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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That is great news for Madison.
As Kami mentioned, the t-shirt is a good alternative to the cone - it worked well for Zack.
The other thing that really helped Zack was carpets in kitchen. I bought a 50 ft roll of carpet runner at Lowe's (it looks kind-of industrial, but has rubber backing to keep it in place pretty well) and just cut it to make paths to all of his favorite places in the kitchen. This really helped his confidence in the first few days after surgery.
And, I don't know if Madison is a couch cuddler, but if so, some advice we got from the vet tech who discharged Zack that worked well for us was to pull the couch cushions down on the floor just in front of the couch. That way, we could sit with/cuddle him just like before the surgery, but with no worry about getting him up & down. And, since Zack was also a bed cuddler, we re-configured the cushions each night to sleep down there with him (rather than leaving him downstairs by himself) for the two weeks until his staples came out.
Good luck, and as others have mentioned, the first few days are the hardest - it WILL get better, and Madison will end up amazing you with how well she adapts.
Zack, King of Dogs, 1996 to 2010
Zack lived a full 14 years, even to the end.
The joy and memories he provided us will last a lifetime.
Surviving him is his sister, Izzy, a 12-year-old boxer mix quadpawd.
And the latest addition, Zula, an 11-month-old pit bull mix tripawd.
One other thing I did the night before picking Zack up was look at some pictures of dogs who have had the surgery - incisions, shaved bodies, etc... - to mentally prepare myself.
As it turned out, when they brought him out, I was just so happy to see his sweet face/eyes, that the incision/shaved butt didn't even phase me (although, looking at pics beforehand may have helped with that, too - hard to say!)
Zack, King of Dogs, 1996 to 2010
Zack lived a full 14 years, even to the end.
The joy and memories he provided us will last a lifetime.
Surviving him is his sister, Izzy, a 12-year-old boxer mix quadpawd.
And the latest addition, Zula, an 11-month-old pit bull mix tripawd.
Madison is home! She ended up staying 4 nights at the vet due to excess drainage from the surgery site. They were able to remove the drainage tube today so she could come home. The vet fell in love with her, and even asked to be in our Will as Madison's "guardian" should anything happen to us, as they really bonded through this experience. Too sweet. Madison is doing so great, I am really proud of her. She is already walking around (in a very small area) with little to no assistance. She seems relatively comfortable for what she has been through, and takes lots of "cat naps". She is doing the t-shirt, as she is trying to lick at some of the drainage that is still coming out. Right now we are pretty much keeping her confined to one (carpeted) room to keep her from over-doing things. Her doggie brother and sisters were happy to see her, and are behaving beautifully around her. We are excited to see her continue to recover and to be a better, pain-free version of her old self!
Looks like you have just 10 days left in the 2 week post recovery left! The vet did some of the most critical days for you! I too had Chloe in a carpeted area post amp so she wouldn't accidentally slip on anything.
Glad to hear Madison is doing well and we hope she continues to do so!
-Chloe's mom
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
Wonderful news, what a great way to start the weekend together as a pack. Sounds like you've got everything under control and you're doing GREAT, keep it up!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
So great to hear that Madison is doing so well!! So sweet too that your vet got so attached to her 
. We kept Mackenzie in for an extra night (3 nights in total) and that made a huge difference. I would have been too nervous if she came home any earlier than that. You just never know what might happen. We will say lots of prayers that Madison continues on this speedy road to recovery. 3 Cheers for Madison - Yea!!
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!
Madison,
You are home now with your loving, caring and cautious canine and human family. You are a very lucky girl.
Wishing you a speedy recovery and lovely t-shirts to wear !!!!
Spirit 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
I am so glad to hear Madison is home with you and is doing well. As everyone has said, thee first two weeks can be a roller coaster of emotions but after her recovery period you will have your old Madison back.
Debra & Angel Emily
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
Ok, so today not such a great day. I think we (including Madison) were all on an adrenaline high yesterday after she came home. She was okay this morning, but did not want to eat much. On a positive note, she did go poop today! Then this afternoon, she got sick twice. She did not eat much for dinner, which is making me cautious about giving her the meds. I am going to wait another hour and see if she feels a bit better and will eat something. Any advice for food when they aren't feeling so hot and don't want to eat?
I don't know if this will work for you but here was my experience with meds, food and lack of hunger. One of the side effects of the Tramadol (heavy duty pain killers) she was on was that it reacted with her prescribed antibiotics (Simplef) and made her not hungry. Since each of those meds was only needed once a day, I gave her the pain killer in the morning and the antibiotics in the evening. This way it helped space the possible medicine interactions. I also weaned her off the Tramadol asap (made her sway/dizzy and drool alot) because she didn't give any body language to indicate pain and I didn't want her to be on it longer than she needed to (no sad/worried faces, no whimpering, no reaction to touching the site etc…)
Once she was off the heavy duty stuff, I just did "maintenance" with her lower dosage chewable Rimadyl. But for the most part, she was off the pain meds after day 5. Her appetite increased after being off the pain meds.
As for food, try anything and everything. I made oatmeal for myself one day and she looked like she wanted some, so I gave her a taste. I ended up giving her the whole bowl (not instant, but from rolled oats). I made her chicken thighs, chicken breasts, some cheese, anything to get calories in her. Once she started eating well again I weaned off the fattier things.
Like I said, this was my experience with food and appetite issues, but maybe something I said will work for you. Good luck! Just keep trying until something works!
-Chloe's mom
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
Yes, with Boo we'd also have a few "up" days followed by a "down" day or two... It's a roller-coaster of a week (or two)! Enjoy the good days and be sure to take deep calming breaths during the ruff days!
To get Boo to eat, we mixed her food with rice on the days she wasn't interested - that usually worked for us. And Boo LOVES mashed potatoes - so we'd put a heaping spoonful in her bowl to get her started once and a while too. (Does Madison have a favorite "people food" you can add to her food)? ...on really bad days, we'd just put chicken noodle soup in her bowl and skip the "usual food" all together! ...not sure how good that is for a dog, but as you saw, she survived! Every day we just tried to love her, and do what we thought was best for her at that time.
Remember, No Guilt - Just Love!
Boo became a Tripawd Warrior Princess on Sept 8, 2009. She crossed over the Rainbow Bridge 2.7 years later on April 29, 2012. Run free Angel Boo!
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