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! I have a 6 year old German Shepherd named Jax, he will be 7 in November. He is scheduled to have his back left leg amputated come Monday November 4th. Back in May he received TPLO surgery to repair a torn ACL, unfortunately he broke a bone a week after surgery and went down hill from there in the later months which lead to him having to go through a second surgery in August. Unfortunately, it lead to anti-resistant infections that have entered the bone and we cannot stop the infection so amputation is his only option.
Jax does have hip dysplasia, he already had a successful TPLO surgery on his right back leg three years ago, and he is a tall German Shepherd weighing currently at 103lbs. We are very nervous for this next surgery and we were wondering if a prosthetic would be good for him, but we are trying to determine that fast before his surgery to see how much leg the doctor can leave behind without fear of him being imbalanced.
We are also looking for any advice on how to prepare for recovery, if there is anything we may need. I already saw on one of the forums that a guy purchased a baby mattress for his dog so we are going to do that. But any further advice for this journey would be great!
Thank you so much in advance to any help!
Hi Olivia and Jax, welcome. I'm so sorry you are in this situation. You've both been through so much! We will try to help make this as easy as possible.
So when you say "we are trying to determine that fast before his surgery to see how much leg the doctor can leave behind without fear of him being imbalanced," do you mean you are working with an orthopedic surgeon who is experienced in prosthetics ? The link has lots of info about prosthetics for dogs if you haven't seen our articles. Prosthetic devices are great for the right candidate, and they can make all the difference in mobility if the dog and the parent is well-matched to the kind of work it takes for prosthetic success.
We are also looking for any advice on how to prepare for recovery,
Great job looking for answers! You've come to the right place. Have you seen the Tripawds Recovery Shopping List ? Our our Tripawds e-books library? Also, see our What to Expect articles about preparing for surgery. Don't forget to put traction down if you have slippery floors.
One of our biggest pieces of advice here is for you to keep a pawsitive, hopeful attitude. Whatever you are feeling, he's going to reflect that right back to you so the more hopeful and positive you can be, the better he will be too.
As a big boy it won't be the easiest thing to go through recovery with Jax. But as long as his pain management is good from the beginning, recovery should go smoother. Make sure you have a good conversation with the team about pain control and what medications he will get. As a GSD mom myself, I know that this breed can sometimes be very immune to powerful pain medication and often needs more variation in dosages and timing than other breeds.
We also recommend getting a canine rehab therapy evaluation. Tripawds Foundation can even pay for your first rehab visit . This is so educational because 1) if you get a prosthetic for Jax he's going to need that kind of support team, and 2) even if you opt out of one, a rehab therapist can guide you on safe and unsafe activity, strengthening exercises, and any weight loss program if necessary (not uncommon).
Anything we can do to help make this easier please don't be shy!
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