Today is Billie’s first day on 3 feet.
Yesterday my vet asked to meet with me before my surgical appointment for complete leg amputation. She offered me the solution of removing the hock above the origin of cancer and fitting her for a prosthetic foot that she will receive in 2 to 3 weeks. I don’t know ANYONE with a prosthetic canine experience and would welcome the knowledge if anyone reads this post.
She is only 24hrs post op at this point and home. There is a LOT of whining. It is to be expected I’m sure. She is on Tramadol and Gabapentin for the pain. I’m trying not to make a spectacle of it so I can help reduce her anxiety.
June 30th, 2012 at 7:59 PM
most of us had an entire amputation, and just went with the ‘three legs are enough’ concept. can’t think of any folks that went for prosthetics, sorry we’re no help. the first two weeks can be rough, sounds like you have good pain meds – but they do make the pups see pink elephants and act loony…. once you catch your breath, we’d love to see some pictures of billie!!!
charon & spirit gayle
July 1st, 2012 at 10:35 PM
Hi There! Thank you for the response! I was going to do the three legs concept but Billie has some fragile hips and we opted to give her a little extra leverage. What did you experience in those first two weeks recovery? I think my biggest challenge is teaching her to hop walk. She’s got it down with the sling but she tires quickly and I imagine she will build up strength over time?
July 1st, 2012 at 10:45 PM
I just read your site. I apologize, I am new to this site. I’m sorry to read about the loss of your girl. Sounds like she was a true fighter.
July 2nd, 2012 at 9:08 AM
no apologies!!! gayle was a beautiful girl, she was my heart dog, and sister. yes she was a fighter, but we bet billie will be quite the fighter too!!!! the first two weeks can be rough, but this is major surgery, and the pain meds make the pups so very loopy at times… all react differently, some take three or four weeks to get a ‘new normal’, some bounce back in a matter a days. by the end of two weeks, we were off of the tramadol and gayle was doing pretty well with figuring out how to hop about (she was a front amp). billie will figure out how to establish her new mobility, it just comes to them, really. you might want to consider a halter once she’s healed and the stitches are out – it helps with gettin in and out of vehicles, stairs, etc…
charon & spirit gayle
July 10th, 2012 at 5:56 PM
Thank you for those words! It’s good to know the first few weeks can be rough. I keep thinking I did the right thing then doubting myself. She is so big so she just lays around a lot and I have to be careful she doesn’t pop a stitch or try to use her stump so that she can get her prosthetic as soon as possible and get back to some type of normalcy. I haven’t been on since the 2nd because it’s been SO much work maneuvering such a big lady around the house with three feet. We are almost on two weeks. She is very thin in the rear end but her front end looks good and strong. I guess some atrophy is to be expected? I’m trying to keep calories on her but she’s on a very bland sort of atkins like diet to help fight the cancer.
She’s being such a tolerant and sweet girl about everything. It’s so hard to watch her so bored.
I never heard the term “heart dog”. Had to look it up. Billie is definitely that for me. She has been with me through every major hurdle of my life so far.
I wanted to share with you that some Buddhists believe that a dog is the last incarnation before a human and they come to us to learn about their next lifetime. They choose us. I thought it was comforting and wanted to share with you about Gayle.
July 2nd, 2013 at 7:54 PM
Hi – I see this is from last year and am wondering how the prosthetic worked out for your dog. I have an 8 year old Weimaraner – front leg partial amp – he is getting his prosthetic soon – from Animal Ortho Care – and we are very hopefull it will help him. He already tried it on but it needed some adjustment so we had to send it back and in the process the prosthetist designed a new fit with more give. Right now the only pix I have is an Apple movie nad have not figure out how to upload it. Fritz was very good about trying on the ‘leg’ and I think he is looking forward to having it.
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