Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Please keep Zeus in your prayers this morning. A couple of days ago he started whining (not screaming - just a soft cry from the back of his throat) sometimes when he would walk and when we pick him up to carry him up/down the stairs. Prior to this he only whined or cried out once when he tried to lay on the surgery side. The first time he did this was when I was putting him in the car and it coincided with when his missing leg would have reached out to crawl in, so I thought maybe it was phantom pain . I also thought maybe it was just sore muscles from adjusting to walking on three legs. But then, he's done it intermittently since then when moving around or being carried. He is eating, drinking and going potty normally.
He's at the vet now to have the stitches removed and for his first chemo. The tech told me when I dropped him off that she would have the vet do a full exam and bloodwork before starting chemo and call me with his thoughts.
I am terrified that this is something bad. I keep thinking maybe the cancer has spread and he's hurting from that... Please keep him in your thoughts this morning. 
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/
Zeus I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. Hang in there!
Marla & Daisy
My Two Tripawds...Biscuit 
and Spirit Daisy 
Sorry to hear that Zeus has been whining. I'm sending lots of pawsitive thoughts & prayers your way! Let us know what the vet says.
Sending you many, many golden hugs...
Cathy
Welcome to the family. I will offer a thought or two. Could possibly be phantom pain , but with my limited experience with that it usually happens for just a few seconds at a time, and when it first starts it can be heart wrenching howls. Gus had it and gabapentin worked to help, so if Zeus is on that already, it could be helping to tone down the pain. sometimes the meds play games with these guys, so could be a side effect of that. In my time here I can't say I have seen where someone found the cancer spreading from whimpering. Your only 12 out, so for the trauma of what Zeus went through, I would watch him, but it could be just part of the healing. Maybe he need some adjusting of pain meds, your vet should help you with that. Unfortunately, this crap will make you think the worst at every little thing that might seem out of the ordinary. Each of these guys heal a little different, but by now if you've been a little sleep deprived, little things start to seem huge, but don't ignore something you feel might need addressed either. good luck at the vet, Paws Up, Spirit Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
Whooo Hoooo! Dr. Rider just called and said all bloodwork looks good, incision looks good. Full physical exam shows some tenderness in his back, which he thinks it is just a "tweek" or muscle strain. They are proceeding with chemo and will call me to pick him up as soon as they are done!
What a number this whole process can play on your emotions! Thanks for listening and for the well-wishes!
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/
Glad to hear it is probably just a muscle strain. This is unfortunately part of the process – you worry that everything is the cancer spreading. Abby sprained her toe (on her remaining front leg) this summer and was suddenly lame and I thought for sure the cancer had spread. Took her to the vet to find it was just a toe problem. Phew!
So, we've been there and know how it feels! The power of pawsitive thinking from Team Tripawds is an amazing thing!
Hope he breezes through the chemo!
All the best,
Jackie, 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!
Hi Zeus and family,
I haven't met you yet so I am just chiming in too late to do other than welcome you here. I am glad all turned out okay! It is a complete roller coaster ride from here on, but gets somewhat better after the all the chemo.
Best of luck,
Elizabeth and Sammy
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
Yay for it just being a muscle strain! Good luck with the Chemo! Sending you guys pawsitive thoughts!
Jenna & Spirit Chili Dawg
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.
Thank you all so very much. We are still having some whimpering, but we have found the muscle in his back that seems to spasm when he walks. We can actually feel it spasm and it seems to help if we massage it. I'm also trying some moist heat.
I went yesterday and bought an additional Orthopedic pet bed because the futon mattress in the floor seems to make it harder for him to get up. Also bought Halo food and all the ingredients from Dr. Dressler's list. We have decided to go with a 1/2 Halo, 1/2 cooked diet for him because he has always eaten dry food and we think he will do better with that combo. My husband is quite amused that the dog will have to suffer through my cooking now! 
It is so comforting to have all of your support and advice! Thank you all so much.
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/
Welcome Zeus and family!
Sorry to hear about the spasms! But glad he is doing well otherwise!
My Comet who was born a tripawd and lived 12 years had neck issues in her last 1 1/2 year. We took and put her under a heating pad and she loved it! I'd get a dish towel and place it in microwave for 20 seconds to warm it up and then place another towel over it and then the heating pad on low. (moist heat goes deeper - opens up the pores). Then to hold it all in place I placed heavy towels on top of her. So she wouldn't get hot, I'd put a floor fan on her face. She would sleep there for sometimes an hour. And I could tell she felt so much better afterwards.
It's a quick and easy way to rid of muscle tension. We, of course gave lots of neck and back massages too.
Sending Zeus spasm-free wishes!
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.
You're so welcome! Sounds like things are getting under control. You're doing super at reading his physical cues and finding ways to help him feel better.
His diet sounds great, he'll definitely get a lot of healthy anti-cancer bonuses in there. Halo is a quality food. When you start to add the home cooked, you may want to consider adding a probiotic powder to help his belly digest it without any issues (not that your cooking would be the problem!).
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Charlie's surgery was 10/31/11...right front leg amp also for soft tissue sarcoma. He is 8 years old. I just wanted to let you know that he also whined/cried for a long time. We felt he could never get comfortable. My husband slept on the first floor with him for about a month. It seemed really hard and made us feel like we did the worst thing. The gabapentin that someone else suggested really helped Charlie. At 35 days out or so, Charlie is completely back to being himself. We got our stairs carpeted and that has helped. He was really nervous coming down. The ruff wear harness is also incredible. It's great because it has the handle on the top and you can really help guide them. We are still using it on our trips down the stairs.
We finally realized that time was what Charlie needed. We also discovered that the change in his routine really threw him off. Getting back to our everyday as much as we could really made a difference. We kept him off the stairs for the first month due to our own fears. At first, my husband tried to carry him and he would yelp so, my husband brought a mattress down with him.
I know we are chiming in late but, we can totally relate to the crying and Charlie has stopped and seems to be back to himself!
Keep your chins up!!!
Well, Zeus started chemo on Friday and tonight he has some diarrhea. I just called the vet (our vet has 24-hour emergency service) and they will have meds ready for pick-up in the morning. Goodness, this really is a roller coaster ride, isn't it? I am so thankful that he can go to work with me so I can keep an eye on him.
It is amazing what we will do for these precious beings. We have always had carpeted steps to our bed but we were worried about Zeus losing his balance on them so we disassembled our bed and we are sleeping on a mattress on the floor with him. We carry him up/down the stairs and all of the furniture is blocked off so that he can't try to jump up. He has a futon mattress and several dog beds in the family room floor, all hardwoods and ceramic tile has been covered with runners and rugs, we are switching his diet and treats, and I have bought sweaters and coats since he seems cold without his fur (we live in PA, and it is so cold here). I am VERY open to any other suggestions if anyone has ideas for how to make life simpler/safer for him!
I feel like I have been very needy these last few days and apologize for all the posts. I really do appreciate all of your input more than you know.
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/
Lisa, please don't even think about appearing "needy" and posting often. That is what this amazing family is all about: helping each other to help our beloved pooches get through this rotten cancer. Everyone here wants to offer whatever support and advice we can!! You sound like you have really thought through and come up with lots of great ways to be there for Zeus as he recovers.
Your house sounds very much like ours in the weeks right after Sylvia's amputation - We moved furniture out of our dining room so that we could bring a futon mattress in (for me and my husband to sleep on, but Miss Sylvia spent much of her recovery time there!) and create a "recovery room" for her away from our other two dogs. Our kitchen floor is still completely covered with mats!
One thing we noticed about the futon was that as she was initially recovering from the amputation surgery, getting on and off the mattress - and it was on the floor - seemed difficult for her. And she actually avoided the orthopedic dog bed we bought her. My take on this was that she was too unsteady getting used to the lack of a leg and the sponginess of both the futon and the bed exacerbated her unsteadiness. Once we deemed her O.K. enough to end her confinement in the "recovery room", it actually didn't really take very long for her to seek out her special orthopedic bed .
Zeus and Sylvia also had back issues in common. We were lucky, as Sylvia's back tenderness didn't manifest in spasms, but we did go through a month's crate rest with her, based on her surgeon's advice. If I had it to do over again, I don't think that we would have tried the "strict crate rest" as long as we did. I think it was harder on her (she did lots of jumping around in the crate). Most significantly, the reason that we opted for the amputation and chemotherapy route was to give her not only a longer life, but a better quality of life. She was so unhappy with having to be in the crate so much, and I feel like we deprived her of nearly a month of good life.
My gut had told me that physical therapy was the way to go and I hounded the surgeon about trying that. Ultimately, we did a bit over a month's worth of visits to the physical therapist (and did exercises at home), started her on Gabapentin, and switched her to Hill's Prescription JD dog food, began taking her for more walks, and within a short time her back pain seemed to be a thing of the past. She never did have any additional back issues 
You are so lucky that you are able to take him to work with you! If Zeus is up to it, physically, I'm sure that being with you is some of the best medicine you could offer. It sounds like Zeus is a very lucky guy to have such a loving pawrent!
Hang in there, Lisa. It sounds like you are definitely on the right track for Zeus's recovery!!
- Karen and Spirit Silly Sheepdog Sylvie
Sweet Silly Sylvie, the Old English Sheepdog
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma 11/04/2010 at almost 7 years of age * Left hind leg amputated 11/09/2010 * Chemo on 12/10, 12/17, 01/10, 01/31
Sweet Sylvie's earthly journey ended on Nov. 3, 2011, one day short of a year since her diagnosis and 6 days short of her one-year ampuversary. Her family celebrates her life as a sheepdog – ever the puppy, ever silly, ever sweet – and are grateful for our 7 years together.
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