Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello All,
I am new to this group. My German Shep mix Skyler had a rear leg amputation on Jan 20th. She was biopsied in October and the results were extreme inflammation/infection in the bone, after a round of medicine she seemed to be fine.
In December she fell on that side and again started to limp, thinking the infection was back we started her on another round of antibiotics. When she did not get better we had her x-rayed again, I am so sick about this, but the bone was completely shattered. My baby girl did not even whimper and she must have been in such pain. I am kicking myself for letting her be in pain.
We scheduled the amputation for the 20th, we could not do it sooner, the vet sent us home with a type of morphine to inject for the pain. During that weekend her leg swelled so much I thought it would rupture. She spent the night at the vet's after the amputation and we picked her up the next day, she was really out of it (fent patch) and did not want to get up. We helped her with a sling but she did not seem to want to put any weight on the remaining back leg (it was xrayed prior to the amputation and it had no problems).
To make a long story short, she has not shown any interest in getting up on her own, without the sling she will just lay down. Yesterday we took her to the vet for a checkup because she was not eating and just seems to have lost her spark. Bloodwork revealed an infection, we gave her amoxicillian last night which she threw up and today we are treating her with injections of Baytril and Penicillin. Tonight she had a bowel movement all over her back end and threw up.
I have read through the prior posts and could find if anyone else has experienced a dog who did not walk on their own this many days out from the amputation. I don't know if it just from the infection or if maybe we made a wrong decision. Prior to the amputation she would three-leg it without any problems.
Any help would be welcome.
Marjorie
Hi Marjorie, thank you for joining us here. We are so sorry to hear about all that Skyler has been through.
First off, please don't beat yourself up. There are no right or wrong decisions. You did the best thing you could have done for your baby, which was to help her out of pain. You can be certain that the pain of her bad leg was far, far worse than what she is coping with right now.
Dogs are such stoic creatures. Most pawrents don't realize the extent of the pain we are hiding until our condition has deteriorated tremendously. It is not your fault you didn't catch it. At least it was caught eventually, and you made the decision to deal with it as best you can.
How old/young is she?
It really does sound like this infection is taking a toll on her spunk, and her ability to walk. What else did her vet say about her reaction to the infection? Are you feeding her a more gentle diet while her stomach heals? Have you thought about a second opinion?
I would suggest calling your vet in the morning to let them know what's going on.
You are in our thoughts. Please keep us posted OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
There are no wrong decisions here. Sounds like an infection has your pup down. 
But I'm no vet.
Hopefully we'll hear from Tazziedog, or your vet can help you get things under control. Hang in there, you are good people for taking such good care of Skyler.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Did your vet send the leg for a biopsy post-amputation? It is possible that the original biopsy missed bone cancer. Were your dog's lungs xrayed before surgery? It is important to know if this dog could have lung mets or maybe pneumonia. Your dog could have septicemia, which is a blood infection secondary to infection in the bone and usually IV antibiotics and fluids are indicated. Did your vet do any bloodwork?
This does not sound like a routine post-op problem! Some dogs might lay around more and take their own time to do things but vomiting, not eating, lethargy and not using the other limb are not typical. Pain meds could be causing some nausea, but I would contact your vet to schedule a recheck exam because this seems serious.
Pam and Tazzie
I'm so sorry Skylar is having a hard time. I don't have an experience to share with you, but wanted you to know the two of you are in my thoughts as you face this.
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.
Thank you so much! Skyler is 10 1/2 years old, she is our miracle dog in that she survived Parvo as a puppy. We have complete confidence in our vet. We discussed sending off for additional tests last week when she had the amputation and decided to wait, since all of this is going on now we have decided to send off for more tests. The spot was not in a typical area for bone cancer and the biopsy came back that no cancer cells were found. Our vet said he had never seen infection/inflammation like this and his gut feeling is that is indeed cancer. Skyler's lungs were xrayed prior to the surgery and they were clean, we did not have more bloodwork done prior to the surgery since it was good in October. The vet did bloodwork yesterday and her white blood count was high, I can't remember all of the other levels but it pointed to another infection. She was on Cephalexin after the surgery for infection and prior to that she had been on Ciprofloxacin when we thought the infection was back in December. I have to say that I was not really worried about Skyler not getting up last week because she is perfectly content to lay around most of the time anyway. When we put a leash on her to go for a walk she actually groans, and has been this way her entire life. This has been really hard for us because on January 12th we had to put our 19 year old cat to sleep and I really don't want to lose another furkid. My husband and I do not have "real" kids and our "furkids" mean the world to us.
Thank You so much,
Marjorie
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