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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My 12 y/o male JRT mix Buster had a forelimb amputation today because his leg and "armpit" area had nerve sheath cancer. This had been a long road to even get to this diagnosis, after a prior tendon release surgery and physical therapy that improved him for a while before his limp got worse and worse. And then it became clear that while he had an injured tendon, the tendon probably was never the main problem. An MRI revealed nerve cancer. And I'm just sick that he is going though this even though I know amputation was his best option. He comes home from the vet tomorrow or Friday. I won't know for a couple weeks if vets are recommending radiation therapy too, depending on whether margins are clean. Any thoughts on pros and cons of going through radiation therapy would be appreciated. I know it's expensive, but I'm mostly interested in how hard it is on the dog to do it and whether it seems worth it. All the other advice on this website is very helpful and it's nice to know there are so many others who have been able to get their dogs past amputations to reach happy three legged lives. Thanks for any advice on nerve cancer recovery/radiation.
Hi sweetie 🌸
I don't have any experience on radiation as my girl had osteosarcoma and we went the chemo route.
Just want to welcome you and your boy 🐾
Stay tuned, others will share their radiation experience with you, you're not alone!
Sending you hugs and cuddles to your cutie pie 😘🐮💫✨🌟🌹
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
I hope your pup gets to come home today! Have you heard from the vet?
What kind of radiation therapy is available in your area? If you have access to stereotactic radiation therapy (aka SRT or "cyberknife"), it's a relatively quick, targeted treatment that has little impact on quality of life. If you don't have any clinics with SRT and your vets provide traditional radiation therapy that consists of a half dozen sessions or more, then you may want to think about how it will impact you and your dog's quality of life. If your dog isn't happy being at the vet, then traditional radiation therapy may cause more stress than its worth, for you and your dog.
For now though try to focus on healing and take things day by day. Help your dog get through recovery and wait for those lab results. Who knows, maybe he won't even need extra treatment.
Keep us posted on his homecoming!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
jerry said
I hope your pup gets to come home today! Have you heard from the vet?What kind of radiation therapy is available in your area? If you have access to stereotactic radiation therapy (aka SRT or "cyberknife"), it's a relatively quick, targeted treatment that has little impact on quality of life. If you don't have any clinics with SRT and your vets provide traditional radiation therapy that consists of a half dozen sessions or more, then you may want to think about how it will impact you and your dog's quality of life. If your dog isn't happy being at the vet, then traditional radiation therapy may cause more stress than its worth, for you and your dog.
For now though try to focus on healing and take things day by day. Help your dog get through recovery and wait for those lab results. Who knows, maybe he won't even need extra treatment.
Keep us posted on his homecoming!
Hi, I brought Buster home today and he's been home about an hour. He's taking a well deserved nap and doesn't seem in too much pain right now. I should know in two weeks or less if radiation therapy will be advised. I live in DC, there's no therapy in the city limits so would need to go to VA or MD, but would be doable. I think I need to just be patient for the results, and right now it feels like hour by hour... The pickup was less traumatic than I feared but I know there will be ups and downs with this. He's clearly a bit confused about how to walk, even though he hadn't been using his leg much already. I'll have to ask about SRT, I had heard of cyber knives for tumor removal but not for radiation. Thanks!
Ellen
Hi Ellen and Buster,
I cannot believe i missed your thread, so sorry. How is Buster doing? Is he learning to manage ok as a tripawd now? I wish you both well in your journey. By the way, it is wonderful that you are lending support so early in your own journey. Looking forward to reading about Buster's progress.
Jackie and Huckleberry ❤️❤️
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
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