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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We are new to the forum. So glad I found you...but learning the navigation. Lily had her amputation of her left hind leg on thur. They said on friday morning, she walked right out of her crate. We came home on friday afternoon. She is doing very well, in fact a little while ago, she was almost running thru the house...had to sit myself down, so she would. What I am wondering, is how much bruising is too much? I thought that two days in it was looking alittle lighter, but today the 3rd day, the area under the stitching to her belly is very very red, and in a larger area. the stitches look fine. one moment mom is fine and the next i am extremely paranoid 
I have to leave her tomorrow while i work, and she will be wearing her soft collar. any feedback would be appreciated. i will upload her pic on my avatar, and maybe a pic of the bruising if i can get one, and get the hang of navigating the site.
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
Why the amputation? What kind of pup is Lily? How big and how old?
We are kind of nosy here 
My pug Maggie lost her left rear leg to a mast cell tumor. Her skin was dark so bruising wasn't very evident.
I know from being here awhile that bruising is quite normal. But you should try and keep Lily quiet for the first couple of weeks. It's great that she feels so good, but she will heal faster with less activity. I was told that Maggie was only allowed to walk to potty for the first two weeks. Not a problem for me as Maggie was quite a slug for a few weeks after her surgery.
There are a couple of us in chat if you want to jump over. Click on chat, scroll down, and wait for it to load.
Karen and Spirit Maggie
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
My cat Mona, whose fur and skin is black/gray had more bruising 2 days after, it was more red than blue. I phoned the vet and he said it was normal to have bruising. It didn't seem to bother Mona but I put cold compresses on it because it made me feel better. 
If you are still concerned give the vet a call. Good luck with the recovery.
Here's a photo of Mona's bruising two days after the amputation. You can see the stapled area to the left is fine and to the right is bruised:
thanks. everything ive read here and in a tripawd facebook group pretty much validates what she has is normal. some pics i saw of some dogs in early recovery were very similar, so my mind has been eased quite a bit. she isnt over doing it, she just got some energy earlier for some reason....lasted about five minutes. Lily is seven, eight at most. she had been a stray when I got her about six years ago. She is mostly lab, with some pit mixed in. Bone cancer is the reason for her amputation. She has been a great dog, i just hope she can fight cancer from returning.
Hi Lily and Mom,
Welcome. I'm so glad you came here from our Facebook page and am happy to hear Lily is getting around pretty well. Bruising is to be expected but you definitely want to keep an eye out for anything like loose stitches, green or smelly discharge (watery is OK as long as it's pinkish and not bloody), or if the area turns dark brown. Let your vet know how the site is looking too. If you check out our Tripawds Photo Gallery in the "Surgery and Treatment" section you'll see what bruising has looked like for other dogs and cats.
I hope today goes well during her first day alone. As long as you keep the cone on she should be OK. Keep us posted!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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