Big Dog Amputation Preparation and Recovery

Preparation

After scheduling Finn’s amputation, it was time to mentally and physically prepare for his recovery. We are incredibly lucky in that we have a large sunroom off the back of our house where our dogs typically lounge on their oversized ortho beds, so we already had a good space for him to recover in.

• Because the room is tile, our first step was to rug the entire room.
• Next, my husband built a ramp for the back door and got him used to using it. We already had a hitch step on the back of our Toyota 4-runner; however, he built the back door ramp so it could also hook to the step.
• The last physical preparation we took was ordering him a Ruffwear Web Master Pro harness with the added Brush Guard (more on that later).

Mentally, we spent lots of time with Finn, loving on him, and praying we were making the right decision. We knew recovery was likely to be rough, but we also had hope there was light at the end of this tunnel and surely beat the alternative of succumbing to this terrible disease.

Day of Surgery

The day of surgery, I dropped him off about 10am. I had talked on the phone with my vet the night before so we did not talk again the morning of. I knew what to expect. They called me about 4:30pm to tell me he was out and had done really well. Sighs of relief filled our house.

Day 1 Post-Op

I anxiously awaited a call from our vet the next morning to hear how he did that night. They called and told me he had done well all night, even standing up very strong on his own that morning. While we hoped we could bring him home that day, they wanted to keep him one more night to manage his pain and monitoring his swelling. I was able to go and sit with him on my lunch break however. I brought him some of his favorite snacks and stuffed animal. He was so happy to see me and I could immediately tell he was going to be alright. A couple of things I wasn’t quite prepared for was the lack of anything on his incision site – our vet did not dress it – and the swelling. The incision site seemed huge.

After sitting with him for about an hour, leaving him there was heart wrenching. I just kept positive thoughts that we would get to pick him up the next day.

Day 2 Post-Op

I think I slept the worst in between day 1 and 2 post-amputation. Not that sleep had been coming easily in the last couple weeks. I was so anxious thinking about Finn and wishing he was at home rather than at the vet. The next morning was another morning waiting for the phone to ring. When it finally did, they told me he had gotten up strong again and even went outside to go pee. His swelling looked like it was improving as well, so they were ready to send him home. More relief! My husband strapped the ramp to the roof of the car, we put down a thick comforter in the back with one of the seats down. Because we wanted someone to sit with him on the way home, we both went. And because of the coronavirus and no one to watch our 2-year-old, we had a carseat too. Fun stuff.

Getting him into and out of the car was one of the more stressful parts of the recovery journey for us. While he was used to the ramp, it was still hard. Sitting with him on the way home was really beneficial and highly recommended. He struggled with maintaining his balance due to not having that leg to stabilize on.

Once home and after getting out of the car, it only took a few steps before he was exhausted and lied down in the grass. We let him take his time and had him pee before bringing him inside. It was a long process as he tired very quickly.

Most of the day was spent sleeping which was to be expected. We were just so happy to have him home and resting.

Medications sent home with him:

• Cephalexin (antibiotic)
• Tramadol (pain)
• Gabapentin (pain)
• Carprofen (anti-inflammatory)

Additional note: I donated a couple of my soft t-shirts to Finn with some modifications to the sleeves for his remaining front leg. These have been awesome at keeping him from licking and also serving as a base layer for his harness.

Day 3 Post-Op

Day 3 was similar to day 2 – lots of sleeping.

One thing I noticed start to happen on day 3 was the swelling and bruising near the incision site started to migrate. I had read that it would move down his belly and toward his groin, but I wasn’t really expecting it to move down his front right leg. Found with elevation and periodically wrapping his right leg with an ace wrap help tremendously.

Another concern I had was that he was preferring to lie on his incision side. I assumed it was OK, thinking he wouldn’t do it if it was hurting him. The Tripawd community reassured me that it is perfectly fine for them to lie on that side – even a really good sign! Getting up from that side is not the most graceful sight, but each time he does it, he gets better at it.

Harness talk: Day 3 is also when we started to use his Ruffwear Web Master Pro harness over top of his t-shirt. Because we had the added Brush Guard plus the t-shirt, the harness did not rub his incision site at all. The harness is clearly top notch and I really want to love it. Our problem is that it secures only on his amputated side, meaning we have to make sure his good leg is fished through the harness before he stands up. There is no getting his leg through once he is already up. Frankly, it is just a cluster trying to get him in. Maybe other people have had better luck but I feel like it really depends on which leg remains if your dog is a front limb amputee. After researching the Ruffwear harnesses, I actually believe the Flagline would be a better fit for us seeing as it clips on both sides making it an easy on, easy off, no matter which side has been amputated. I’m currently in communication with the company to see if they would let us return and replace potentially. Stay tuned…

Day 4 Post-Op

Day 4 was a real game changer for us. Finn clearly had turned a corner and was really seeming like his old self: tail-wagging and smiling. It was also the day of his first post-op, 3-legged poop. You could tell he was so happy to figure out his poo-stance! We really focused on getting back to his routine too. Normal feeding routine, normal potty routine, and later that afternoon, I put on his harness and leash and presented the allusion of going on a walk. We went and sat in the front yard instead, but I believe just doing the usual pre-steps of our daily walk, made him feel normal again.

Overall, swelling had significantly decreased. His leg was still swelling slightly but I continued to elevated and add compression as needed.

Days 5-7 Post-Op

The last couple of days have been really great. I am amazed each day just how much stronger Finn becomes and how much more stamina he has. Potty breaks don’t completely exhaust him. Each day I’ve been going through our normal daily walk pre-steps and taking him at least to the end of the driveway and sitting in the front yard with him to make him feel like we are still doing our walks (this missing part of his routine has definitely been the hardest for him!). Today I have also started some strength-building exercises (starting very small).

Tomorrow I intend to call the oncologist to confirm when they would like to start chemo.

While things have been most definitely challenging, I have zero regrets for going forward with the amputation. It is clear now that a big dog can thrive on 3 legs. If you are like me, and seeking inspiration that everything will be OK, please have faith in your dog and the process.