Helping Your Dog Adjust After Losing A Leg
May 30th, 2011Me and my wife just adopted a mutt from our local shelter. We don’t know the exact breed, and we don’t care. We saw him and knew that he needed a loving family, so we stepped up to the plate. He was just so friendly, without a hint of any aggression, and even though he only had three legs, he was begging for a good home so we obliged him.
Our dog was rescued after he had been in a car accident. the accident left one leg so badly injured that it had to be amputated at the thigh. At first me and my wife were hesitant about taking home this little guy, due to our inexperience with dealing with a 3 legged dog. We were unsure of how to treat him, but that didn’t stop us from doing a lot of research on the subject and talking with our veterinarian for hours to learn all we could.
The first question that kept coming up during our research was why do amputations happen in the first place? What we found was that dogs are rarely born this way. It’s almost always the result of a disease or a violent accident. The most common disease that can lead to amputation is typically bone cancer. Bone cancer can be very painful, and amputation can be the only thing that will bring some relief to the dog. Even though the prospect of surgery and amputation can break a dog owners heart, more often then not it really is the best option for the dog.
The knowledge that your pet could undergo a surgery or possibly an amputation could make you feel very stressed out. There might be the thought that your dogs will never get used to his life. But what’s gratifying to learn is that the dogs will be able to live happy lives still.
The period of rehabilitation will not eat up a long time since dogs cope faster than humans. They eventually move on and if they are just always healthy, they will live long lives.
The dogs are tougher and are capable of assimilating the situation in a better light than us. They will need about a week or two to be completely finished with their rehabilitation program.
So remember that in case your dog will get an amputation, relax and just think that your dog will remain to be that happy dog you’ve always had.
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