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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{{{{{hugs}}}}}
We know you've given this a ton of thought are doing what is best for BearPup and your pack. Please let us know if you need anything at all or just want to talk OK?
Paws crossed for a successful surgery tomorrow!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm so sorry to hear about all that you are going through. The decision to amputate or not is so hard no matter what; I can only imagine how hard it must be when there are even more factors to consider than normal. Good luck to you and BearPup tomorrow...everyone here will be thinking about you and we will have paws crossed for a successful surgery.
I hope all goes well with the surgery. Keep us posted on how he does.
The recovery can be tough, but you'll get through it. We're here to help if you have questions during the recovery.
Hang in there,
Jackie
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
Eve and Bearpup, you are definitely in my thoughts and prayers. I know you have given your decision a lot of thought and therefore are making the best decision for your pack. I hope the surgery and recovery go well. It won't be easy but we are all here for you to help answer any questions, give you support, whatever you need.
Lots of hugs
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Magnum: 30th May 2002 to 5th May 2012. Lost her back left leg to osteosarcoma on 5th Sep 2011. Lung mets found on 20th Mar 2012 but it was bone mets in the hip that ended her brave battle. Magnum's motto - "Dream as if you'll live for ever, live as if you'll die today" (James Dean). Loyal, loving, courageous and spirited to the end. My beloved heart dog, see her memoirs from Rainbow Bridge ...... http://princess.....pawds.com/
Sorry I am late chiming in but I have been following your posts and I just wanted to say that I hope the surgery and recovery go well. Huskies have a very special place in my heart. They are a very determined breed and I hope that Bearpup excels and makes the vets seem silly! You will be in my thoughts tomorrow. Please keep us posted when you can.
Lisa
Zeus was a Husky mix diagnosed with Osteosarcoma at age 11. A visible lung met and suspicious spot on his liver meant a poor prognosis-six weeks was our vet's best guess. We decided to fight for our boy and his right front leg was amputated on 12/1/11. We did six rounds of chemo, changed his diet and spoiled him completely rotten. We were blessed with 10 great months after diagnosis. Against the odds, the lung met remained a single met and grew very little over those months. A wonderful furbaby with the most gentle spirit, he fought with a strength that we never imagined he possessed. We have no regrets...
http://zeuspod......pawds.com/
I want to thank each and every one of you for all your support and understanding.
I feel like I can breathe again.. .I am very at peace with my decision… I have not taken this lightly and I feel have explored all options….. analyzed them and over analyzed them. At the end, the decision was made based on what my heart/gut told me was best for the pup.
The surgery went very well. The doc didn’t find anything that would raise a concern at this time. We did send a piece of the cancerous bone to pathology. It will be in our advantage to know exactly what we are dealing with. He will stay at the hospital until Thursday afternoon or Friday. I will visit him tomorrow.
My white bear … Aslan.. went through his first chemo treatment with flying colors.
My biggest and foremost concern at this point is not Bear’s hips, but his recovery and beating the cancer monster. We will deal with the hips accordingly.
Jerry’s mom…. It was a pleasure speaking with you today.
Lisa.. … up until 13 months ago, we had 11 Siberian Huskies and their mixes plus Bearpup. We lost 5 in the last 13 months.
Anyway, so the journey for my cuteness tripawd starts now ….
to be continued.......
Eve and Bear the cutness pup.
Yaaaay! What a great update, thanks for letting everypawdy know.
It was great talking to you too Eve, let us know how we can help OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Yes .. thank you, I will. As of this AM, Bearpup is doing fine. Apparently when the hospital stuff went to check on him early this AM, he was already wagging his tail. That's my Bearpup.... I will go to see him right after work.
Eve and Bearpup
I am in total support of your decision. There are no wrong decisions if you make them keeping the best interest of the beloved pet in mind. Trouble was not a good candidate for surgery either. She was too heavy, and her diagnosing vet did not believe we should do the amputation.
Our second opinion (and ultimately the treating vet) acknowledged the weight was an issue, but felt the only way to stop the pain was to amputate. He was willing to do the surgery and work on the weight afterward.
You have a lot of other health issues going on, but you and your vet can work through it if you do it together. Now that your decision is made, I hope you find peace and inner strength.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Hi, I'm so sorry to hear about your dear Bearpuppy. I can understand your concerns about amputation. My thoughts and prayers are with you guys, as everyone here knows, there are good days and some with many tears. I wish you both the best. I have been away from the tripawd community for awhile but was coming to post an update on my Skye when I saw your posting. We just started working with a quad cart. Eventhough we haven't been able to be mobile, I can tell you that like Bearpuppy, she just isn't ready to leave us. I hope I am not bringing you down but just wanted to tell you that with all the bumps on the road, I can tell you my Skye is happier now.
Please take care of yourself too since you will need to be strong for BPuppy. Remember, whatever you decision you make with your pup, it's out of 100% love.
jeanmadrigales said
I have been away from the tripawd community for awhile but was coming to post an update on my Skye when I saw your posting.
It's nice to see you back here, we are looking forward to your update.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
First, I wanted to share that BearPuppy is coming home tomorrow. We can’t wait to bring him home!
When I went to visit him yesterday, he looked pretty miserable. Today; however, he looked fantastic. He was out of his cage, on a blanket in the room with vet techs where all the action takes place. He looked happy, his tail was wagging, and that Bearpuppy sparkle was back in his eyes. I may be seeing what I want to see, but I could swear… the misery in his eyes was gone.
Jean and Shanna …. Thank you for the words of encouragement. Your support and kind words are very much appreciated. I am 100% at peace with my decision. I feel like I have been freed from some dark place and I am able to see the sun and feel its warmth again.
I know it will be rough and I have no idea what future will bring, but we will take one day at the time and deal with whatever gets thrown our way.
The hip problem and everything else are all issues that can be dealt with. We will try the harness for now and if this doesn’t work, we will get a quad cart for the boy.
Hugs to all of you and your beautiful babies.
I will update tomorrow when we have our boy home.
Eve and Bearpuppy.
Well this is great news, I'm glad to read that his spirits are up now, and yours sound like they are too. Once you get that decision over with and the surgery is behind you, it's a huge relief isn't it?
Here's to a better day ahead, paws crossed for a smooth homecoming. Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I don't think you are just seeing what you want to see - so many folks here comment that shortly after surgery they know they've done the right thing becuase the pain is gone from their pup's eyes!
Glad you are feeling good about the decision! He might crash a bit and see depressed again a few days in - but that's very normal. Don't let it get you down. Once the pain meds are done and the staples are out, you should definitely see his personality coming back.
Hope he has a good recovery; keep us posted,
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
So...Bearpup is home. We got him yesterday. He was SOOO ready to get out of the hospital; he literally ran out the door. Yes, I am not kidding … he ran out that door.
The day was pretty uneventful. He spent all day on his pillow either sleeping or looking at me and wagging his tail when I looked up. We took him out to potty 2 or 3 times, but nothing came out. He nibbled on a few bites of baked turkey breast and had some water but that’s it.
The night was rough as expected. Every time he moved I was out of bed to check on him. After a few times of in and out of bed, I finally decided to just sleep on the floor next to him. He seemed restless all through the night. The heavy rains and storms that seemed to be stuck over our area were not helping him either.
This am we went to potty and again nothing came out. He only nibbled on his food, but at least he nibbled. After food and medications we took him onto his pillow on the porch. He watched his duck friends for a bit and then fell asleep.
An hour or so later, I was sitting at the kitchen breakfast bar doing my work and next thing I know I see Bearpup standing by the door. Apparently he decided that it was time to go potty so he got up, made it around the corner of the house, and up one step onto the deck and all on his own. I helped him down to the grass and we finally got pee. Needless to say, this was the highlight of the day for us and a huge step in the right direction.
He is now resting on his pillows.
E and BP
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