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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My baby Doxie was diagnosed about 2 weeks ago and goes in for amputation on her rear right leg on Thursday. My husband has Friday off and I am taking Monday off from work and my husband is taking the next Thursday and Friday off but beyond that we don't have any concrete plans. I'm trying to plan ahead as much as I can but I'm totally in the dark as to how much or how long she will need supervision after the surgery. My work is flexible so I can run home a few times during the day and take long lunches as needed but just trying to figure out if that won't be enough and she will need someone with her 24/7 for the first 10 days (or more) afterwards.
<3 Amy & Doxie
Doxie the Italian Mastiff lost her right rear leg to osteosarcoma on 3/9/2017 and has been hopping happily since!
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
What type of pup is Doxie? How big? What kind of cancer?
If you can keep her contained to a small room or part of a room I would think she would be fine if you can check on her a couple times a day- it would only be for two days until your husband is home again with her. Assuming everything goes well she should just be resting anyway and you should be able to keep her on her pain med schedule.
You want to be sure she has good traction everywhere so put throw rugs or yoga mats down on any slippery floors. Make sure to block off any furniture and stairs while you can't supervise her.
You might want to look through The Required Reading List for lots of tips on what to expect with amputation and recovery.
Good luck with the surgery on Thursday and keep us posted. Lots of experience and support here!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Thank you so much for the reply and info! Doxie is a seven year old, 87# Cane Corso (Italian Mastiff). She has osteosarcoma. I used to take her to work with me daily, but since she was diagnosed with cancer in her leg and been favoring her leg more and more daily we have kept her home and on the same level of the house to keep pain and further injury to a minimum. We installed a gate at the top steps inside the house to keep her on the upper level and a gate at top of the stairs to keep her on the deck for now to go to the bathroom. So she has no steps she has to deal with on a daily basis for now. I'll invest in some rugs and yoga mats for the dining room area, thank you again!
Doxie the Italian Mastiff lost her right rear leg to osteosarcoma on 3/9/2017 and has been hopping happily since!
We have another new member who's Cane Corso Liza just had her front amp on Feb 28th. Here is their forum thread and here is their blog.
Another thing you might want to look at is a harness. Lots of us here use the RuffWear WebMaster. It's great for helping our pups in and out of vehicles and on stairs and just in general. And since she will be a rear amp Doxie can use the harness right away. Even though my current rear amp Tripawd is a little pug mix Elly never leaves the house without her harness on.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi Doxie and Amy! Sorry you find yourself here but, under the circumstances, there is no better place to be for support, understanding and first hand insight into recovery after the amputation. We also understand the emotions involved in this whole process. I'm sure you are exhausted physically and emotionally right now. It is a scary time and you probably have been sleeping very little.
The important thing to always remember is you are doing this for doxy. Recovery is no picnic for a couple of weeks, that's for sure. but once her Sparkle starts to come back, and it will, you will be so thrilled to see how happy she is without that painful leg anymore!
Karen has given you some good information and some good links. As she mentioned, the main thing is to keep Doxie quiet. The first several days she may be quite restless and uncomfortable and you may not get much sleep. She'll still have the hospital pain meds in her system and they can make her a little wacky! Around day three the hospital meds are out of her system and you may have to start adjusting the doses that you are giving her at home. Sometimes they crash a little bit around this time. She may not poop for several days but that's normal. You do want to make sure she is drinking and peeing. Some dogs don't feel like eating very much either at this point. So have lots of yummy food like chicken and hamburger and steak to help entice her.
The Vet will send you home with Tramadol, Rimadyl, and antibiotic and probably Gabapentin too. It is MAJOR surgery and it does hurt! Larger dogs may take a few days to get up and movile in there own. Using a towel sling to help them up is a good "tool" to jave handy. Yiu probably already raise her food and water bowls.
TRY and get some rest!! Doxie will be seeing pi k elephants Thrusday night at the hospital so she'll be "resting" far better than you! When you go to pick her up Friday, don't even bother to look at her incision. she won't be looking at it. She'll just be looking at your face and giving you lots of kisses and telling you she missed you! Whenever you do glance at it, be prepared that they shave a lot of fur! They can get pretty happy with those clippers sometimes!
STAY CONNECTED!!! YOW ARE NOT ALONE! We are here ro help you every step of the way, okay?
And we would love to see pictures of your sweet girl! Kiss the mug for us!
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!
Welcome to Tripawds Amy and Doxie! Hope Doxie's recovery is going well. I too have a large dog, but with a front amp which did not allow for the use of a harness so it was a bit challenging for me. I spent a week and 2 weekends home with Fionn. I work too far away to go back and forth and anyone I could get to help would not have been able to physically manage helping him. The first few days are exhausting too (which I'm sure you are in the middle of now) so there was no way I would have been able to work. Fionn's blog covers the first 2 weeks post op day by day. Take a look, it may be helpful http://fionnsjo.....pawds.com/
Keep us in the loop and like Sally said, we need pictures!
Nancy and Fionn
Nancy- mom to the FABULOUS Fionn. He rescued me in 2015 when he was 6.
Right front leg amputation at age 7 for osteosarcoma 10/6/16. Taken too soon 6/12/17. Read about our journey here:
http://fionnsjo.....pawds.com/
Hi Amy and Doxie--
I hope everything is going well. Those first couple weeks are exhausting, getting used to the new normal, and I, also, was very worried about leaving my husky-mix, Luka, home alone right away. He came home on a Thursday and I took off work on Friday, and then he was on his own with the floppy vet collar starting Monday. My neighbor came over and spent a couple of hours with him each day for a few weeks, but there was really no drama to speak of. Anyway, I was really surprised and pleased by how independent Luka actually was during that period. It was a big relief. It is especially nice that you are able to go home during the workday. I imagine Doxie will mostly just be sleepy for awhile.
Lisa and Luka
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