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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He looks really good for six days out!! Good balance, and he already has developed a pretty smooth tripawd hop.
Keep up the good work!
Karen and the pug girls
p.s.- really nice looking yard too
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bauer said:
Bauer is going great 6 days since his amputation. He's stiff and shaky still, but getting around okay.
Here's his first YouTube video.
He looks great!!! He appears weak at the end but it's only SIX days!!! What a sweet boy.... Is he eating well? Another six days and there will be a big improvement! Post another video later!
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
@Kami–the song is by Phish (the new Grateful Dead!). It's called Run Like an Antelope, which I thought was appropriate for Bauer.
Bauer seems to be a bit down today. He can get up and hop, but doesn't want to do so spontaneously. He left a bit of his dinner uneaten tonight, which is very uncharacteristic. He ate the remainder when prompted. He seems to be heeling well from the surgery, and is leaving his incision (and feet) alone without wearing a cone. He sleeps well on either his surgical side or other side, and hoists himself up onto his favorite chair or couch (since he's so tall, it's not really a jump as much as just crawling aboard.)
We got less than perfect news from the surgeon. His mast cell tumor in his foot was definitely a grade III (we had previously been told somewhere between II and III). One of the lymph nodes they excised in his shoulder showed some mast cells.
He can start chemo in about a week. I hope I'm just witnessing a bit of normal up & down after the surgery. But I fear that the cancer is aggressive and in charge.
Here's to just ups and downs indeed ... with many more ups than downs! Thanks for the update, looking forward to hearing about how well Bauer handles his chemo treatments.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Congrats on Bauers coming through both surgeries well. Gus came home and ate more than he had the previous three days before surgery, and I thought it would be nothing but better from there, but we found that he had spells where he wouldn't eat very well and just lay around some, and just wasn't his real self, that first 2 weeks is a roller coaster for both dog and us. We found Gus and tramadol didn't get along, and once we got him off that his appetite got better and his nights weren't so restless. We also added some canned food to his diet which he never turned down, of course now he expects that all the time!!! Here's to Bauer having a speedy recovery and you getting a chance to sleep!!, paws up, Dan and Gus
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
There will be down times, at least for the first two weeks post amp. I know its hard not to go there- but don't read down time this early in the recovery process as the cancer taking hold. One of the things I have learned is to stay positive until there is a definitive reason not to be- and Bauer has had two major surgeries very recently ...
Maggie's story was very similar at the start- big invasive MCT in her knee- originally called grade II, we did not see mast cells anywhere else before the surgery. After surgery the lymph node that was removed with the leg was dissected and showed lots of cancerous mast cells. I don't remember if they changed the tumor to a grade III but her prognosis was guarded at that point.
Mag has proven to be quite a survivor- she has surprised us all and beaten the odds. No false hope here- but one thing I have learned from Maggie on this journey is not to give up on her. She lives for each day, each walk, each snack, each evening spent sleeping on my lap. She does not know how sick she is (we have some new challenges), she never knew that statistically she was given 6 to 9 months after her amp. We as the parents get to deal with all the stress and worry.
As Jerry says- we need to learn how to Be More Dog !
I hope Bauer continues to improve on his healing journey, and good luck with the chemo.
Karen and the pug girls
Just catching up with Bauer's story--love the wagging tail in the video! I agree with the rest that a few down days are normal, especially when he's still on the pain meds. And maybe his body is just demanding a little more rest to heal. He's such a strong boy, I'm sure things will look very different in another week.
Bauer, keep on healing--you're one special boy!
Mary and Cemil
Cemil and mom Mary, Mujde and Radzi….appreciating and enjoying Today
Thanks so very much for posting the video of Bauer! It's helpful to picture what our golden will look like in the near future.
Our 7.5-year-old golden will have her right foreleg ampuated soon due to osteosarcoma. While we're grateful there hasn't been any metastasis and we know we're making the right decision...I have struggled with the possibility that our beautiful girl is gonna hate me forever for putting her through an amputation and rehab.
So this site will be a great resource for her rehab. She's a HUGE female golden. Almost 100 pounds. Tall and long. Her mom was about the same size. Dad was even bigger. Not fat. Just HUGE. I'll definitely look into some of the harnesses people are suggesting, considering her size. We'll need all the help we can get to help her adjust, especially during those first two weeks post op.
Here's a question: can dogs with a foreleg amputated still swim?
goldenluv said:
Here's a question: can dogs with a foreleg amputated still swim?
Ah, one of my favorite topics!
My pawrents weren't sure if I could, but I sure showed them! This was before we heard about the Float Coat, I got mine shortly after this video. We wish I had gotten it sooner, I was ableto stay in the water a lot longer with one!
Check out my YouTube playlist of Tripawd Dogs Swimming too.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Playing catch-up too. Has Bauer started chemo yet?
Catie's gait is at its best and most fluid when she gets momentum - these days leash walking means a healthy jog for me whether I want to or not. Even after almost five months post-surgery she still has awkward moments; getting up and lying down remains a little difficult for her and she is petrified of the stairs going down into our third level to the family room.
Hope Bauer's continuing to do well. Look forward to more updates.
Carmen, Catie and Riley
Catie -
Birthday – November 4 2003
Amputation – January 13 2010
Crossed the Bridge – June 2 2011
Also late to the updates - gotta say he looked great in the video - wag wag wag wag wag! I'm not sure where you're at in the recovery timeline, but Yoda definitely surprised me mid-way through by being less active. On the bright side, he was also less restless. But it always seems strange why they would seem down further out from their amputation than nearer to it. I think when the drugs and the excitement of their new situation wears off, they realize they needed more sleep than they got! Hope that will turn out to be all it was for Bauer too! Hang in there!!
Gerry has been a tripawd since 12/16/2009.
He was a shelter dog with a mysterious past and an irrepairable knee injury.
Videos and pics of Gerry's pawesomeness can be found at: http://gerry.tripawds.com
Hi everybody, and thanks for the encouragement and questions. I too am behind on the updates.
Bauer's doing great. He'll be 21 days post-amputation tomorrow. Up until about day 16 things were pretty tough. Since he had bowel surgery 2 weeks before his amputation, that was roughly a month of inactivity. I think this contributed to his stiffness and reluctance to get up. I now also realize that tall, lean dogs probably have a somewhat harder time adapting to the stresses and leverage on that remaining front leg.
Dogs that love to curl up in a ball to sleep have to adapt to the missing front leg. That balled-up position is very comfortable for them, but relies on the outside leg/elbow to prop up. Curled towards his amputation side, he can curl up tighter than ever without that leg in the way. But trying to curl the other way is hard without the support of the missing arm (front leg). I've watched him adapt two ways. First, he hooks his chin over his remaining front leg. Second, he scooches up against something to support and prop him up from behind his back to stay curled up. I discovered this as he frequently props himself up against me.
Around day 16, he noticably bounced back. No longer reluctant to get up, he started to pop up to greet people at the door, and let out his first real "woofs" in a month. I believe that after two surgeries, Bauer had lost a bit of his alpha-dogness. He didn't want to bark in response to neighbor dogs barking, nor bark to reinforce his sister Oakley's barking at visitors. He's still not barking like the old Bauer, but he no longer seems quite so cowed. He jumps up on all the furniture (including my very high bed), navigates up and down stairs to the second floor (hillarious style coming down!), easily jumps into my truck, and now routinely runs off chasing his sister Oakley. He nearly wiped out chasing her around a corner on a mossy sidewalk, but caught himself and kept going.
He started chemo with his first IV infusion last Friday, and has been alternating days of oral chemo and prednisone. He seems to tolerate this well, has a strong appetite, and seems to be getting some of his muscle tone back. He had gotten very lean. He has a wonderful oncologist and we're of course keeping our fingers crossed that the chemo is effective.
I am so happy to see signs of the old Bauer back.
I'll try to shoot some more video soon. Thanks again everybody.
Thanks for the great update. Just be careful with all that jumping around, Bauer no longer has his spare!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
great update on bauer!!! it's such a relief to 'turn the corner' after surgery. sounds like his sister is keeping him active, always nice to have a 'partner in crime'. paws crossed for continued smooth sailing with the chemo treatments.
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
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