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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Welcome Liz! OSA sucks, BUT, you found the best community to go through it with. This place is the best and the people and their dogs are awesome! I don't know where I would be without them. You will be so surprised at how quickly your dog adjusts to life as a tripawd 🙂
And welcome to Spike's pack as well! Pictures, we need pictures of Spike 🙂
Diagnosed with OSA: 5/2/2011 Ampuversary: 5/11/2011 OSA returned in hip: 8/26/2011
Chili Dawg crossed the Rainbow Bridge on 8/30/2011 & is now pain free. He was my heart dog, and I miss him every day.
Thanks again all! Gus is currently at the University of Minnesota Animal Hospital and will have his surgery tomorrow morning. We pray that all will go well for him and that there are no complications.
Thanks for the opportunity to purchase the e-book...did so last night and it is AWESOME!!!
Welcome to Spike and pack! We had a neo-mastiff that we lost to Masticatory Muscle Myositis on Dec. 26, 2010 (yes, we have not had good "luck" with our dogs lately) so mastiffs have a special place in my heart. Would LOVE to see pictures of Spike!!
Rest up while you wait for Gus to come home! Sleep can be in short supply the first few nights post-amp, and then everything seems worse!
We also found the 3 Legs & a Spare book to be very helpful. Lots of good info in there!
Be sure to keep us posted. Will be waiting to hear that the surgery went well!
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!
Angieb0211 said:
I just found Tripawds today. My English Mastiff, Spike, was bitten by a brown recluse spider two and a half years ago.
Angie and Spike, thank you so much for joining and sharing your story! We need all the big dawg anecdotes we can get around here, so we really appreciate your taking the time to chime in. A brown recluse? That is the first time we can remember something like this happening and being the cause of an amputation. Wow! We are so sorry, but glad that Spike made it through and went on to live a good life on three legs. Please feel free to continue to tell us more about him, he sounds like a great kid!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Good luck to Gus tomorrow. Surgery day can be a loooong day- so be sure you have something to keep you busy.
Let us know how he is doing.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Best of luck tomorrow! I hope everything goes smoothly and you get lots more time with your pooch:)
Liz - best of luck today. For me, surgery day was a very long, hard day but once I had the word from the vet that all had gone ok, that it was done, I was . . . ok, let's get down to business and planning for the future, the new normal. You'll find tremendous support from this site. Hugs and prayers coming your way, for you and Gus. .......Cindy & Ruby
Cindy & Ruby, the Wiggle Dancer
Diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma 12/12/11 in right front leg
Ampuversary 12/21/11
"Leg Gone, Cancer Gone, Move on!"
Good luck. And, I cannot stress enough what others have said about resting up before Gus comes home from surgery. He most likely will keep you up (and even if he doesn't, your paranoia of him moving and falling will make you wake up every ten minutes! 
)
Lisa and Zeus
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/
Oops I think I deleted my original reply, if two show up...sorry.
Gus, best of luck today.
Liz, I will also stress get as much rest for yourself before he comes home. The first few days can be very overwhelming. Don't get discouraged, I promise it will get better. Try to stay totally positive in front of Gus. If you need a timeout, do it behind a closed door where he can't see/hear you. If you haven't already, you might want to troll this website looking for post-amp photos. Gus is a big guy and his incision will be big. Fergus' was 10-12 inches. Also, be prepared for him to get some bruising. Fergus' "undercarriage" was all purple and red, which was normal.
I'm not sure if you have read that Gus will not be himself when he first comes home. Depending upon his pain meds (Tramdol, fentanyl patch, etc), he will not understand the feeling. He will probably pant and whine, again this is normal. If it seems excessive, be sure to call your vet. Also, use this website for any questions you aren't sure about. I used this site for guidance in the beginning. I had no idea what was normal.
Good luck and we are keeping you in our thoughts today and for the next few weeks. Heal well Gus!
Tara & Spirit Fergus
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