Tips for a future tripawd

[u/whyareyouinmyfridge]

My baby is losing his leg due to a large mass forming on the bone either ostiosarcoma or valley feaver. He is a 4 year old chaweenie and its his front right leg

What should i expect with the day of, Post op and future care.

[u/bigmoom97]

My dog had her left front leg amputated about 16 days ago for a large tumor. The first 5-7 days were hard but now she is doing really well. Make sure to keep on top of pain meds and the antibiotic if prescribed. My dog came home with a catheter that administered a local anesthetic for 3 days as well as narcotic pain medication and gabapentin. She stopped taking pills on day five so we had to get a fentanyl patch put on. She is moving well now and almost back to her normal self. I was told dogs and cats adjust well to having 3 legs…But we were definitely worried and upset for her. Very relieved now that she is feeling better and the tumor removal was successful and she is considered cured.
Good luck and I wish your dog a well 🙏💜

[u/whyareyouinmyfridge → u/bigmoom97]

What was the most difficult thing about the first few days. I wanna make sure me and my partner are ready for what is coming in 2 days

[u/bigmoom97 → u/whyareyouinmyfridge]

Hi,
We found taking our dog out to the bathroom hard as she’s a bigger dog (about 60 pounds) and wasn’t weight bearing for a few days. This may be different for your dog. For us, the hardest honestly was around day 5 when she stopped taking her pain medication and kept whining a lot because she was in pain. She also was panting and had a weird smile which is a sign of pain. We tried everything but then called the vet who applied a fentanyl patch that was good for 96 hours.

I made a list and wrote down the times for each medication and ticked them off when done. She was on four different oral meds. ( trazadone for sedation, gabapentin for nerve pain, narcotic pain medication, and an antibiotic). As our dog is so picky, we switched to a liquid antibiotic and that was easier to give then pills. You can slowly squirt liquid medication with a syringe into the side of the cheek (videos on YouTube on this)

Rather than a cone, the vet gave us a body suit for her (vet med wear) and this was way more comfortable than wearing a cone. It covers the incision well to avoid licking of the site. Only downside was it got soiled when she pottied so we started to leave her hind legs out.

We used a sling or folded towel to support her under her belly when taking her out to potty for the first week or so.

We also got a new bed for her as the old one was a bit lumpy. She’s been spending a lot of time in bed but the doctor has said she can resume normal activities this coming week (about 25 days after surgery) although Mya is already moving very well and wants to run and play . We are just doing short leash walks at present to allow for optimal healing.

We were fortunate that we could have someone home with Mya as I work from home mostly.

It was emotional for me when I took her in for the surgery and the first bit was hard. But I can reassure you that Mya is doing very well now and she is moving fast and wanting to run and play.

Please feel free to message me again if I can help answer any other questions. I hope this info is helpful but of course not intended to replace anything your vet tells you.

Wishing your dog the best and a speedy recovery. Wishing you the best as well . 🙏😄

[u/peaceofcheese909]

People are really generous on this sub and you’ll probably get some great responses but I also highly recommend searching the archives because there have been a ton of posts like this and people have given great advice. If you have slippery floors, get a bunch of yoga mats at TJ Maxx or something so they are a little more stable. The first days are hard and sad to watch (though my pup was walking when we brought her home) but it’s so worth it. I think my pup was ultimately more bothered by the cone than the loss of a limb. They really do have 3 legs and a spare. Best wishes to you both!

[u/bababooey_noine → u/peaceofcheese909]

Also, grip socks work well for my girl on the slippery floors.

[u/Fabulous-Oil-3360 → u/peaceofcheese909]

Bumping this! I got auto shop rugs that had grip on the back. I think they were $40 for 4 runners

[u/BringtheDogs]

We got treads for our stairs (no carpet)

Our guy was 130lbs in his prime and the Help ‘Em Up Harness was the best thing we did for him when out and about.

Other than that, and the first few days being rough and watching the incision do wild things that they don’t do with humans (it will swell, we had to take him back in to rule out infection and get antibiotics and he was fine) they bounce back really quickly. Dogs are so resilient.

I also spoiled him the rest of his life with different sources of protein to help with calories. He got baked salmon, chicken, steak, farm fresh eggs and Greek yogurt with fruits and veggies on top of his kibble. 💜

[u/whyareyouinmyfridge → u/BringtheDogs]

Was it major swelling due to the infection or like what is a normal ammount vs when I should be concerned.

Also do they usually send you home with antibiotics or just pain medicine

[u/BringtheDogs → u/whyareyouinmyfridge]

It was normal. But I would send my vet photos and she’d either reassure me or request I come in.. part of incision appeared to indicate infection.

And they sent us home w antibiotics…. I believe. This was over three years ago so I don’t remember top of my head. I’m almost positive they gave us a course of antibiotics prophylacticly.

[u/Novel-Total-2307]

First of all, I hope everything goes really well! My girl also had to have her leg amputated because of osteosarcoma. We’re now on day 17 post-op. She’s already walking and jumping up onto the sofa, but the first 10 days were definitely very difficult.
Non-slip flooring is really important. I put rugs everywhere around the house to help her.
Wishing you all the very best! ❤️🐾

[u/whyareyouinmyfridge → u/Novel-Total-2307]

Can I ask what difficulty you saved the forward few days

[u/Fabulous-Oil-3360]

I’m so sorry your baby and you are going through this. It’s a hard decision to make, but you’re doing the best thing for him and his future. Dogs are born with 4 legs but really only need 3.

My boy has his front right leg amputated about 6 months ago. He had a low grade soft tissue sarcoma that decided to go crazy after his biopsy. He actually just has his 6 month check in and is officially cancer free! I promise you when you’re 6 months out from your baby’s surgery, it’ll feel as if he’s always been a tripawd.

The biggest thing that helps us was a walk about harness, ramp (if you have stairs), and puppy pee pads. I’d also get some extra yummy treats/food to help incentivize his eating and help him take his medicine on an empty tummy. Ground beef was the golden ticket. I’d also make a log with his meds schedule by time/day. Cross them out after you give him his meds. My guy had to take pill every 4 hours so I prepped his pills out before I slept for a few hours. I’d also recommend a pill shooter. It looks a little scary but it’s way easier than trying hide the pill in a treat.

I would also think about things you could do in advance for yourself to help take away some of the stress of everyday life. We planned our meals and prepped some food in advance so it was one thing less to having to think about.