We kept a somewhat details daily journal that I've summarized below (some parts may be graphic). Patton is officially 2 months and 15 days post amputation. Today PJ's Oncologist confirmed the cancer has spread faster than expected. Tonight is his last night with us. 

I don't want to deter anyone from moving forward with amputation. I just want to give an honest assessment of our experience. What shouldn't be lost is that Patton had a lot of really great days. He went to the beach multiple times and was even running and jumping off rocks from time to time. He also had a lot of bad days.

Our boy Patton had his left rear leg amputated on May 6th. We dropped him off in the morning (he broke his bad leg the night before) and picked him up Friday afternoon. I often see people ask the question of whether or not to pick your fur-child up the day of. For us, we were happy to have Patton stay as long as possible. Our view is that we wanted to make sure his pain was managed appropriately and that there were no immediate complications. 

Day Home 1

My wife and I picked Patton up from the vet. It was absolutely heart breaking. Due to Covid restrictions we are not allowed to wait inside and they walked him to the doors. He was limping out with his plastic cone of shame , but happy to see us.

Patton was having periods of regurge - the vet confirmed this was normal but to keep an eye on it. We struggled getting him into our car with the cone of shame . Fortunately we drive a lower/smaller car.

We asked the Vet tech when the last time he went to the bathroom was. The last recorded was 3 AM (it was now 7 PM) so he immediately let us know that he had to pee. We think he tried to pull us to a potty spot when we saw him but at the time we just assumed he was running away form the vet.

We live in NYC and Patton only goes to the bathroom on grass (he's spoiled). Fortunately, we're a 2 minute walk to Central Park. We took him to the park (he did great hopping on the way there with the canvas shopping bag support) and did a pee and one or two nugget poop.

Unfortunately, he was having butt issues in the sense that his butt hole doesn’t close all the way and is bleeding. His poop is very hard. Patton hadn't pooped the day he broke his leg so he think that caused the issue. 

Stitches look good and he’s doing well

Day home 2

Patton slept through the night - we moved our bed to the floor and slept in a confined area together. We transformed our apartment form hardwood to traction . I bought the mats that go under carpets and keep them from sliding. I essentially taped them to the floor and covered our whole apartment. 

Went to the bathroom peed no problem again one or two nuggets poops. We noticed his butt is leaking some blood and poop mix but it’s not a lot. Surgical site is starting to really bruise. We tried to ice it today and will continue.

Patton’s second bathroom run he wouldn’t pee with the bag support harness on but went with it off and did great. I bought a foldable wagon on amazon to transport him around. I couldn't find one with a tailgate in time so I have to pick him up in and out. He also really likes the wagon.

He’s been hopping around inside OK but mostly staying still. He’s back to his human food begging self.

He’s been eating well and we’ve been giving him pumpkin and a little olive oil. Hopefully that’ll help the butt issues

He’s not drinking a lot, only out of our human cups occasionally but is eating ice cubes. I tried gatorade - he didn’t go for it.

Day home 3

Patton is still having issues controlling his bowel movements. We woke up to poop on his bed. Nevertheless, he took a big poop at the park and peed no problem in AM. He had some pep in his step and was enjoying the walk/seeing and wanting to see the other doggies.

Afternoon: Patton was more active everywhere today - not drinking a lot of water. I bought pee pads to help deal with poop accidents. Patton peed on the sidewalk for the first time today.

Day home 4

Drinking better but continues to be more restless

Fell on amputation when someone came to visit him. He yelped and cried and sat in his bed and whimpered for a while

Slept ok through the night. Woke up ~twice

Day home 5

Pain meds from patch wearing off. Poops are hard again and he’s pacing more, having trouble getting comfortable We’ve opened up space a little more to create a “race track” for him to walk around. Still not drinking a lot of water.

Day home 6

No sleeping - paces all night. We bought him a wagon to get him to and from the park. I pick him up to put him in and out. He’s acclimating to the wagon, pacing to get comfortable but wants to go outside and sit on deck.

Day home 7

We’re all exhausted. I tried wagoning him by himself and Patton jumped out of the wagon and yelped. Also yelped when I put him back in the cart.

Day home 8

Still not sleeping well and eating a lot of grass. I’ve been walking him by himself but Patton seems sore and lethargic. His pain meds were Gabapentin 3x/day , rimadyl 2x/day, and sometimes Trazadone

Day home 9

Still relatively lethargic, can’t tell if he’s in pain but not sleeping the full night. He’s getting the G 3x’s a day and sometimes a little more. T and R

Day home 10

we went to CT to view a townhouse (we’re moving out of the city). Patton did great in the car and it was his first time doing more than one pee on a “walk”. He walked up his first set of stairs twice! He seemed happier, we walked him around the water by where we used to live before moving to NYC. Very sleepy at night. We opened the full apartment up to him and he slept in his crate for the first time in over a week. He slept what appears to be most of the night

Day home 11

long walk in the AM. He seems sore & stiff so we most likely over did it. Still no real spark but we’re hoping he’s just tired.

Day home 12+

Opening his crate from him to sleep was the best thing that ever happened to us

Other details

When Patton had his stitches removed we put a moist towel on the incision area. It leaked…a lot for a few days. 

For us, Patton never really regained his spark. He never played with toys again, only chased a few squirrels and was rarely the happy man we knew before this awful disease.

After 2ish months we noticed his mood changed to be more depressed and he was having frequent phantom pain attacks. We took him to the vet and his X-rays showed clear lungs. The vet assumed he was in pain and gave us more Gabapentin. 6 days later the oncologist administered an ultrasound of his abdominal area. Unfortunately the cancer spread and a tumor is pushing on his spine. The oncologist told us could be days or weeks. Friday, April 9th is the first day we noticed Patton limping. He had a biopsy April 20th, broke his leg May 5th, and had his cancerous broken leg amputated on the 6th. 

We’re walking our fur-man, or boy, our bubba, our Patton to the rainbow bridge tomorrow. Like most, we are heart broken but thankful we had almost three-ish extra months with him. We had hoped he’d meet his first human sibling (baby brother) in August but it’s not in our cards and we do not want Patton to suffer anymore than he is. I don't know how we'll move forward without him. We're going to miss him soo soo much. 

This forum has been a great tool during our journey to the end. Thank you to the members who post often and are here to help us. Thank you to all of you who have also chosen to share your story and experiences.

I can't promise I'll be active on the forum but if anyone ever needs anything please email me

Patton, Erika, and Sean