Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My girl has right leg amputated yestryest. She's a 43 kilo chocolate labLabra. Shes eating and wagging her tail but I've only managed to get her to stand once. I know it's super early days but I keep seeing how dogs get up straight away and I'm so worried.
Hi Becky,
I'm so sorry about your pup. What is her name and what was the reason for the amputation?
Yes, it's very early, you are correct. I know you're worried, but this isn't all that unusual. Has she been going to the bathroom? How are you helping her stand? Are your floors slippery?
Also, what kind of pain medication is she on? She may be woozy from the medications.
At 43kg she's on the large side for a female Lab. Does your vet think she needs to lose weight? If so, the extra pounds may be affecting her mobility so losing the weight will help tremendously. We have lots of weight loss tips in our Tripawds Nutrition blog .
For now, try not to compare her recovery with others. All dogs recover on their own timeline because every dog is different. We will be here to help every step of the way.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Her name is Nina, she's lost 3 kilos since we knew amputation was the only option so moving in the right direction. She had neoplasia so had the back right leg removed. She's eating and drinking well just need her to potty now. I've been helping her outside with a blanket around her middle. She has walked a little to take herself to the water bowl today but it took a lot out of her so headed straight back to her bed. They've sent her home with tramadol as pain relief.
Hi there sweetie 🌸
Let me just tell you these are super early days, she had her surgery yesterday!
It is completely normal she is heading back to bed at first opportunity.
She is doing really well, eating, drinking and she even walked to the water bowl, wow!
Pooping may take several days, our record here is 6 days of my memory is not failing me.
For now, let her rest, rest, rest.
She needs time to recover and time to adjust to her new normal.
Be patient, you’ll have your girl back, just give her time ☺️
Hugs and cuddles 😘🐮💫✨🌟🌹
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Welcome Nina and her hooman. You've come to the gest place for understanding and information.
I know it's hard 5o ne patient. Try and remember during these early days and weeks of recovery, Nina just had MAJOR SURGERY!! She's also learning how to adjust to three legs! A human woukd still be in the hospital on a morphine drip!!
On top of everything else, she's still shaking off the anesthesia and strong hospital meds. Speaking of which. keep a close eye on any signs for pain, many dogs here come home with Gabapentin and Rimadyl in addition to the Tramadol. Guess Nina is also on an antibiotic just as a precaution?
As Teresa said, to already be eating and drinking, as well as taking a few steps, is SPECTACULAR!!! No worries about pooping for now, but peeing is important. Hopefully she has peed by now.
TRY and get some rest. Getting to this point is stressful, exhausting physically and emotionally! So take care of yourself and try and grab some naps as you can. And eat lots of CHOCOLATE!! IT HELPS!!
STAY CONNECTED and let us know if you have any questions. Update as you can.
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!
Yep biggest pee ever last night , I'm sure my whole town heard me cheering her on !! Much more settled last night but not up for getting up this morning. Had a few dog biscuits and a good drink with her meds and back to sleep. They gave me tramadol and carprofen ( I think that's its name , it's an anti inflammatory) she had a good dose of antibiotics pre surgery as the tumor was infected quite badly. I got a tail wag and she requested a belly rub before I left for work so hopefully headed in the right direction. She's got my Dad wrapped around her finger so plenty more hugs for her whilst I'm out!
She sounds like she's doing great! We're post op day 14 with our Murphy. He's a golden and also had the rear leg amputated. The first couple of days he barely ate and we had to make him get up to go pee. So I think Nina is doing great. As Sally said they have to blow off that anesthetic too and it makes them pretty woozy. As long as you keep on top of the pain she should come along nicely and you're going to be amazed at her progress in the next couple of weeks.
Val
No pee today but I have had her up and outside with help. Eating and drinking ok so no concerns there. Check up with vet tomorrow so will ask about pain relief, she seems pretty settled at times but is still yelping when she moves sometimes. Tail still wagging though 😀
YAY FOR TAIL WAGS, TUMMY RUBS AND EATING!!!!😁😁😁😁 Great news!!! And YAY FOR PEE😁
Sounds like Nina is having a fairly "normal" recovery this early on. She knows she needs to rest to heal so good that she's not attempting to overdo it. Aounds like her pajn is being managed fairly well. Let your Vet know about the yelps and he may adjust the dose and frequency of the pain meds. You can also ask about Gabapentin.
You're doing a great job!
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!
Update. Vet was really happy with Nina's progress and how the op site was looking. Tramadol finished yesterday ( 3 days post op) so now just on anti inflammatory , not sure how she's managing but will ring vet if she doesn't cope. Second post surgery pee this morning and finally the post surgery poop so a few less things to worry about. Managed breakfast and a bit of water but seems a bit subdued this morning.
YAAAAAAAAY FOR 
!!!! HOPPY POOP DANCE!!!
Keep a good eye on the frequency of pee, okay? Try and e tice her to drink water. Maybe put a little chicken broth or even a scoop on ice cream swirled in. You want her peeing mpre than she is.
Now, you're gonna hear all of is say she needs pain meds! There are all sorts of links (the techies will post them for you) a put necessary pain management for dogs. You even had to advocate to get her the three days worth (good job), so clearly your Vet isn't up to date on how much MAJOR AMPUTATION SURGERY HURTS!!!
Resting is good. Laying around a bit mopey though could mean she's in pain. Not a Vet and not giving Vet advice, but would ask for at least AT LEAST, enough pain meds to get her through the week end so you wouldn't need any ER visit for pain management . Pain slows down the healing process.
Thanks fot rhe uodate and the good news about
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!
Yeah, three days seems awfully short for the Tramadol. Rocky was on Tramadol for close to three weeks after his surgery. I would definitely double check with your vet about that.
David and Rocky (and Baxter now too!)
Rocky had his right front leg amputated on Valentine's Day 2017 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
He joined the September Saints on September 3, 2017.
He is the toughest, bravest, sweetest and best friend I'll ever know.
I'm in agreement that it seems too soon for the pain meds. Murphy is 16 days post op and we gave him the tramadol pretty regularly until post op 12. He's pretty well off now but he had some incision complications so he still gets the odd one.
Val
Vets seem pretty adamant that she will be ok on just anti inflammation drugs. I'm giving it till Monday and if she's struggling I'll call them. We had a bit of blood last night , emergency vet ( on the phone) thinks she may have moved a stitch. Wound is still mostly closed and bleeding has mostly stopped overnight so fingers crossed. She's reluctant to move unless she really has to ( I can relate 😂) so toileting is sporadic although she is eating fine and drinking plenty. The tail is still wagging and belly runs still be requested so I'm hoping we're still moving in the right direction.
Good job of staying on top of the bleeding. A little bit of oozing is normal, but of it becomes excessive or puss or stinky, then that needs to be addressed. And yes, wound should still be closed.
Moving only if she has to is smart. AND, I'm sure she hurts!! DO NOT HESITATE TO INSIST ON MORE PAIN MEDS!! You are her advocate!! Surgeons only see the dog at the clinic on hospital pajn meed. They didn't see the week or two after like we do! . If you have access to another Vet, perhaps they will fill a prescription for you? I certainly hope that Vet never has MAJOR Surgery and is basically given nothing more than an "aspirin" ....then again, it may be a great life lesson!😎
And YAAAAAAAAY FOR TAIL WAGS!! Eating and drinking too? YAAAAAAAAY!!😁😁
Thanks for the update. Try and get some rest yourself, okay?
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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