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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Backstory: Bandit first started limping about a month ago and we scheduled an appointment with our vet. She did X-rays and said she thought it might be bone cancer and referred us to a specialty vet. Our oncologist there looked at the X-rays and said normally when dogs come in with limping and swelling it is more obvious on X-rays and the bone isn’t still as hard so to make sure it’s cancer they tried one less invasive option, but it didn’t work so they did a biopsy and it revealed our worst fears that it is indeed osteosarcoma. This whole process with test and results took about a month and he is going in for front leg amputation tomorrow and then the vet is recommending 4-6 rounds of chemo. I am so nervous and just wondering what to expect after amputation with a larger dog?Any suggestions on how to handle it with a large dog. Side note: Bandit is an 8 year old 98 pound Lab/mastiff mix. On the first X-rays it didn’t show at all in his chest, but I’m hoping it hasn’t spread in the time waiting for results. Sorry for the long post!
Hi Julia and Bandit, welcome! Your future posts won't need approval so post away! And don't worry about the length of your posts, we don't mind at all!
Im sorry to be so quick but I'm on my phone and terrible at typing on it! For now be sure to check out our What to Expect articles , the Tripawds Recovery Shopping List and see our Giant Breed success stories too!
Julia,
I'm so sorry to hear you are going through this. It's the worst club you would ever want to be part of. My dog Riley had his front right leg amputated due to bone cancer at the end of March.
Riley wasn't even limping so we were shocked to hear it was bone cancer.
This whole process is horrible and heartbreaking. My wife and I cried more times than I can count.
This forum has been a blessing and helped me get through this process. This site has a ton of quality resources which will help.
Now that we are a little further down the road Riley is eating well, moving around well, and is the same ol' dog he always has been. I'm sure Bandit will be the same.
What to expect:
Riley did very well. He was up hopping around the next day. It did take him about a week or so to get his "sea legs" but he was going up 18 steps within 3 weeks! Bandit will surprise you for sure.
We had a dog bed ready, but most dogs after amputation seem to like laying on colder floors like concrete or a bathroom so don't be surprised. Also, don't be surprised if Bandit wants to lay in the grass more than in the past. Riley loves lying in the grass more than ever now.
pain management is key. If Bandit starts yiping and jumping up he's in pain. If you get close to him and he pulls away he's either in pain or nauseous. Nausea and pain management is huge. Don't be afraid to tell the vet Bandit needs more pain meds. Gabapentin, which he will be on, usually last about 6 hours. Not the 8-12 so don't be shocked to see him in pain around that 6-hour mark. A dog of 100 pounds will probably be on 400mg twice per day along with a bunch more meds.
If you can have a pee pad or something similar to lay on that will help. Riley had a few accidents afterward due to all the pain meds making him too sleepy to get up.
My final thing is a harness can be very helpful as it will help you move Bandit around better. A regular leash is difficult with a tripawd.
I wish you the best of luck tomorrow and please let us know how Bandit is doing.
-Bill (Riley's Dad)
We know what a kick in the gut hearing the diagnosis and then thinking about amputstion can be.
As you can see from Bill's informative response and all of Jerry's links, you are in the right place for suppprt and information from those who understand like no others can.
My Happy Hannah was a quite "fluffy" Bull Mastiff at 125 - 130 lb 8 years plus when she had her rear leg amp. We've had dogs weight as much as 170-- 200 lbs handle life on three just fine.
Assuming Bandit is staying at a staffed overnight clinic for at least one night? Or is he coming home same night if not 24/7?
Anyway, when you go to pick Bandit up, don't even bother to look at hos incision. Just look into his eyes and tell him what a good voy he is and he's going home!! Bery important to have an upbeat and confident energy.
Every dog is different....handles recovery differently.....handles pain meds differently....regains mobility at their own pace.
As Bill noted, pain management is crucial and sometimes takes some tweaking, especially after all the strong hospital pain meds wear of (around day two or three)
If you have hardwoods you'll want non slip scatter rugs for traction . Raised food and water bowls are helpful too. Just short, short, short leashed potty breaks first two weeks, no stairs, no jumping, etc.
Drinking and peeing are important, but Bandit may not be very hungry and may not poop for several days. Jist give him anything yummy he'll eat for now.
STAY CONNECTED!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!! We are here right by your side thrpugh recovery and onto cheering for him when his sparkle comes back.woth that bum leg gone!
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!
Thank you so much. These links are very helpful, especially the shopping list.
Bill-I am sorry to hear about Riley also, but I am glad he is doing well after. It really is terrible and I am so grateful for this site and for all of your responses.
Sally-Thank you for the response as well. It helps give me piece of mind knowing that larger dogs can handle it.
Update: Bandit had his surgery today and is staying overnight at the vet since they are a 24 hour vet. They are keeping him at least 24 hours and then from there they may release him or keep him longer depending on how he is doing. They said the surgery went well, but unfortunately they did an x-ray while he was under before surgery and it does show a small spot in his chest. Did either of you move forward with chemo? The vet is recommending chemo. I just want to keep him as pain free as possible while he still has a good quality of life.
Hi Julia,
Glad to hear Bandits surgery went smooth. My Ellie is similar to Bandit she's 7 and 97lb (at time of her surgery little less now that she's one less limb, haha) pup who had her right forelimb amputated. She's ~2 months post-op and has adjusted to 3 legs fantastically.
When they did the surgery her lungs (and a lymph node they pulled) were clear of cancer. I had elected to do chemotherapy (carboplatin), but prior to her 3rd round her xrays showed signs of lung metastasis, and we stopped chemotherapy. The oncologist has recommended a different chemotherapy called Palladia and Losartan which is actually a pill you give on a schedule versus injectable like carboplatin. I'll be honest I'm still very on the fence with moving forward with it, some dogs do great on it, some have quite a few side effects like lethargy and GI issues. That combined with a 50% chance it will even have a clinical benefit worries me.
I'm also looking into the MIMIC clinical study which is a minimally invasive surgery to remove the diseased lung (tripawds just came out with a podcast on it, well worth a listen!), I'm attracted to this because the surgery is only about a 48 hour recovery period, very minimal and not a lot of pain. So we could do the surgery and then be done and whatever time Ellie has will be ours no more drugs to possibly make her feel crappy. So far all the dogs accepted into the trial (9 that have had the surgery done) have made it to the 6 month check-in and the average survival after the surgery has been 8-10 months. The biggest downside to me is cost, it is a clinical trial so a lot is covered, but the average out of pocket costs are still 4-5,000 dollars and we would have to travel to San Diego for it (I'm in Colorado) so that is definitely an added cost as well. I wanted to share, because in the podcast Dr. Thomson mentioned that he usually sees dogs after they have already had the alternative chemotherapy and so the lung metastasis has sometimes progressed pretty far, versus doing it right away.
Of course, it's not something you need to worry about at the moment, lord knows you'll have a lot on your plate with Bandits recovery from his amputation (you got this!), but I just wanted to share since our puppers are so similar!
healthy vibes for Bandit! I hope he gets to be back home today!
Julia I'm so glad that surgery went well! One hurdle over and done! 
The spot on the x-rays ... try not to panic. Does the vet think it's definitely a lung met? Other things can cause a spot or blur. Having a radiologist review the rads can bring more clarity.
Whitney thank you for mentioning your chemo options for mets, and the MIMIC study. Yes, it's really important for people to consider it sooner rather than later if they think that they're leaning toward some type of treatment for mets.
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