Amputation Experience

[celeste]

Doing a bit of research for a friend who's dog Alice had a tumour taken off her back leg at the beginning of the year, op went well but she had to get extensive skin grafts, months on and the grafts haven't done as well as hoped and it now looks like Alice will have to have the leg off, does anybody have any experience of this ? I'm looking for info on how long the dog had to stay in after the op, how long the convalescence was and how the dog coped, did the dog get a cart ?. Strangely enough the Dick Vet aren't keen on carts, dunno why, my friend also has the chance to have a custom made prosthetic for the limb but again the vet isn't keen, mainly because it's a very new thing and they have no experience of dogs with prosthetics.

[Jacobean]

Yes Sheena my collie x had a full leg amputation last year due to an abnormal lump. She's no longer with us so it's a bit delicate for me to discuss it but your friend can pm me as many questions as she likes.

 

Dogs very quickly adapt to losing a leg and don't miss it one bit so she needn't worry about that. Sheena had to have her op done at a specialists as hers was a very tricky operation. From memory she was there for about 4 days. She came home when the drain was taken out. They can't walk unaided to start with and have to be on complete rest. At that stage they don't want to move about too much anyway. They can hop about to go eat and drink and can pee/poop normally but will need help to stand up. We were sent home with a sling to put under her tummy to help support her when she moved.

 

It's more of a worry to the human than the dog. They seem to just cope as long as they have your support.

 

The wound needs to be bathed a few times a day with salt water to keep it free of infection. Sheena had staples. Her hole where the drain had been leaked at first which had me worried. I just bathed it and it stopped a day or so afterwards. It's very scary when you first bring them home and have to cope with it but if I can do it anyone can. I'm also normally very squeamish but it was me that cared for her wound. I've probably missed loads. It's over a year ago and you soon forget these things. I'm here any time your friend wants to get in touch before, during and afterwards.

 

Sheena was able to go for little walks soon after the operation as she needed to get used to it and build the strength in her other legs. I used to totter around with her with her sling under her tum. She amazed me how quickly she was able to do longer walks. She recovered quicker than the specialists said she would.

 

Your friend needn't worry that her doglet won't be able to do normal things. Sheena could go up and down stairs easily, run around like a loon and play fight with our other dogs just a few months after.

 

Hers was a back leg and as I say there was no stump left. The whole lot was removed.

 

My hubby and I had to take time off work so someone would be here for her 24/7 for a while. I slept with her in the living room for about 3 weeks as well incase she tried to jump on furniture or needed me.

 

I was very positive around her and gave her loads of encouragement. I think that really helped her. No crying, stress or worry around the dog and they do just fine.

Edited August 15, 2008 by Jacobean

[celeste]

Thank you so much for your reply especially since Sheena passed on ,so must be difficult for you . All that info is really helpfull, Alice has gone through so much with the failed skin graft that her owner is wishing she'd gone for amputation in the first place, my friend realises that Alice will get on fine with a missing leg, it's her back leg, but she was concerned that there would be yet another long drawn out recovery on the cards, so encouraging that Sheena was mobile quickly.

[griff]

not a dog but you know dex has only got 3 legs, from what i can recall he got himself up pretty much as soon as he came out of the anaesthetic, he stayed at the vets for 2 days just to be sure and then he came home, he has no bother at all from his leg but usually once ayear he has an anti inflammatory for his other leg. my friends dog had his back leg amputated and he did wonderfully well, being a boy he used to do a handstand on his front legs and wee never seen anything like that before he was pts a short time later but that was nothing at all to do with his amputation. i think it affects us humans more than it affects the dogs/cats, they just seem to get up, get their balance and get on with things

[celeste]

not a dog but you know dex has only got 3 legs, from what i can recall he got himself up pretty much as soon as he came out of the anaesthetic, he stayed at the vets for 2 days just to be sure and then he came home, he has no bother at all from his leg but usually once ayear he has an anti inflammatory for his other leg. my friends dog had his back leg amputated and he did wonderfully well, being a boy he used to do a handstand on his front legs and wee never seen anything like that before he was pts a short time later but that was nothing at all to do with his amputation. i think it affects us humans more than it affects the dogs/cats, they just seem to get up, get their balance and get on with things

 

What a complete tube I forgot Dex had his leg off , thanks Kelly, I will speak to my friend on Monday, she was going to discuss all the ins and outs with her husband over the weekend.

[Rumpole]

chris ryder at bullmastiff rescue has a three legged male called kruger the amputation was done just prior to her getting him in and he adapted really well he has a front leg missing and is a heavy dog but he manages the very steep stairs in her cottage with no problem at all.

[Laurel n Hardy]

no advise or experience but loads of on the way from all us here

[jane-f]

Dogs do great after the op, most are up and running around with in weeks,

the lurcher link race day we did not long ago, to raise funds for LL,

we had a tripod race, all 3 dogs have only had one of there back legs removed with in the last year,

Dorry one of the dogs, went through the same - skin graph after skin graft, and it never worked they tried for months,

Dorrys owner will even tell you its the best thing she ever did having the leg removed, Dorry is much happier.

 

Not a very good picture, but it shows they can still move like the wind.

 

[yena]

Never had an animal that had needed an amputation. But, my Tillee had to have her eyes removed 8/9 weeks ago, the Refuge members were my life line, they helped me with any doubts I had, whether I was doing the right thing or not. Now, you would never know Tillee was blind, she runs around, even passed her Bronze KC last week. So tell your friend, not to worry her dog will cope with just the three legs, and will probably be running around in no time

[ClazUK]

Jack, who is now with my ex, had to have a leg removed. He was attacked by another dog and the muscle was so badly damaged (and the lack of skin was also an issue) he had the leg removed. He copes really well without it, as do many dogs (including several White Lodge greys & lurchers). What sort of dog is Alice?

[celeste]

What sort of dog is Alice?

 

Alice is a GSD, she's a big lass and this has been part of the problem with the skin grafts, they were pretty extensive and because of her size, they will do well for a time, but then just break down again. From all your positive reports I hope they will make the decision to amputate sooner rather than later, they have been offered the choice of daily dressing changes in the hope this will improve matters, but to me it would seem that would still entail another lengthy period of house rest, with no guarantee it wouldn't break down again

 

Thank you so much for the good wishes and reply's ,I know my friend will be very gratefull

[DanishPastry]

I work in boarding kennels, and we have a regular visitor with 3 legs She is a large rhodesian ridgeback, and she has no trouble at all and will run and play like any other dog

[Carrie]

Hello all, Jane told me about this topic at the weekend. I'm the owner of Dory, the Lurcher who Jane has already written about. Dory was in a snare before we found her and the vet guessed that her wound at that stage was already a couple of weeks old. She had all the bones in her back leg exposed and had lost tendons etc. Initially we expected that the vet at the hospital would choose to amputate as soon as he saw her, but he said she still had feeling in the leg and she'd looked after the wound well, so he wanted to try to save it.

 

Initially she was bandaged and the vet wanted to do a skin graft. When she had her GA for that graft he found that her skin / flesh was just too badly scarred and immobile, so he couldn't do the graft. That meant the start of a long process trying to get the leg to heal. Bandaged at first, but that led to pressure sores and she ended up with a bad fever as a result of those. After that we had to try to just let the leg heal naturally because of all the additional problems the bandages were causing. Months later and the leg healed, but the skin was just so thin that the slightest knock caused damage again and so the decision was taken to try another skin graft. As she'd been in very poor condition when found, the vet was hoping that the condition of her skin might have improved with better diet and overall health. The first graft looked very promising and was going well for a couple of weeks, but then it suddenly failed. After that she went back in for another graft, this one a bigger op taking skin from the top of her leg. The time after that graft really was awful, it was the first time Dory was obviously in a lot of pain and we had problems with fluid building up behind the graft. She was having her dressings changed daily and her leg was about 3 times the size it should be and although the vet said the graft was taking, her whole leg was this horrible black colour. We had a week and a half of that and shortly after her stitches were removed from the top of her leg, we got up to find her leg smelling horribly. She was readmitted and the vet came in to assess her on his day off, the news wasn't unexpected, the graft had failed.

 

The next day I was given the choice of trying to let her leg heal again or amputate. It really wasn't an option to try healing her leg again, I couldn't put her through anymore pain, she'd been through so much with that second graft. My only concern was whether there were likely to be problems with the surgical wound healing (I'll admit that by that stage I was paranoid due to the fact she would damage her wound just getting up off her bed). As well as speaking to the vets, I also spoke to Kaye from Lurcher Link to ask whether she'd ever had any problems with surgical wounds not healing on lurchers and what her experiences were with tripods. Both reassured that there should be no problems with a surgical wound.

 

If it's a rear leg amputation they will remove the whole leg to avoid damage to any remaining part of a limb which would essentially flap around without the dog being able to control it.

 

So, Dory had her amputation op whilst I was 240 miles away on a business trip and we were told that she'd stay in the hospital for 24 hours and then we could pick her up. When we picked her up the next day we were greeted with the first tail wag she'd done since that second graft was done. Kaye had said that some of the tripods she'd known had jumped into the car when picked up from the vets, Dory was obviously still tired and had to be lifted in and that day we just left her quietly on her bed once she got home.

 

We were told that there was no reason she couldn't do anything and that she could go on walks as normal until the staples were removed. The following day she was very lively and pottering around the house quite happily with my Labrador. We only gave her a short walk, but it was obvious she could have done longer if allowed. Just a few days later and before she had her staples out, she did a 4 mile walk on rough terrain over the moors. She had her staples removed after 12 days (could have been 10, but it was a weekend). Once the staples were removed there was just one section, the length between two staples, which was weeping a little bit and so it took about a week for that to heal completely. She was very good and never tried to get at the wound or staples the whole time it was healing.

 

The longest part of her recovery was waiting for her bruises to fade. All of her tummy and all down the inside of her remaining back leg was bruised. Those bruises really did look very nasty and would vary in intensity and coverage through the day, almost as if exercise brought more blood to the surface. Given how bruised and swelled her tummy was, it wasn't really any surprise to find that she was temporarily incontinent. We found that she would have a little wee when jumping or being lifted in and out of the car and when sleeping overnight. It took about a month for that incontinence to stop.

 

The drawback of having a tripod - all the people who stop you on walks and comment on what a shame it is. Those people would never say that if they got to see her running around! She might not have quite the stamina for longer bursts of running like she did before, but is still very fast and enjoys running round like a mad thing. She also loves long walks. If you're walking with a tripod you soon find that walking at a faster pace is easier for them than walking at a slower pace. Dory isn't keen on going up steps (it's her decision not to come upstairs in the house very often), but is perfectly capable of doing. Sometimes I do wonder if she'll have joint trouble in later life (she's thought to be about 6 years old) because quite often she stands with her remaining back leg at quite a twisted angle, I guess it makes it easier for weight distribution. Not something that's worth worrying about though, it's just something we'll deal with if it ever becomes necessary.

 

Here she is in February with her big bandage after her second graft. She was a very poorly little girl at this point who didn't want to know about anything in life.

 

A couple of weeks after her amputation in March this year.

 

Out on a walk at the end of March, you can see her fur still hadn't grown back at this point.

 

Having a run in early June.

 

 

As Jane has already shown, she took part in a tripod race in June and she was also running on a track yesterday.

 

Finally, a happy little tripod.

[blackmagic]

you might find this site useful http://www.tripawds.com/

[celeste]

Hi Carrie, and thank you so much for your reply , you've just described (apart from the reason for the skin graft) what Alice has been going through, I think her owners are going to see how things are at the end of this week and go from there, I wonder if you'd mind if my friend got in touch via E mail with you ? She might not need to, but I told her that someone else had a dog with a failed skin graft and she seemed quite keen to pick your brains.