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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Valentina is doing absolutely AMAZING!!!! She is very energetic and Happy. There is one thing that is bothering me though. Her front right foot opposite the amputation is still swollen. I kept waiting for it to go down because I did read that it was very common and probable that the leg and or foot opposite the amputation and possibly the other limbs as well to stay swollen a couple of weeks following the surgery. I thought that since she had a really rough start and prolonged recovery that it was taking longer than usual for the swelling to go down in her remaining front paw. Well it hasn't and some days recently it has gotten absolutely huge. The skin on the underside of her foot also has become red and a little scaly. She had a vet appt today to check on everything else and the vet said she is doing wonderful. I told him about the foot swelling and he said that he was perplexed as to why it is swollen. The swelling doesn't involve her leg at all. It is mostly her toes and the vet said it doesn't appear to involve the bones in her foot, just the soft tissue. So he gave me a antibiotic spray to apply to it 3x a day and he will see her next week again to check it. Previously when I discussed the foot swelling with him he did say that it could be a problem with her lymph system. Meaning that she may have cancer cells in her lymph nodes that are interrupting the flow of fluid to and from her foot. He checked her lymph nodes manually and said that they felt normal. So I guess I just have to wait and see if it goes away. I am not sure but they may need to do some tests if it doesn't go away soon. I know my husband won't be happy to hear that or if he will even agree to the testing. I thought maybe since she is so big just putting the extra weight on it could be the problem but the vet says that that probably isn't the case. I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem. Everything else is going so great and I wish that the swelling would just go away so I wouldn't worry about it. I am still very thankful that Valentina made it through that horrible beginning!! We have had a wonderful last couple of weeks. I am cherishing every single day that I have with my amazing , wonderful Dog!!!
Valentina Angel Dane diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in front left leg May 21st 2011. Amputation July 5th 2011.
DOB:11/3/03 DOD:2/3/12 . Valentina was the Love of my Life!!! There is nothing like a Dane!!!
Can you send a photo? Tazzie's remaining front foot did get bigger and she even developed a pressure sore. The foot gradually spread out and enlarged over time to support her weight. There was no fluid or heat it just got bigger. Usually a lymph problem involves the underarm as well so the whole leg swells up and gets edema (squishy fluid).
Pam
Ranger's remaining front paw seems "oversized" to me. He was a tripawd when we got him, so I don't know what it looked like before. I use paw salve on his pads to help keep them from getting hard or cracked, plus I think it helps with traction
. He occasionally will bleed a little between 2 toes from a small cyst type thing that will develop. The vet said it's just a small gland that can get inflamed. It stands to reason that the remaining paw would get a little bigger to support the extra weight. I hop that's all it is. I'm so glad to hear how well she's doing! Way to go Valentina! 
Sadie is my 9yr old Rott/Shepherd mix. Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in her right scapula 1/28/10. Our brave girl had her amputation 2/13/10 and her last chemotherapy on 6/6/10. Unfortunately, a tumor appeared in her back right leg and on 10/7/2010 Sadie's earthly journey came to an end. On 10/24/2010 we adopted Ranger, a handsome Rott/Lab mix tripawd (got hit by a car) I think Sadie sent him to us.
http://ranger.t.....pawds.com/
I hope it's nothing.
Here is what Dr. Pam's dog, Tazzie's foot looked like:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm glad to hear that Valentina is doing better with the exception of the swollen foot!
Comet developed what the vet called a sterile cyst. She was three legged her whole life but this didn't happen until she was 12 1/2 years old. She put on a couple of pounds in the last 6 months so that may have been it.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Spirit Comet, your Momma has some purty nails! That french manicure makes the cyst look less nasty!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for the replies! And for the pictures. I still have not been able to figure out how to put pictures on here. I tried and couldn't figure it out and I have been really busy getting ready for the kids to go back to school so I haven't had the time to try to figure it out. I was hoping since I started a blog that I could put them on through that but I also wanted to put the pictures on chronologically to go with the blog and I have to scan some into my computer first. Valentina doesn't have any cysts or open wounds on her foot. It kinda looks like someone blew up her toes with air.And they feel squishy like dough. And they are really sensitive when I touch them. I have been trying to keep her nails trimmed as much as I can but she has a long quick. Since her foot is splayed out and the extra weight is on it her nails touch the floor more easily now so I have been trimming them often. Her foot did seem a tad better today but it seems to go up and down in swelling with no apparent cause. It used to be more swollen in the morning and the vet said it could be from sleeping on the same side all night. She does favor that side since the other side is the amp one. Also her bed is off the floor some and her foot kind of hangs off of the edge so maybe the fluid is going downhill? I don't know if that could cause that but I am glad that it has been a little better today. I will try to work on getting some pictures on here soon.
Can you upload the pics to your blog? If so, we can post them here for you.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
I tried to upload some pictures to my blog and it came out very weird so I deleted them all. They were the wrong size and her head was cut off and everything. I don't know much at all about doing these kinds of things but my husband does and he is the one who did it for me and it still came out wrong. I'll try again sometime but he doesn't have much time. He works 6 days a week and doesn't get home until 8 or 9 at night . Then he is too tired.
I am Happy to report that Valentina's foot has gotten much better!! I really did not think that the spray the vet gave me would work but it has seemed too. Her foot is very near it's normal size now. Yay!!! I am just hoping that it stays that way!!! We are finally done with all of those antibiotics too!! Now she only has to take her Rimadyl. I am looking into some supplements for her though. She is still doing Wonderful and one of my dearest friends came over today and said a prayer over her.
angel said:
I tried to upload some pictures to my blog and it came out very weird so I deleted them all. They were the wrong size and her head was cut off and everything.
FYI: Images do not get cropped upon upload, only the thumbnail. Unless you viewed them at full size, you might assume they got cropped. After upload you can copy the file location from your Media Library and paste that in the image URL field when drafting your forum post. Hope this helps.
PS: Be sure to PM us with the domain you want for your blog so we can change that before uploading images or we will need to fix all the image URLs too.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Good news about Valentina's paw!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Valentina is still doing Fantastic!!!! Her foot is not swollen anymore and she is so happy and totally back to normal!!! I can't put into words how happy I am that she is better and is enjoying life!! Even though she is recovered now I am still finding myself not wanting to stay away from home for very long. I want to be near her every moment I can get because I don't know when her time will come. She is such a Joy!!! I am so thankful for this time that I have with her right now. It has been so wonderful to go about our days like nothing ever happened. Right now we are bracing for hurricane Irene. We live on the Eastern Shore and it will hit pretty hard here. We are stocked up on dogfood and lots of water! Getting them out to go pee during the storm may be challenging though. I hope that we will have some moment where I can actually go outside so they can go! We"ll just see how it goes. Oh and I forgot to say that Valentina and I had an earthquake where we live the other day. I was laying on the floor with her petting her when it happened. It was very scary but minor. But it really freaked me out!!! Now this hurricane is coming! At least we have each other!!!
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