A little more bad news

Was just at the vet's. There has been a complication. My dog will be having her leg amputated tomorrow A.M. I am sad and shocked but in my rational moments realize that she'll be happier, healthier, and out of pain sooner this way. There are lots of irrational moments though. It's harder to stand by helpless near the pain of someone else than to have it yourself, I think. I actually can't stop trembling, although I've mostly been able to stop crying.

Comments

[A. Rickey]

My condolences, and wishes for her speedy recovery.

[transmogriflaw]

:( Poor dog, and poor you!

I know a three-legged dog, and he runs around as fast and as cheerfully as the four-legged ones. He's a happy, healthy dog.

I hope your dog recovers swifly and with spirit.

*hugs*

[Hal O'Brien]

I'm so very sorry.

I hope you both come through this OK.

[bt]

Oh. Dear.

My condolences to both of you. May you both keep your chins up.

[win]

Thinking of you and our favorite little black dog with affection. Our best wishes for a speedy recovery for you both. Toby sends his fondest personal regards.

[Dave]

My two pups wish yours the best. And they say that they don't care how many legs she has, they would have no qualms about wrestling and sniffing and running and playing with her.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

[Prof. Bainbridge]

Big hug from So. Calif. Steve

[ames]

I had a three legged cat when I was a child. Honestly, I don't think he even noticed he was missing a leg (it was amputated after he was hit by a car) - he still ran around, picked fights, and was the king of the neighborhood.

::pets:: to your puppy, and hugs to you. I don't think I've commented here before, but I am a Constant Reader, and I hope things start going a little better soon.

[Jen]

Hi, I'm taking my dog in about an hour for his leg amputation tomorrow AM. I'm really scared. He was hit by a car 1 1/2 years ago and the plate put in his leg never healed. So, now we have to remove the leg. I'm glad I found this site, I feel a little better about it now.
Jen

[Joy]

Hey, Jen, How is your pup? I hope he is up and recovering. At about the same time, our 13 yr old dog had her back leg amputated, too (tumor). She is up and walking - and faster than she used to! Dogs are amazing - she had to "re-learn" things, like squatting differently when she goes outside, and she learned this in no time at all. The only problem she has is on our tiled kitchen floor - she slides and falls. We put down rug runners, but now she's scared to go in the kitchen. Any help, anyone, does this go away? Thanks to all and lots of love to our dear 3 legged friends

[Anna]

My 13-year-old German Shepherd mix had her right front shoulder and leg amputated back in October because of a tumor. She's doing well now and has completely adjusted.

Joy, it took about a month for my dog to fully get used to everything. Stairs were a problem for a few months. Now she can go up and down with little trouble, but we keep her on the leash just in case.

Your girl will probably get used to the kitchen in time. When she starts feeling more confident, I'm sure she'll start venturing in there again.

[Valerie]

I have a 3 month old rescue shephard mix who had a rear leg amputated at 3 weeks due to ivy cutting off the blood flow. He stumps around, and doesn't use his rear leg much. Anyone have exercises to help strengthen his remaining rear leg? He will be over 100lb as an adult, so its important he gains strength now! Thanks

[Deb]

Our 100# lab/rott (12yrs) had her left front shoulder and leg amputated yesterday because of synovial cell sarcoma. I dropped her off in the morning and cried for about 2 hours afterwards at a friends homes. I went in to pick her up today but the vet called on my way in and said she needed to stay longer for the patch of pain meds to kick in. My husband picked her up after work. He called me on his way home and I could hear her moaning.She didn't want to get out of the car. We tried to get her to potty but she wouldn't. She will not let me out of her sight. If I leave the room she tries to come find me and slips on the vinyl kitchen floor. Any thoughts on the slippery floor? I was thinking of some small booties with skid pads on them. This is the most traumatizing thing I have had to endure for years. Well, I am off to sleep on the floor with Taz tonight.

[Kelley]

My 11 year-old black lab had his rear left leg amputated two days ago. He is diabetic and had a wound (from March!) that wouldn't heal, even after two prior surgeries to remove his toes. Last weekend, the foot became severely swollen, and it became quite clear that amputation of the leg was his only hope. I am wondering if his behavior at this early point is fairly typical. He is quite apprehensive to move at all. We are using a towel as a sling to help support him when he gets up and attempts to walk. Its very discouraging to see him drag his remaining leg some times, and I find myself wondering if he will figure out how to balance and use that leg. Last night, he even peed on himself while laying down inside rather than relieve himself when we took him outside to do his business. Am I freaking out for nothing? Is what he is doing 'typical' at this point???? Any comments would be appreciated!

[sandy]

Hi ! I need some input. I rescued a burned puppy 4 months ago that was wrapped in a towel and thrown on my tree lawn.He was burned pretty bad on his left side. Took him imediatey to the vet.He has had his skin removed on his left side and is doing great.His leg contracted back form the burn when it closed and healed.It gets in his way. The vet said its up to me but it may be pressing on his rib cage.He is due for surgery tomorrow. Any thoughts??

[Liz]

our dog is

[steve]

I have a female brittany spaniel who has bome cancer in her front leg. Tomorrow I am taking her to Iowa States Vet school to have her leg amputated. She is 10 years old and otherwise healthy. This is absolutely tearing me up inside. I hope I am doing the right thing as I love Missy sooo much

[dorsey]

i am trying to decide whether to amputate a front leg (shepherd/lab mix-75#-12 years old) or put her to sleep--cancer tumor in her shoulder.killing me, of course. any feedback?

[dorsey]

wrong posting---dorsey is the one writing about the lab/shepherd mix with cancer. but it came up as steve. i need advice--take the front leg off or put her down. she's 12, 75#.

[Erk]

We learned yesterday that our 9-year-old lab mix has Osteosarcoma (Bone cancer). The tumor is on the upper front left leg. She is going in Thursday for a biopsy which will very likely comfirm the diagnosis. The vet feels that it has not spread to from the leg yet. We plan to go ahead with amputation. If, in fact, the cancer has not spread, she can still have a decent/good quality of life. This is a very difficult time for me, but this is what happens when we decide to be animal-lovers.

[jeff]

My 6 year old black cocker spaniel, Casey, was hit by a car the other day. After 2 days at the vet we took him home and there was no indication of any problems - no broken bones, just slight problems breathing. He was recovering just fine but after 3 days we took him for a short walk and he starting limping on his front left leg and now 24 hours later he cannot put any pressure on the leg and we have consulted 2 vets that have told us to wait 3 or 4 days to see if there is any improvement, if not then we might have to amputate the limb. They think that it is nerve damage. Is there anyone out there that has had a similar situation? What was the outcome?

Any prayers for Casey would be much appreciated.

Jeff

[Cindy]

Hi Everybody! I have an almost 14 year old, female Australian cattle dog mix (Tippy). She had some kind of cancerous tumor removed on her right hind leg about 1 1/2 years ago and it recently came back and became ulcerated. I took her to the veternarian yesterday and was told it probably wouldn't do any good just to remove the tumor. I brought up the subject of amputation. I think the vet thought because of her age, I might want to consider putting her to sleep, and I considered it but when I looked at that sweet face, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I've had her since she was about 10-12 weeks old. I got her and her full sister at the same time. They were never separated. Patch (her sister) died in Decmeber so we have been going through a bit of a mourning phase. I know that Tippy is probably a little lonesome even though I try to spend time with her. Anyway, she had surgery today and the vet said she came through fine. I didn't go see her, although I wanted to. The vet said it was probably best not to let her get to excited tonight. But I keep second guessing myself, wondering if I did the right thing. I feel better after reading all the posts but still feel very sad and unsure of my decision. I don't want her to live in pain and keep her just because I love her, but at the same time, I keep thinking that she has a right to live. She and her sister both had parvo as puppies and spent countless hours in the vets office with IV fluids, blood transfusions, etc. So she is a fighter and has a strong will to live, I think. I know I have rambled, bt it feels so good to share this with people who understand my anguish. Thanks again.

[Robyn]

Hi Everyone! I found this site last summer when my lab got ran over and had to have his hind leg amputated. He's doing great! He runs and plays just the same! The only difference is he really likes his neck scratched since he can't do it anymore. We're so glad that we still have him and we definitely don't have regrets about amputating. One thing that the vets forwarned us about was that he'd definitely develop arthrits - He's only about 3 years old but we started him on glucosamine a couple months ago (the kind you buy in the pharmacy) and it's helped him alot, especially when he's been sleeping for a while, he doesn't have trouble getting up anymore. We just try to keep him as comfortable as we can!
And to Cindy with the Australian Shepherd - I think you made the right choice! I think we owe it to our pets to give them the benefit of the doubt and do what we can for them! They don't give up on us, so we shouldn't give up on them!

[Cindy]

Thanks Robyn! Tippy is 10 days out from her surgery and is doing great. The veternarian has been amazed at how well she is doing. I know now that I definitely made the right decision. And, now more than ever, I treasure the time I have with her. Cindy

[Robyn]

That's great she's doing so well Cindy! We'll have to swap photos sometime of them! I've got a drawing of Rocky on my website (He's under the "dog portraits" second one down on the webpage - it's just a headshot of him....www.cookartstudio.com
maybe I could do a little sketch of your pup?!
Best of luck to you and Tippy!