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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Our golden retriever, Madison is scheduled to have surgery to amputate her right front leg Monday. Madison is three years old, and a quirky dog (to say the least). She loves to growl at you when she greets you to say "hello", earning her the nickname "growl-ly pants". She also earned the nickname "Cowardly Lion", as she has much more bark than bite! We love her to pieces, and am sad to have to make this decision. She has a type of cancer called Fibrosarcoma. The good news is the doctors think once she has the amputation she will be "cured" (as long as it has not yet spread). The bad new is, she is our baby and we have to amputate her leg. If you have any ideas or suggestions to help us all (human and dog) as we go through this process, we would love to hear them. Madison also has three other doggie brothers and sisters (2 labs and a yorkie), so any suggestions around bringing home a tripawd to a large doggie family would also be appreciated. Thank you!
I'm so sorry to hear about Madison! I only had Ruthie but I don't think most people have had trouble with doggie brothers & sisters...You will get every question answered here and there are lots of articles. If you have hardwood floors, you should buy some rug runners. You also should look into getting a harness to help her around. A cut fabric grocery bag so you have handles works well as a sling while you buy something for the long run. And be prepared for 2 sleepless weeks after she comes home.
Most dogs handle being tripawds so much better than we think they will and she will be happy to have the painful leg gone.
There's so much to cover here and I'm not used to being the first to chime in.
Post a picture so we can see how beautiful Madison is!
Pat & Angel Ruthie
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Hi Madison's family!
My dog Chloe also had a soft tissue sarcoma (spindle cell) tumor and amputation did "cure" her of it. They did a biopsy of a lymphnode in her knee above the tumor which came back negative for cancer, so hopefully that will be the same case for Madison. Chloe had full use of all 4 legs before amputation, but within 2 weeks she was running, going up and down a flight of 15 wooden stairs (no joke), going on 1.5 mi walks (with a hill!) and was back to her goof ball self again.
As for other dogs, Chloe has a sister Rocket. Rocket is the dominant one and can sometimes be mean to Chloe by "nipping" at her back legs (not bite, but enough for her to sometimes lose balance). Therefore I decided to keep them apart during the critical 2 week recovery. After a week, I would allow them to have observed play dates, but as long as your dogs get along with no problems then I don't see why they can't always be around one another.
With front leg amputees, not sure if this applies to your household, but they tend to have an easier time going up stairs and a harder time going down. Chloe was the opposite since she had a rear amputation.
My advice at this point is just take it one day at a time with Madison and make sure that when you go on little walks for potty breaks, get her back inside before she seems tired. Walking on 3 legs is harder than 4 regardless of how long they have been a tripawd. This is especially so when they are first re-learning how to walk. Take LOTS of naps, don't expect a poop for at least a week and spoil them to encourage eating since the meds can make them not hungry.
If you are interested in checking out my blog, you can see some recent videos of Chloe running and going on her "hill" walk from her 5 week ampuversary. But like I said, she was doing this end of week 2…
-Chloe's mom
PS I know I didn't cover everything, but I wanted to let others have a chance to give you info. The admins usually give you good links for required reading for new tripawd pawrents…
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
Welcome, and thanks for joining Tripawds! You'll find many answers to common questions and concerns in Jerry's Required Reading list. Don't miss the top ten Q&A post links. You'll also discover many helpful product reviews and recommendations in the Featured Blogs.
Thanks for starting a blog for li'l miss growly. We look forward to seeing her picture and following her progress.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you everyone for all of your suggestions! We have already ordered the Ruffwear harness , but plan on using the reuseable shopping bag idea until she is fully healed. We are planning a trip to the dog park this weekend to enjoy her last 4-legged trip. I am glad to hear that Chloe was able to use stairs, as that is how Madison currently goes outside. We will of course avoid them after her surgery until she gets around on flat ground okay. Madison currently has use of all 4 of her legs, but is beginning to limp a bit on the leg that will be amputated. In an odd way that actually makes me feel better about our decision- I was struggling with removing a limb that was causing no visible pain. I am planning on taking a couple of days off work after she returns home so I can spoil her rotten. I am so glad for a support network like this. Our oncologist at Michigan State actually recommended this site, and I am so glad she did!
Welcome Madison and family,
I am so glad the oncologist recommended this site to you too!
Seeing all the videos, hearing the families stories made amputation for my 'Tough Girl' JD a no brainer. Also knowing that that leg was causing pain and when it was gone the pain would be too...no question about my decision. She had the front left leg taken off and actually hopped out of the vet's office the day after the surgery. Trust that Madison will do as well as the hundreds of pups who have had amputations, and she has youth on her side, lucky girl.
Good luck to all of you, I suggest you do as Jerry suggests and get to the Required Reading List and anything else that you find here that helps. Ask questions, we are all here to help and share our experiences with you.
Spirit-Angel JD's mom
JD
One Tough Girl
(1999-2010)
-Diagnosed with osteosarcoma of her left front leg –
-Amputation July 23 2010 –
-The cancer didn't get her, but she is gone-
-She fought the cancer and loved life till bloat brought her down August 29th, 2010-
Now she watches over her mom and two new sisters, the Quad-Paws Serena and Maya
Welcome growlypants! We already love you because you are in the 'pants family!
The bad new is, she is our baby and we have to amputate her leg.
Awww. We understand but don't think of it as bad news, think of it as a cure! My Comet was born with a birth defect and her front leg is deformed. I had her almost 12 years. She's been a pistol her whole life so don't worry about missing that leg. After she heals, you won't notice it. She'll be beautiful!
Here's a video of Comet going up stairs:
Best wishes you and Madison! We just know that it is all going to work out fine. Be sure to keep us updated!
Comet's mom
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
I'm so sorry to hear that you are facing this diagnosis - 3 years old...oh way too young! Madison sounds like a beautful golden. I'm partial to goldens . I can assure you that you are doing the right thing with amputation. My golden Mackenize is now going on her 10 month ampuversary - 1 year since her diagnosis and is doing better than ever. She loves to swim, climb hills, run (or hop) and do all the things she used to love to do - it hasn't held her back one bit! Here's a video of her swimming like a tripawd champion (which is what I like to call her).
I know this is a most stressful and trying time when you're going through something like this. But once you get through the recovery period, you'll find that you'll be getting your Madison back and she won't even know that she's missing a leg and neither will you!
All the best to you and we will be keeping our paws crossed that Madison does great! 
Kami (Mackenzie's Mom)
My sweet golden Mackenzie. She became my angel on Dec 29, 2010 at the age of 8 1/2 although she was always my angel from the time we brought her home. She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in Sept 2009 and officially became a tripawd (front leg) on Nov 5, 2009. She will be forever in my heart and now she's running free with all of our other tripawd heroes. I love you Mackenzie!
Thank you for sharing the video of Mackenzie- it is awesome! She has the same amputation that Madison will have, so it is great to see how well she gets around. Madison oddly has never been much of a swimmer, she just likes to "wade" in the water. I don't know if she is aware she is a retriever and is supposed to like to swim! We have thought about getting her a float coat
after the surgery, just in case she finally decides to embrace her swimming genes. If not, at least she will look very stylish.
We are also very partial to goldens! Wish we could swim with Mackenzie and her pack! Madison will be fine, especially since she is so young. Make sure you get lots of rest, and look at pictures of dogs with amputated legs so you know what to expect.
Paws crossed, wishing you all the best!
Cathy/Jane/Spirit Skyler/Chloe
My Ruthie was a rear amputee but she also had 9 steps to negotiate to get in and out of the house. She started doing them on her own long before she was supposed to and it worried the S___ out of me, but that was my girl. I'd left her outside unsupervised for about 5 minutes, on a nice comfy bed, only to find her up on the deck. I hadn't even seen her do it! So as you can see, 3 legs are plenty.
Pat & Angel Ruthie
Yes, it's so amazing how our tripawds adjust so well and totally surprise us - that's what you can expect from Madison too. Like what Pat was saying about finding her Ruthie on the deck, I remember Mackenzie climbed a whole flight of stairs and I didn't know this until she was aleady at the top! And speaking of swimming, my other 2 year old Golden is completely scared of the water - go figure. So at least you'll be able to get Madison to maybe wade in the water - and at the very least she'll look pretty stylin in her float coat
. And Cathy and Chloe - if you're ever in LA you'll have to come join us for a pool party!
Kami (Mackenzie & Kobe's Mom)
My sweet golden Mackenzie. She became my angel on Dec 29, 2010 at the age of 8 1/2 although she was always my angel from the time we brought her home. She was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in Sept 2009 and officially became a tripawd (front leg) on Nov 5, 2009. She will be forever in my heart and now she's running free with all of our other tripawd heroes. I love you Mackenzie!
Hello to Madison and her people.
My boy and I are pretty new to this site, only 12 days after amputation. I can say that I didn't heed the warning about getting sleep before my boy's operation and I certainly paid for it later. I didn't get any real sleep until 5 days after his amputation. He whined and cried all night and I stayed by his side. So my suggestion is to sleep now while you can!
We have 3 dogs and I didn't really think there was going to be a problem. It turns out Sammy was pretty insecure when he came home which might have been the catalyst to making my other dogs curious and concerned when he cried out from the phantom pains. My mastiff went into attack mode either to protect Sammy or hurt him I am not sure. So since then they only have supervised time together. When we are at work Sammy stays in the bathroom by himself. It sucks for him, but I want to make sure I protect him in every way until he can do it for himself. They now sleep together at night, but no outside time together. We will slowly reintroduce them to their routine once Sammy is fully healed.
If you have hardwood floors non-slip rugs are essential. It really has helped our boy when he was too scared to try by himself.
Other then that congratulations on the type of cancer Madison has, I will be hoping for a great recovery for her and you!
Elizabeth and Sammy
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
For an update on Madison's surgery- She was scheduled to have her leg amputated on Monday, 9/13. However, during a pre-examination the vet noticed an enlarged lymph node near the leg that has the tumor. So instead of an amputation she did a biopsy on the lymph node to ensure the cancer hasn't already spread. Now we are sitting on pins and needles waiting the results of the biopsy. Funny how I was anxious about doing the amputation, but now would love to have that still be the treatment we can follow, as it would mean that the cancer has not spread and we can stop this awful disease. Please keep us in your puppy prayers as we wait for the results.
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