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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Great update! Yay for poop! 
We let Zeus get up just a little bit right from the beginning to keep him from getting stiff and also to let him learn that he could in fact still get up and walk. But, for that first week we limited him to just getting water, moving from bed to bed, and walking outside so that he wouldn't overdo it.
Be prepared (emotionally) because he is going to stumble here and there and every once in a while it will result in toppling over. You will panic, but try not to let it show. Help him up and tell him what a good boy he is and he will likely just shrug it off. Good luck with the rest of recovery!
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/
Wow, using the ramp AND going potty in the same day? That is seriously PAWESOME! 
I think there comes a time when you just have to trust that they will be OK to walk and do things on their own. Testing the waters indoors where you have good control and can easily assist if things go wrong is a good idea. As for stairs, well we waited a lonnnng time, at least a month, before those were tackled independently.
It's good to keep the harness on him all day for now. We really believe that when you least expect to need it, you'll need it. Having that handle there has helped us more times than we can count.
You have a great attitude. All of this, the good and the not so good, is definitely a learning experience, and in the end, it will help you tackle your own personal life challenges even better than before. Once you see how Finnegan handles this kind of adversity, it makes all of those silly human problems just seem so insignificant.
{{{{hugs}}}}}
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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