the keys, glad you found them 
Luna got home an hour ago. My sister was with me. She was so groggy on the 10 min drive home I wasnt.expecting what came next. When I sat her down on her mattress on the living room floor she popped up and just hopped and hopped around the room with a smile I haven't seen for weeks. She was trying to get.to the kitchen so I gave her about half her morning meal. She gobble it up. Followed by water. She would come up and lick my face. I was afraid she would overdue it so I kept trying to get her to lie down. It was like "are you kidding? I feel so.good.". After an hour of this she finally laid down and went to sleep. Guess her meds kicked in. I know this positive reaction might be just a reaction to her meds but it sure seems nice. And the doctor said he was impressed how well she did walking.
WOW!!!! WOW!!! Way to go Luna👏👏👏
Now don't be surprised if she does have a little bit of a crash in a day or two after all the Strong Hospital meds have worn off, etc. That said, I do know that several members here have noted that the pain was so bad prior to amputation, the pain from the recovery/ incision/surgery wasn't nearly as bad.
The fact that she has already eaten and has had some water and is mobile ... is a great sign!
Keep these great updates coming!
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!
Hello,
I just read your story about Luna. I know from my dogs recent amputation how stressful the decisions before the amputation can be and wondering if you did the right thing or not. Just like you concluded you did the right thing for Luna, after I made the decision and had the amputation done on my dog I k we I did the right thing.
I sit her now with my dog on my bed and he was 6 months post amputation as of Jan 1 2025. All his fur has grown back and he is just like he was before….just missing one leg and doesn’t seem to notice it.
With regards to chemotherapy I have already decided that I won’t do that to my dog if something else comes up. Part of it is a quality of life decision for him and part of it is a financial decision as well. I don’t think there is anything wrong with the decision to not do chemo and you have already given Luna such a great chance to live out the rest of her life however long that may be free from the pain in her leg.
I am thankful everyday that I went through with the amputation for my dog and thankful for every extra day I have with him. I hope to hear more about Luna’s recovery.
Amy
Virginia. I have been a little concerned for a coming crash. She has slept well but when she's awake I can't get her to settle down...she follows me all the time. I'll just be ready for it. It is amazing her spirit without the bone pain.
What I'm trying to figure out now is how to pick her up to take her outside. I keep touching her incision and she cries. But she can walk so since its just a short distance I let her do that. For now she's preferring the potty pads which works well.
Amy thanks for your input and your experience. I guess what I'm thinking is get as much information as I can to make an informed decision. Two.weeks I should have her test results back. Then Jan 22 a consultation with the Oncologist. I don't like the idea but I'm keeping an.open mind. Right now I am just enjoying her happiness.
Question. I ordered a soft cone. Does she have to use it? I have a doggie shirt so she won't scratch her stitches with her back foot. But she can't reach the stitches with her mouth and doesn't try. I'm with her all the time so I'm just keeping an eye on her. My doctor said he wants to keep a cone on but rolled his eyes and said a lot of people don't wear it. Your thoughts?
I am sure you will get better advice from others on the cone. However, I work from home and was around my dog pretty much non stop after his surgery. I did have him wear a cone and then even a soft donut. My dog had amputation of his right back leg.
I had no problem with the surgical site. However, what did end up happening is somehow he developed a little tiny irritation then small sore then very very big sore on his left front leg. At the most he probably could have gotten at it licking maybe 5 minutes all at once and then just a few minutes here and there. I think that is the most. That sore turned into a big ordeal which caused 3 and 1/2 weeks with him having a full leg bandage on his front leg starting one week after his surgery. It resulted in additional surgery and he now has a pretty good size scar on that front leg that is actually more noticeable than his amputation.
I think his front leg issue was just a fluke complication and we have no idea why it started up. It could have been the surgical t shirt they put on him got bunched up or too tight there. We don’t know. I am just trying to say…that just because Luna cannot reach the surgical site with her mouth that may not be the only part of her body she is trying to reach. My dog’s situation was very unusual. However, I really had an eye on him at all times when he didn’t have a cone on and had a cone or donut on him when sleeping…and still I missed him doing this behavior. So I am just saying I thought I had eyes on my dog all the time….and apparently I didn’t. This was just my experience and I really don’t know if the cone 24/7 would have saved me and my dog from this problem…but sometimes it’s hard not to think that it would have caused the sore to not become the big problem it did.
Wishing the best for you and Luna in recovery. It sounds like she is doing great!
Excellent timing. She's been chewing on her front paw where the IV was. So I put the cone on and now she's going crazy. She's banging her head and crying. I'm worried with all this hopping around trying to get it off she'll hurt her incision. She keeps tripping now. Right now I put a soft bandage on her leg and took the cone off. She is now calm and falling asleep. I get it the cone should be on!!
This morning after her moving around a lot her incision swelled so I took off her shirt and she immediately started scratching with her back leg. Shirt went back on -so at least that works.
Just bought another donut cone. See if that will work. Comes tomorrow morning.
Hi Cindy! I'm sorry I just now saw your posts from last night. Unfortunately the cone of shame really is the best way to ensure she won't get to the incision. But your vet is right; most people don't use them. We have however seen many sutures destroyed right under the human's nose, so do watch her verrrrry carefully in the daytime. At night, a combo of the cone and Trazadone may help her relax, if the vet prescribed this sedative. I would give the Traz first though, so she doesn't get stressed by the cone.
I'm glad you found the shirt and bandage helps her calm down in the meantime!
The incision swelling does sound like a seroma . The link has some tips for you on how to manage it.
Glad my dog’s experience could be helpful.
I really love the surgical shirt and bought one that was recommended by this website. It was great but I didn’t end up using it a ton because the huge full leg bandage that ended up going on his front leg. However, it was great and I liked how it had padding over the amputated leg and felt like my dog liked that.
With regards to the donut I noticed there were some parts my dog could get at with the donut on. I can’t remember what it was but I do remember that. I felt sad that he had to have the cone or donut on and even when I decided he had to have one of them on a lot I still gave him breaks when I could 100% watch him and he would be sleeping or something. I would use the plastic cone at night and whenever I left him alone. During the day while I was working if I knew I could be vigilant watching him I would have the cone off or the donut. It really is sad and sometimes it seems like they don’t like the cones but my dog really did just come to tolerate it and work with it. Trust me that is you don’t do the cone if you end up with some sort of issue….you will just wish that you used the cone all the time.
Also, I did let my vet know about the sore that started up and sent picture and even pointed it out on one of the check ups and then it just blew up into a bigger problem. I wish that had not allowed them to tell me it wasn’t a big deal early on and been. Little more persistent about them taking care of it. The front leg situation really added a lot of stress and extra time to my dog’s recovery.
I don’t say any of this to stress you out but just to let you know what happened with us.
Additionally, even with the issue we had…my dog is doing great now and has recovered beautifully.
I hope some of this has been helpful.
Luna sounds like she is just going through the stages id recovery and I know it is stressful and takes a lot out of you. Just keep on doing what you are doing and giving Luna love and being her advocate…which it sounds like you are doing wonderfully. I am sure it is so nice for you to see her not in pain in that leg from the cancer and it will be even better when she gets further through this recovery.
Very tiring night. Luna wakes up in the middle of the night and just stares or wanders. Shortly she'll go back to sleep but not me. The swelling on her incision is going down. Her cone of shame is coming today - the soft donut. But my biggest problem is her back leg wanting to scratch. I still have the shirt on her so that is helping. I am so happy Luna is doing so well. But its constant watching her now.
Luna isn't on any sedative. Sounds like that would be good for the cone. But I don't think I can get there to pick it up. I don't want to take a chance of letting her out of my site.
Just talked to the surgery office for an appt. I asked.about a Thunder shirt. He said fine as long as.its not too tight. He also approved of the donut cone. I think I'll just Lea e.the shirt on and keep an eye on her.
Amy thanks again for your input. It really helps.
Luna is doing so well I just need to remember all this will.pass.- if I keep.on her. I'm lucky I'm retired and home.
You may have already mentioned this. What are her pain meds, the doses and the frequency? This is usually about the time that sometimes the meds need to be tweaked a little bit. Make a note of how long between the doses before she starts and getting restless, etc?
It's hard to be patient, but it's important to remember she just had major surgery. Most humans would still be in the hospital on a morphine drip
Also remember to keep your energy positive, confident, upbeat and calm. Luna would definitely pick up if you feel stressed or anxious..
Recovery doesn't last forever, it just feels like it!
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!
Hello,
So glad to hear you talked to the vet about the soft cone. I agree with you about being scared to leave Luna on her own. I did have to go get groceries at one point and I had a friend come over and simply just sit with my dog while I was gone. It was a good thing for both of us. I think he was ready for a new person to see. I am not sure if you have someone that could watch Luna if you needed to head out for a minute or so but it really helped me.
I am so happy to hear that Luna is recovering well. I did have several of those tiring nights. I do think the trazadone my vet gave for my dog did help when he was restless at night or even during the day when he needed to just rest. For my dog the recovery was not all improving everyday. Recovery would be going great and then we would have a little setback. I think that was normal. So if you have a rough day or night…I think that can be expected and don’t let it worry you too much.
I had several nights where my dog was restless and walking around and just made me worry. However, as more days passed since his surgery and into his recovery those long nights started happening less. For several weeks he still slept in different areas and just changed up his patterns. It really took months for all of that to just go back to normal. He would lay in different places than he normally would and avoided some of his beds…I don’t really know why. As I type this he is back to snoozing during the day sprawled all across my bed.
Keep up the good work on Luna’s recovery. I am enjoying hearing about her continuing to get better and just sounds like she is doing great.
Amy
Thanks Amy. I know we are doing fine. They're just little tweaks I need to make. Luna is so much happier than before the surgery that I just want to make sure I'm doing the best for her. 3rd day and she just keeps getting better. As I said I'm retired so I can stay by her side. I prepared well for the surgery and have everything I need.
I actually think her middle of the night episode is she isn't in our bedroom. Its almost like she thinks: oh moms right next to me I can go back to sleep. The only time she seems in pain is when I go to pick her up wrong. That happens when she wants to walk further than I think is wise. Working on that. She's too heavy for me to carry 25 pounds and I'm old so worry about tripping.
Like I said I'm just tweaking everything. I think her medicine is fine. I'm extending it a bit to see how she does.
Everything is good. We nap together during the day which is great. She can't get up on my air mattress but her lower mattress is right next to mine. And its really fun when she wakes up and gives me kisses.
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