Cancerous leg

[trucker1940]

Hi Everybody. My Mary has a cancerous back leg which is to be amputated next week. I would welcome any advice on how she will cope after the op.
David.

[Nettie]

David, I'm sorry to read this, sadly you are not the only one this has happened to, there are a few forum members that have been in the same position and I am sure they will be along soon to give you advice. In the meantime you might want to have a look at www.facebook.com/groups/tripawdsuk/ if you use Facebook or otherwise there is an American site www.tripawds.com where you will also get useful information.

[houndie]

i am so sorry to read this.
afraid i can't give any advice as i (thankfully) have no experience of this but i know many members have and i'm sure you will get a lot of support from them.
good luck and lots of healing thoughts for mary

[Trixie's Mum]

Hello there! Welcome to the forum! I've never experienced this myself so can't give any advice but will be interesting to see what others have to see.
This came to mind but I'm not sure if there more for dogs with difficulty moving or dogs missing limbs . . .
www.dogswheels.com/

[gilli176]

I am on of the forum members whose dog has been through this. At the minute I can only v iew the forum on my phone and it's a pain to do a full on reply. But I posted a thread with pictures of Dizzy's journey around may 23 or 24th as it was her ampuversary. Will try a full reply soon. And good luck

[allthehounds]

Hi David, I'm really sorry to hear about Mary. Our girl Mou was diagnosed with bone cancer in her front left wrist joint last August and she underwent amputation of her front leg up to the shoulder. The surgery went so well that she came home the next day and actually came running out of the vets dragging the vet behind her, it was the best sight! We had a few problems getting the wound to heal though as the stitches/staples kept coming apart and she had to go back a couple of times to have it re-done. She also had a lot of phantom pain and would suddenly start screaming in the middle of the night which was very scary but we got something called Gabapentin from the vet which is really good at controlling nerve pain. The first two weeks were pretty rough on us all and we were fortunate that one of us could always be at home with Mou, I'm not sure we could have done it if we'd both been out all day and we didn't get much sleep when she first came home so get some rest while you can. Once the stitches came out Mou was almost back to normal and it was difficult to stop her over doing it because she wanted to run and jump by then! When she came home from the vet she also had a big bandage wrapped around her and a fentanyl pain patch but we decided along with the vet to remove the bandage after a couple of days because the wound was better with the air circulating around it. Over all most dogs do very well on three legs and adjust so much better than you might imagine but you'll need to help her in the first few days and make sure she learns to balance before letting her of the lead, especially when she goes to the toilet. I can't think what else to tell you about the surgery and obviously it'll be slightly different for a rear leg amputation but feel free to contact me privately if you've got any questions at all or just want some support. It's a very emotional and difficult time and it's such a big decision to make so I know what you're going through. Good luck and let us know how it goes and hugs to you and Mary.
Sian.

[samburns]

Hi David,

I'm really sorry to read that Mary has cancer.....our greyhound Dickie had a front leg amputated just over three months ago due to osteosarcoma. He is doing brilliantly and to be honest sailed through the amputation and has also now had his final course of chemo and continues to do very well

I recently commented on this thread, regarding our experiences with Dickie's amputation, as have others with tripods:

greyhoundgap.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=chat&action=display&thread=70639

And this is Gillian's thread celebrating Dizzy's 'ampuversary'

greyhoundgap.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=chat&action=display&thread=69419

Please do let us know how Mary gets on.....and we'll all be here to offer support - I know we would have found Dickie's healing/recovery process much harder had we not had the support on here from folk who had been through the same experiences with their dogs

[Trixie's Mum]

Jul 30, 2012 20:57:11 GMT -5 samburns said:

And this is Gillian's thread celebrating Dizzy's 'ampuversary'

greyhoundgap.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=chat&action=display&thread=69419

Wow this is truly incredible to see and he looks so happy too!

Makes me more sad though for all the racing greys shot at tracks because they've damaged they're leg

for Mary and Dizzy

[trucker1940]

Thank you All for your kind thoughts and invaluable in formation. I will let you know how Mary gets on after the op. which will take place next Tuesday.
David.