Our 2 year old Whippet has had to have her front left leg amputated due to a cancerous grwth on her foot.
She has only jut come outof surgery and we now have he home.

How will she adapt to hopping arund the house, lett alone not being able to chase her favourite ball around the park ?

How do we carefor her in this condition and what do we needto be aware of when feeding and looking after her ???

Don't worry, she'll soon be chasing her ball around the park again! Only yesterday I watched a greyhound with only one front leg galloping at what looked like full speed.

For feeding she may find it easier if she has a raised bowl rather than one on the floor.
Good luck.
:)

Dont worry at all she will be fine its amazing how they cope with three legs we rescued a dog last year who had been in a house with her dead owner for 5 weeks !! sadly she had to have her front leg amputated I brought her home and put her quietly in one of my rooms and went upstairs to vaccuum and turned round and she was right behind me :) she coped fantastically well.

Thanks for the reply.
Can you tell me, How far can we walk her for the first time ?

She is desperate to go out.
She seems to be having a slight problem going down a few small steps into the garden, when going out to he toilet, will she adapt and find her balance ?
We are worred about her fallingand damaging the wound/stitches when goinginto the garden.

Chris

I have a springer who had her back leg amputated last year. I was worried when she went in as to what I would find when I collected her. I expected to be carrying her to the car. When I saw her, she was pulling to get to me. She struggled down the steps a little and I had to lift her in the car. She was wanting a walk within a few days and I took her for a very gentle one. After she had her stitches removed, she was back to walking ok. One thing I did notice with her was that she would lose her confidence very easily. If she tripped up the stairs, she wouldn't go near them for a bit and then refused to go up them. We took it one day at a time and now over a year later, she is back to normal fitness. She is swimming, working and enjoying her exercise. I did put a tshirt on her to stop her licking her stitches which worked.

If you are worried about her tripping down the steps, I would carry her until her stitches are out. Did the vet not advice you on when to take her out? I seem to remember that mine said it would be ok the next day if she was feeling up to it.

The dogs do cope with it much better than we do.

Helen

Chris, I have lived with a front amputation in a giant breed....its much harder than a hind one but they can cope. I found the 1st 2 months were the worst...he would keep losing balance & landing on his nose, he seemed really unhappy & I was convinced I had made the wrong decision. However once he was more balanced it all changed & he soon ran, galloped, swam & even jumped up into the back of the landrover on his own!! A few hints are to keep the dog lean and when jumping out of a vehicle etc, just take some weight off the remaining limb by supporting the collar, because you cannot afford for him to strain the remaining leg.
No doubt the wound is horrific, especially if hes had the whole shoulder removed, but it will heal & as long as it keeps draining you will be ok. Good luck & keep us posted.

Hiya
I have a three leg Labrador (leg amputated due to cancer too), she is 10 and a half now and runs like a lunatic, she doesn't even seem to realise she has a leg missing. One thing I did do and still do is take her to a hydrotherapy pool for dogs, This helped her so much built up her other muscles and chest muscles and made coping with it so much easier for her, now we only go swimming once a fortnight, she doesn't really need to go now but enjoys it so much I let her continue. When we first had her home we would take her out 6 times a day at least but for only 5 to 10 mins and gradually got back to our normal walking routine. I was told to feed mine chicken and fish with rice or pasta and a green vegetable, I have done this ever since and she has done far better than expected (was given 6 months pain free life after the operation we have now passed the 2 year mark :O) )

Kind regards
Ruth

"I have a three leg Labrador (leg amputated due to cancer too), she is 10 and a half now and runs like a lunatic, she doesn't even seem to realise she has a leg missing. One thing I did do and still do is take her to a hydrotherapy pool for dogs, This helped her so much built up her other muscles and chest muscles and made coping with it so much easier for her, now we only go swimming once a fortnight"

I was really surprised at how quickly Holly built up her remaining back leg muscle and her chest just seemed to expand. She was and is a real water baby and loved going swimming at a pool. I went long after was necessary as it was time out for just me and her. We have now moved so aren't close to a pool but I have her own private swimming pool out the front in the river <g>

Helen

I know Helen I too have been amazed how Brackens chest muscles have built up, am sure the swimming helped her greatly too. I was lucky we found a wonderful hydrotherapy pool where they really cared for the dogs. Was also lucky in the fact that once she got stronger my brother let her swim in his pool daily (well when its heated in the summer lol). Its funny I never bothered with the pool but once bracken needed it I was in in every day with her :O). As my sister says I would do anything for bracken ;o)

Ruth

I was at an agility comp a couple of weeks ago and there was the most fantastic collie going round the course and my god it was fast and it wasn't till it had finished that i realised it only had 1 leg at the front, it didn't bother it in the slightest and believe me was a heck of a lot better than some of the 4 legged dogs.