Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello,
We are new around here. I'm Mona, and my almost seven year old dog, Anouk, was recently diagnosed with osteoscarcoma. Devastated does not even begin to describe it.
We have amputation of her left front leg scheduled for Monday morning. Chemo soon after. We went in for a possible muscle strain on Tuesday night and then Thursday morning got the diagnosis, so this has been a very sudden upheaval. She is otherwise a very healthy pitbull/lab mix; we are lucky to have caught it before it has spread to her lungs, and she is still happy, playful, and wanting to run and play.
I am less worried about her taking to the tripawd life and more worried about the prognosis. I trust that she is adaptable and will be relieved to have the painful limb gone, but I am still adjusting to knowing I may lose her sooner than expected. It is just me and her in the household and I cannot imagine coming home without her. This all leads to my question, as we are new to this journey:
What do you wish you knew when it all started?
Hi Mon and Anouk. You have certainly come to the best place for support and information. We understand everything you're going through better than anyone else can. It's great that Anouk has clear X-rays and is a good candidate for surgery and life on three!
What do you wish you knew when it all started?
Great question. I'll give you some of my emotions/feelings I had early on after amputation. I'm p,eased to say that I did eventually "master" these "obstacles" and learned to Be More Dog .
*Wish I had let go of "statistics and "prognosis" sooner. EVERY DOG IS DIFFERENT.No dog has a timeframe stamped on their butt.
*Needed to remind myself sooner that dogs don't count days on a calendar and could care less.
*Be More Dog ....Live Iin the moment....in the present....in the now...just like our dogs!..
*I wasted a lot of time in the very beginning worrying about how long she would live, when would the other shoe drop, how much time did we have left, etc. To let those thoughts control you is taking away from the time you do have together. That's the only way this stupid disease wins is if it can interfere with you living life to the fullest with your dog.
*I didnt join this community until about a week after the amputation may I have no idea what to expect. I wish I had more knowledge in the very beginning about pain management and, basically, what the first two weeks of recovery would look like.
All right, just a couple of things I can come up with off the top of my head. Hope this helps. Others will chime in too.
We'll be cheering for you and Anouk on Monday and sending all sorts of positive energy.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
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