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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Hey Julie,
Many people here have gone through a front leg amputation for their dog, including me. What questions specific to losing a front leg can we help answer?
Each type of amputee has different challenges. Front leggers expend more energy moving forward because they have more weight up front, so that's the most difficult part of that type of limb loss.
Oh gosh, you have gotten wich great advice and support, I can only say ditto to everything!
My Happy Hannah was diagnosed with osteo and was a rear legger. As a rear legger ( a bit "fluffy" Bull Mastiff) she handled going down stairs just fine, had a harder time going up..Generally front leggers may have a harder time going down, but no problem going up,
I adopted a front legger and can tell you he goes up an down stairs on his own like a Champ. He does a lot of things he shouldn't like jump up and down on the sofa, run faster than I would like chasing squirrels.
As far as being fearful about amputation, we get it. I was so scared for my Happy Hannah I even cancelled the scheduled appt because I was so terrified. Her leg got very painful bery quickly and I went ahead with the surgery. Had not found this community uet. Joined on Day six after amputation sure I had made a horrible mistake. This community threw me a lifeline of knowledge, support and understanding and gave me the reassurance I needed. Recovery didn't last furever and she had a glorious extended quality time of overmone year and two months.
As you can see, we are all here right by your side to help you navigate through recovery. YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!
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!
Thank you
I am just generally worrying which I realise all you lovely people will be doing or have done .
I guess because I’ve read dogs take 60% of their weight through their front limbs , I’m worrying how she will cope.
I even thought we would just have the tumour debulked again last night which is irrational on my part as it has grown back rapidly since October even low still low grade.
Thank you Benny, lovely words and your brave little friend sounded a star. Hope you are coping ok with your loss.
I’m in the UK 🇬🇧 so sorry weird posting times
I know we don’t have a choice and I was on the brink of rescheduling her for debulking only of tumour which is ridiculous on my part .
She is a lovely dog and so hoping she can cope with all to come next week
Thank you Tede
Kind supportive words
its probably a lot to do with my character too.
i like to sort a problem and I can’t sort this which upsets me too.
I know I will be like you when it’s done ..questioning our decision… but she deserves a chance .. as she has always given so much .. asking fir nothing in return
PS We have another younger dog too so any tips how to help them cope with situation appreciated too , thank you..
Hi Julie,
It's normal to worry, everyone does. By doing your homework here and asking questions, you are doing everything right to help her have a great quality of life on three legs. We see a lot of people here put off amputation as long as possible, until there is no more skin left to complete a tumor resection. When that happens, the decision must be made quickly. So be proud of yourself that you are not doing this in a panic. You have time to prepare mentally, and your house too.
When it comes to front leg amputees, you really want to protect the front leg from excessive impact. Most front-leg amputees will experience a weakened wrist over time. So to minimize the damage, you want to prevent her from doing things like jumping off furniture, out of vehicles, and avoiding explosive activity like aggressive ball throwing. She can still have a lot of fun but you want to tone down the volume and intensity of her exercises.
Also, physio is a huge help! Be sure to take advantage of the Tripawds Foundation rehab reimbursement program which can pay for your first rehab visit (physio). These experts can show you how to help her get the right kind of exercises, what a good weight she should be at (slimmer is better).
As for a younger dog in the house, do your best to keep their activity level low. If you can put up an exercise pen in your living room to keep them separated (but feeling together in a way) that is ideal during the 2 week period when the sutures are still in. If you are used to walking both dogs together keep in mind that your new Tripawd should not be going the same distance as your four-legger. They can still go with you, but it's best to keep those walks down to very short sessions. A dog stroller (pram) is ideal for someone with a Tripawd. This allows you to still enjoy long walks without putting unnecessary stress on her.
Ask as many questions as you like! I hope this helps.
Thank you
We live in UK 🇬🇧 so cannot access your physio advisory but will ask about that.
Not had the best weekend with Daisy as she’s been bit more weary but wondering if it’s the Piriton, Ranitidine and Paracetamol that she’s on ?
May need to run that past a vet today as need to know she’s strong enough to cope with surgery tomorrow although we know there’s no choice .
Keep wondering why Stelfonta cannot be tried ? Maybe tumour too big now as hard big area.
Couldn’t seem to upload photo on here but probably just me not being techy enough !
Thank you so much to all for all the support
!
Hi Julie,
We do cover physio visits as long as the practitioner is credentialed. "CCRT" or "CCRP" are common credentials for physios all over the globe.
Daisy sounds like she is showing pain signals , more than pain medication sid effects.
Stelfonta has some pretty narrow parameters for the types of tumors is can address, from what I understand. It's also very, very messy and requires a lot of wound care at home. I have heard vets have mixed feelings about it.
Here's how adding images in our Forums works.
Basically you need to:
- upload a photo somewhere like your own Tripawds blog, or a public image hosting site like Imgur.com or Imgbb.com
- then copy the image URL (or just tap the image and copy it if you're on a mobile device)
- return here, and paste the image into your forum post.
Hope that makes sense. Let us know if you'd like help!
Thank you fir all your support
We had a bit of a wobble about letting Daisy have her surgery and we’re asking if we could go down the debulking route with Stelfonta, but our vet says Daisy isn’t a candidate for that . He is doing a CXR and bloods pre op and if anything sinister pops up …he would not do amputation, and a very very sad decision would follow that . Not sure I’m ready for that at all …but we would always do what is best for Daisy . She is fairly comfortable but in a way we will all be glad when tomorrow gets here .. I think!
Aww I'm sorry there are no other options they let you know about. I'm wondering one more thing that I think I forgot to mention. Did you ask about electrochemotherapy or intralesional chemotherapy ? Both are shown to shrink tumors without invasive surgery or amputation. It's not commonly done in pets, more often in people, but there are vets doing it in countries like the UK. It's pretty rare out here in the states, sadly.
Thank you for the information
Sounds very interesting but not been mentioned and we are in quite a large Vet Practice
0341 and on Amazon looking at ramps for Daisy to use post op !
Like many people on this site ,I’m sure , really not looking forward to later on today but trying to keep positive and prepared ! Just hope her CXR and bloods don’t throw up anything unexpected x
A word of caution about trying a ramp- some dogs will not use them. I built 3 ramps for Maggie over her Tripawd years and she would never put a paw on any of them.
I found out years later about a thing called 'visual cliff'. Some dog's depth perception is off and they can't navigate some places. Maggie would not walk on a deck if she could see through the cracks, would not go up or down stairs with an open back, would often not cross from one type of floor to another (carpet area to linoleum area for example). Once when staying in a hotel with adjoining rooms she would not cross from one room to another due to the wood divider on the floor between the carpets!
You are smart for looking for options to help her get up and down and around- and many dogs will use a ramp. Ideally you could practice before surgery but that's out at this point. I just didn't want you to be surprised.
I'll be thinking of you guys!
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
Thank you for your advice
Daisy is a little like that anyway ! walks round edges of rugs ! Had wondered if elderly and sign of dementia but hopefully not !
She has always been a special part of our family and often has snuggles with us .. so am hoping she may use it .. at later date ! … only time will tell ! .. I am possibly jumping ahead too quickly as we don’t know .. she will ,100% ,have op today yet !
Our lovely brave Daisy has had her op and now in recovery .. vet practice will be keeping her in overnight.. so hopefully she will be ok to come home tomorrow… didn’t sleep worrying about her last night , which I appreciate many before me have done too.. thank you for all the support PS Jerry, ordered your book on Amazon x
YAAAAAY! Surgery is done and sweet Brabe Daisy is feeling good on lots of m3ds....maybe even seeing a few pink elephants.😉
Now is the time fornyou to get some rest, okay? It's quite exhausting mentally and physically getting to this point. Daisy's in good hands.
When you do go to pick her up don't even bother to draw attention to her incision. All she wants to see is your happy smiling face and hear you tell her what a good girl she is and she's going home! It's very important to keep a strong and confident positive energy during this recovery. She will pick up on that and know that all is well.
Let us know when she gets home. A lot of times, not always, the dogs feel a little bit better the first couple of days because they have strong Hospital meds in their system. Once they are out of the system, that is when it's really important to tweak the pain meds in a way that works best for her. Every recovery is different. Every dog reacts to pain meds differently. Every dog recovers at their own pace in their own way.
You may have already noted this, but is the ramp just to help her get in and out of the car or is it to use in lieu of steps? The reason I ask, if it's to be used in lieu of steps, possibly a hand built one will work better as you can add wooden rails on each side.
Alrighty, update when you can. You've got this and so does Daisy!
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!
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