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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Hello I wonder if anyone help, feeling a bit lost tonight. Our lovely puggle is having an amputation of her Rt leg next week .It is our only option for a Mast cell tumour. Very well in herself and has been on Piriton 4mg twice daily. Vet suggested leaving Piriton off but licking area worse now ? any suggestions please? Also should we buy some sort of surgical suit for Post op and support to help her mobilise please ? Thank you Julie
Hi Julie, welcome! Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away.
What is your dog's name? How old is she? And what country are you in? All of that info helps us put a better picture together so we can help you better.
We always suggest starting with the Tripawds Recovery Shopping List , and Jerry's Required Reading List too. Our What to Expect articles are also helpful places to begin your research.
Many dogs lose a leg to mast cell cancer, unfortunately. I'm sorry yours is about to but we are here to help!
Please find out what kind of pain management she will be taking. The best recoveries have good pain control before during and after surgery.
Stay tuned for more feedback from the community!
Hi there thank you for advice . Daisy is 10 years old. We are in the UK, our vet gave us details of your website. Pain wise she seems fine at the moment . Vet said to leave off Piriton but going back to see nurse today as really irritating her last night so gave her Piriton and had a great night ! Going to look at your gear list
Oh you are so welcome! Please thank you vet for referring you to us.
She's a good age and sounds like she is a good candidate for surgery!
Smart move to advocate for her Piriton antihistamine medication! I'm glad it's helping. Ask any questions you'd like, we want to make this easier for all of you!
Thank you Jerry, 0715 here .. feeling a bit overwhelmed by having to make this decision for her but we have to as she’s so well in herself . We have another younger dog so hope she will be ok with it all too . I’m wondering about a sling too, ordered one on Amazon but think size wrong now ! so will re measure when she wakes up ! Have a good evening/ day wherever you are . Thank you again .. will tell vet , he is a great vet
Ted, Just looked at your story too. Hope you are getting support too. Think late where you all are but hope you are ok . Thinking of you .
Aww I'm glad you got one of our books, thank you. Whatever we can do to help just let us know. Try not to panic too much right now, you are doing all the right things for her.
Having a young dog in the house, especially one who is very active, may be challenging during recovery. You'll want to keep Daisy's activity really, really mellow. Is there any way you can keep her in a gated area in your home, so that she and your young dog can't get too crazy in the house while she recovers? A collapsible exercise pen in the living room is a good choice, then she can see what's going on and still feel like part of the family.
Some dogs will use a sling, some will not. Don't panic if she doesn't want help but have it ready just in case she does.
Hello and welcome.
Is Daisy losing a front or back leg?
My Pug Maggie lost a back leg to mast cell cancer way back in 2006. Her prognosis post-surgery was not good, with chemo she was given 6 to 9 months. Mag was quite a survivor- she lived almost 4 more years and did not pass from mast cell cancer. You can read about her amp and chemo if you are interested, the links are in my signature below.
I'm not sure how helpful the chemo info is at this point... it's been so long since we went down the chemo path that there are several new options.
You could ask your vet about Stelfonta, a fairly new inject-able treatment for some mast cell tumors. I don't know if Daisy's tumor would be a good candidate either but you could ask about it.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Karen
Thank you for reaching out, much appreciated
I am more worried because it’s Daisy’s front right leg
Stelfonta was mentioned by Vet but he was worried it wouldn’t do anything. Maybe bring held back incase at surgery he feels any infiltration. It is a low grade Mast cell.
Do you mind me asking how mobilisation went post op ?
Ive ordered a harness / sling , hopefully size will be ok as she’s a round little girl !
Thank you for your support
Julie
Hi Julie,
Maggie was a stubborn little Pug who hated, HATED any changes to her routine. She was able to hop on her own the day of surgery (but not far) and never had any medical complications. She chose to stay mostly in her bed for about 6 weeks post amp, she would go to her food bowl (Pug!) and would go out to do her business. Once she decided to get on with life she was much more active.
She was weak at first of course, but got stronger as time went on. Back then I didn't know anything about rehab vets and working on core strength and balance. I have another rear amp, this time a Pug mix who lost her back leg to a car accident when she was 7 months old. Elly is now 9 years old and gets around pretty well. We have seen a rehab vet and we have a set of exercises to help her stay strong as well as some meds and supplements.
I have also been pushing dog strollers pretty much since Maggie lost her leg, for Tripawds, Seniors, surgery recovery, etc. I have a young quad Pug mix who needs two to three miles of walking a day which is too far for Elly. With the stroller Elly even goes with us for 3 mile hikes at our local lake.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Karen,
Full of admiration for your Maggie and you…
Our Daisy is 10 years old and we still feel conflicted about going for amputation next week
However , she seems to be really healthy, other than the huge saddle bag on her leg so a little voice keeps telling me it’s the right thing to do ?!?!
I sooooo hope so
Julie, it's so normal to be conflicted. I don't think there is a person who has to make this decision for the animal who doesn't feel the same way. And you'll doubt yourself 100 times during recovery. But once that bad leg is gone, she's recovered, and she can be herself again, you'll feel better about it.
And we are here to lean on too, so keep us posted and ask any questions you'd like.
Thank you Jerry
Hoping to hear from someone that has gone through a front limb amputation.. as convinced myself … that is more challenging! but hoping I’m just over thinking everything now !
Hi Julie,
Just wanted to let you know we're thinking of you and Daisy! I fully understand how hard a decision it is to make. We've struggled with figuring out what to do about our Charlotte for a long time and it definitely hasn't been easy. I spent a lot of time second guessing myself and to be honest I still spend sometime second guessing myself. With that said, Charlotte doesn't do that; she's still her stubborn, loving, silly and barky self. Every time I leave the house for an hour or more and come back there she is whining her welcome back and wagging her tail like she's trying to churn butter with it...
Her surgery was actually set for this up coming Monday, but we were able to move it up earlier. We had ordered a cake to celebrate this weekend before her surgery but we were still able to sing happy birthday to her and give her a bit of a treat (she got to lick a frozen kong while i held it for her).
For me, her amputation was like jumping into some cold water...it's shocking and then suddenly it's not. It's still cold and you might shiver a bit, but you can tread water. . As soon as I got the call that the surgery was complete it was like hitting that water and when I got to see her again it the shock went away and I got to see my little girl and she was still Charlotte.
Wishing you the best.
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