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 just heard from the surgeon and Jackson is out of surgery. He did great and the surgery was a success. 5 biopsy samples were taken and will be sent off for analysis. That will confirm the type of bone cancer. According to our surgeon, Jackson's tibia was extremely soft - what we expected given it's cancer, but always tough to hear and think about. I suspect his torn ACL was easier to handle than if he had broken the bone like so many others tend to do. He has staples and stitches holding the wound together. No drain. There's a bandage, but because Jackson is a boy, the bandage will likely come off and stay off. Maybe a pair of boxers for a little protection and absorption? Our goal is to keep him on his antibiotics and pain meds and feed him whatever appeals to him over the next 2 weeks. Our Dr hopes Jackson can come off pain meds within a week. We cannot wait to get him tomorrow and shower him with love and support, and a comfy place for him to sleep, doze, and adjust to this new normal. Thank you all for your support. This site has been very therapeutic for me, his mom. I cannot read enough heart warming stories of all our tripawds. Jackson will do great! We know it. Now begins the stresses of learning our new normal and finding out Jackson's treatment options with the oncologist. Paws crossed!
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
Way to go Jackson!
Jill is a 9-year-old tuxedo kitty. She was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in June 2012 on her toe in her right hind leg. Her leg was amputated on 12/12/12 and she completed four rounds of chemo (2 of Carbo, 2 of Doxy) in April 2013. "Like" Jill's facebook page: https://www.fac.....tty?ref=hl Proud member of the WINTER WARRIORS!!!! Her blog can be read at http://jillsjou.....ipawds.com. xoxo
Great update, glad to Jackson is out of a successful surgery! Let him know he's got a lot of new buddies wishing him well!
Good news! Let us know when you get him home.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Glad to hear Jackson did well with her surgery.
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
He's home! He's home! He's home! He's with his people and in a comfy setting. There are 3 dog beds set within a 20 ft area. I'm camped on the floor, so he doesn't have to look far for mom. I've got light reading and magazines and wine to keep me company. Jackson's stump is starting to get a pretty gnarly bruise. I understand this is normal and will probably grow as time continues. No leakage and even my father (a Dr) is impressed with Jackson's staples and stitches. Surprisingly, he isn't interested in the wound. He's not in a Komfy Kone and so long as one of us can watch him, he'll be free. Nighttime, though, he'll be coned. He keeps trying to rest on his right side, but it's clearly too tender. He ate half dinner, but managed to gobble down Cabot cheddar cheese and roasted turkey leftovers. I don't like that he didn't eat his food like normal, but this site has prepared me for food refusals and to just simply roll with it. He's drinking a ton of water, though, so that's good. His loss of leg and incision is traumatic to me. It's just so raw, real, and wrong. I hate cancer. Jackson, nor any of our dogs, deserve this or asked for it. Luckily, our pups are strong (stronger than us?) and manage. I'm off to go cook some lean ground beef for him - he may want that for breakfast instead of his kibble.
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
Yea for being home!!
Luckily, our pups are strong (stronger than us?) and manage.
I do think that for the most part our pups are stronger than us- at least at the beginning of this journey. But one of the gifts we get from all this is learning to Be More Dog . Just like our pups do- take what comes at you and keep going, live in the moment, appreciate each day. It doesn't come easy, but it does make this trip a little easier to take.
I hope Jackson's recovery is smooth- but don't get discouraged if he has some down time. The first couple of weeks after surgery can be a roller coaster!
Karen and the pugapalooza
Aww that sounds like a good homecoming! I hope you're able to have a long quiet weekend with him.
It sure sounds like you've done you're reading, you're prepared! Has he had any fluid leakage from the incision? And you're right; bruising is normal. As long as it doesn't turn dark brown, he should be fine. What pain meds is he on?
Relax and try to sleep. He'll be back to his spunky self in no time and you'll be back to sleeping in a real bed soon!
Congratulations on making this first big step into your Tripawd journey.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
There's no fluid leakage. He's all dry. We had a rough night: I slept on the floor with him, but with the cone, he just couldn't seem to get comfy. He was up and down and trying all 3 beds throughout the night. Plus, he drank seemingly a gallon throughout the day, so there were many bathroom breaks all throughout the night (in 15 degree weather and 8" fresh snow). We can't seem to get a cool compress on him and there's obvious swelling, but nothing that doesn't make sense or bothers us (or him). He's 60 lbs and with his bfast and dinner he gets 50mg tramadol, 50mg rimadyl, his antibiotic, and a joint supplement (glu/chondro). He'll be on this cocktail for about a week and then try to taper to just 1 tramadol/day. Today's meals have been a mixture of kibble and rice/ground beef. He's not too jazzed about his kibble these days. That's OK so long as there's something else tasty.
Thanks for checking in and for the ideas, help, and support! This is an entirely new ball game with rules we're all learning.
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
Ohhh sorry about the lack of sleep! But at least you're not changing bedding because of leakage, that's good. You might want to ask your vet about a NSAID to help with the swelling, if Jackson can take them.
I hope you get more sleep tonight. You might want to cut off his water by say 7pm to reduce his late night bathroom breaks (and yay for him going potty! That's wonderful!).
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Abby was not excited about her kibble either post amp. The meds can do a number on their tummys.
Hang in there! Hope you get some better sleep. Things seem worse when you are sleep deprived!
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Hi,
I hope your Jackson is continuing to do well. My Jackson had his right hind leg amputated on Sat (Dec 29, 2012).
Last night was his first night home. He is somewhat restless, but mostly doing well. This site has been so helpful.
Lynda and Jackson
It's been 10 days since Jackson's surgery and we're so proud of him! We think that some of the biggest helps to him was getting back into routine. This included letting him do the carpeted stairs to get outside. He took them slowly the first few times, but now he's a pro. He also gets onto the couch and into some of his favorite spots. He's about 80% accurate - some times the back leg doesn't make it all the way. I'm concerned about his incision stretching too much on those occasions, but he doesn't squeal, so I guess it's OK. The other biggest thing was we took him down half a dose of tramadol. He's still on 50mg rimadyl and antibiotic 2x/day, but now it's only 50mg tramadol at night. Yesterday he was much more like himself! He wagged more and even wanted to find his (hidden) toys to show his friends (we had some folks over last night). Some of those friends are some of his favorite people - they made him SO happy!
We still don't have the biospy results.
Hooray for getting back into routines!
(I tried to insert a picture, but I can't figure it out)
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
Sounds like he's doing well! We definitely started seeing improvement with Abby at 10 days out. That's good that he had visitors. Abby loved that while she was recovering.
Hooray indeed for returning to the routines!
Jackie
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Pawesome! You're so right, getting back to "normal" is one of the fastest ways to a good recovery. I'm glad to hear you guys are doing that. Has he had his stitches out yet? I can't recall. If not, you do want to be careful about letting him jump around, most vets will prohibit activity like that while stitches are still in.
Here's instructions on adding images to your post. Let me know if you need more help, just PM me.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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