Following on from Rae's thread about Leia, and mine in the lurcher section, I thought I'd post separately about the experiences I've had with our two amputees.
Jonathan and Storm are both lurchers (Jonny is mainly greyhound and Storm is a known greyhound/staffie cross). These are their stories:
Jonathan
Jonny came to us after being found by the Dog Warden, he had been dumped with a very badly broken (compound) leg that had been simply taped up and not treated. By the time he was found, the leg was past the point of being saved due to infection in the bone and was amputated. [The Dog Warden service paid for this as we, (as Phoenyx) offered to give the little fella a permanent home. It was touch and go whether he would survive the op and he was in the vets for a month after surgery before he was well enough to come home.
Jonny when he was found:
Jonny, a week after the op:
and 3 weeks later:
still very swollen
It took Jonny a very long time to recover, due in part to the extent of the damage and partly because he doesn't heal very well. Jonny is a bit of an oddity, he bruises very easily and a month after the op he still looked like he'd been kicked all over, it took over 6 months for full recovery
As Jonny had only lower leg damage, the vet decided to remove just the damaged part - I wish my vet had been allowed to do the op as we would have taken the full shoulder out, but it wasn't our decision to make at the time.
Amputation leaving part of the leg intact is a simpler op for the vet but it does mean that bone is cut and the loose muscle wrapped over the wound as a 'cushion' - cut bone takes longer to heal than just muscle alone and therefore causes the dog more discomfort at the time. They do seem to act as though the leg is still there for a while, Jonny used to try to give a paw and when he couldn't he used his remaining leg and, obviously, fell over when he did. He now waggles his stump instead
Jonny did have some muscle retraction at the stump and the end of the bone did start to regrow slightly, causing a swelling and sores. We feared that he may have to be operated again to remove the last of the leg but thankfully it did settle down with time. Jonny does rest on the stump when he lies down and this can make it sore sometimes. Plenty of soft bedding helps.
Storm
Storm came to Phoenyx having been saved from being shot by his original owner. He had been out training (for lamping) and had run into a boulder, causing nerve damage at the shoulder. His owner didn't treat his dogs, if they didn't heal in a week after being injured they were simply shot. Someone had seen the accident happen and called round to see how the dog was, when they realised that Storm was not being treated they offered to take him instead - they got him immediate treatment and he eventually came to us as the leg was not being used.
Storm when he came to us:
Unfortunately, by the time he was given treatment, Storm already had radial nerve damage and severe muscle wastage at the shoulder. We did try a combination of hydrotherapy (to build muscle) and accupuncture (to rebuild nerve use) and it was working! Sadly though, even with physio, the bones in his wrist started to seize and we had no option then but to amputate.
My vet performed the operation and I sat in on it - not something I'd recommend if anyone's even slightly squeamish :x - I do have photos if anyone's really curious..... :blink:
We decided to remove the whole leg and shoulder (full scapula removal) and although it is a very drastic and quite gruesome operation it does have a much faster recovery time and when we compare both dogs, it certainly seemed to be the better option all round. Cut muscle heals faster than cut bone.
Storm - 2 weeks after the op:
Within 24 hours Storm was up and about and stomping around the garden!!
Storm now:
Both dogs were given hydrotherapy as part of their recovery (once the actual wound was healed) and I'd recommend it every time, it made a huge difference - especially to Jonny.
Jonny and Storm both get around very well, Jonny is a bit more ungainly when he walks but at speed they are both extremely agile and very fast! Both run, jump, dig holes (!!) and they both adapted very well (probably made easier by the fact that they were both used to getting round on 3 legs prior to the op and just had to adjust their balance afterwards).
Rear leg amputees (pointy ones anyway) seem to have better overall mobility than front leg amputatees but our two are fine. We have to be careful, with Jonny especially, that they don't exercise too hard and put too much strain on the remaining leg and shoulder but otherwise thay are treated the same as the others.
Jonny - showing typical 'tripod' stance :wub:
Sorry this is long, but I hope it helps :b
Jules
:wub:
Jonathan and Storm are both lurchers (Jonny is mainly greyhound and Storm is a known greyhound/staffie cross). These are their stories:
Jonathan
Jonny came to us after being found by the Dog Warden, he had been dumped with a very badly broken (compound) leg that had been simply taped up and not treated. By the time he was found, the leg was past the point of being saved due to infection in the bone and was amputated. [The Dog Warden service paid for this as we, (as Phoenyx) offered to give the little fella a permanent home. It was touch and go whether he would survive the op and he was in the vets for a month after surgery before he was well enough to come home.
Jonny when he was found:
Jonny, a week after the op:
and 3 weeks later:
still very swollen
It took Jonny a very long time to recover, due in part to the extent of the damage and partly because he doesn't heal very well. Jonny is a bit of an oddity, he bruises very easily and a month after the op he still looked like he'd been kicked all over, it took over 6 months for full recovery
As Jonny had only lower leg damage, the vet decided to remove just the damaged part - I wish my vet had been allowed to do the op as we would have taken the full shoulder out, but it wasn't our decision to make at the time.
Amputation leaving part of the leg intact is a simpler op for the vet but it does mean that bone is cut and the loose muscle wrapped over the wound as a 'cushion' - cut bone takes longer to heal than just muscle alone and therefore causes the dog more discomfort at the time. They do seem to act as though the leg is still there for a while, Jonny used to try to give a paw and when he couldn't he used his remaining leg and, obviously, fell over when he did. He now waggles his stump instead
Jonny did have some muscle retraction at the stump and the end of the bone did start to regrow slightly, causing a swelling and sores. We feared that he may have to be operated again to remove the last of the leg but thankfully it did settle down with time. Jonny does rest on the stump when he lies down and this can make it sore sometimes. Plenty of soft bedding helps.
Storm
Storm came to Phoenyx having been saved from being shot by his original owner. He had been out training (for lamping) and had run into a boulder, causing nerve damage at the shoulder. His owner didn't treat his dogs, if they didn't heal in a week after being injured they were simply shot. Someone had seen the accident happen and called round to see how the dog was, when they realised that Storm was not being treated they offered to take him instead - they got him immediate treatment and he eventually came to us as the leg was not being used.
Storm when he came to us:
Unfortunately, by the time he was given treatment, Storm already had radial nerve damage and severe muscle wastage at the shoulder. We did try a combination of hydrotherapy (to build muscle) and accupuncture (to rebuild nerve use) and it was working! Sadly though, even with physio, the bones in his wrist started to seize and we had no option then but to amputate.
My vet performed the operation and I sat in on it - not something I'd recommend if anyone's even slightly squeamish :x - I do have photos if anyone's really curious..... :blink:
We decided to remove the whole leg and shoulder (full scapula removal) and although it is a very drastic and quite gruesome operation it does have a much faster recovery time and when we compare both dogs, it certainly seemed to be the better option all round. Cut muscle heals faster than cut bone.
Storm - 2 weeks after the op:
Within 24 hours Storm was up and about and stomping around the garden!!
Storm now:
Both dogs were given hydrotherapy as part of their recovery (once the actual wound was healed) and I'd recommend it every time, it made a huge difference - especially to Jonny.
Jonny and Storm both get around very well, Jonny is a bit more ungainly when he walks but at speed they are both extremely agile and very fast! Both run, jump, dig holes (!!) and they both adapted very well (probably made easier by the fact that they were both used to getting round on 3 legs prior to the op and just had to adjust their balance afterwards).
Rear leg amputees (pointy ones anyway) seem to have better overall mobility than front leg amputatees but our two are fine. We have to be careful, with Jonny especially, that they don't exercise too hard and put too much strain on the remaining leg and shoulder but otherwise thay are treated the same as the others.
Jonny - showing typical 'tripod' stance :wub:
Sorry this is long, but I hope it helps :b
Jules
:wub:
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