Well, I have been reading a bunch of stuff here on this site and I must admit – it does help us owners get through this decision because I can now see that I am not alone in my feelings, my concerns, my insecurities about having a Tripawd dawg.
Franklin went to the vets on Friday to have his chest area xrayed. When I picked him up at lunch the vet was very happy and said that he is clean! Clear! Good to go if we wanted to continue with the surgery.
Wow. I’m not afraid to say it, but part of me was expecting the vet to say “no go”. His cancer has spread and there is nothing we can do. That would have certainly saved my butt from having to make the next decision – to amputate or not to amputate.
Franklin’s osteosarcoma (sp?) is in his left knee. The cancer is all down there which is a good thing. Of course, the mass is quite large and eventually his bones will just shatter. When that happens, three things will happen. 1. he will be in alot of pain I am sure! 2. we take him to have him go on to greener pastures over Rainbow Bridge. or 3. we decide to amputate.
Well, of course I don’t want to see my Frank’n’farter in any pain so, if we would choose to amputate then, then why not do it now to prevent any further pain. Simple right?
Not so simple really. Am I being selfish because I am not ready to give him up yet? I keep looking at him and wonder.. how are you going to manage? Maggie will probably knock you over a few times and it is going to just kill me if you fall over. (I have actually started to get Maggie to sit behind Franklin when I let them out the door.. I make her wait until Franklin is out and on his way before I let her go. Otherwise she just barrels out beside him. I’ve been doing this for about 3 months now since he has been liming on the leg).
I’m going to miss his happy dance.. he would stand in front of you and tap his front paws back and forth while he does a kinda chortled growl.. whorrrr whorrr whorr whorrr… Now if he tries to do it once he is a tripawd, it will be tap and *thunk* lol
He usually lifts his front leg, the left one, to tap at the sliding glass door when he wants back in. Now I will have to teach him how to head butt!
Of course, humor will help us through this for it is a good remedy at any time.
His surgery is scheduled for December 4th. I’m going to try and get him into the groomers for a doggie spa day before his surgery to cheer him up. His groomer absolutely LOVES him and gives him special treatment!. Hey.. perhaps I should wait till after his surgery once he is healed up. I just might get a discount!! lol
well christine
I have already answered your previous post and now I’m back again 🙂
Humour is the perfect remedy for worry and falling over Farters !! I have just written a Post on the very same thing !
I see you have still got your humour and that’s what will get you through this tough decision 🙂
Franklin seem’s like he has one of the bestest Mummies who will not take small things like Him Falling over a couple of times to deflect from the idea of how he will cope with 3 legs !!
He’s a Springer they Bounce !!! My Jermima was bouncing till the day she passed and she was nearly 18, so Franklin is a spring Chicken in comparison !
My Fizzly was up and about less than 18 hours after surgery and she was a 160lb Rottweiler !
Jake Tripawd Therapy Dog who is one of my Bestest Doggies on here was 11 when he had his front leg removed and he like Fizz was up and walking less than 18 hours later and he jumped into the car !! and 5 weeks later he became a therapy dog isn’t that the coolest 🙂
I’d definitely recommend taking a look at his story because Lori and Jake are truly amazing 🙂
Franklin appears to have a lot more to give and if you feel the same way then removal of his leg is going to give him a better aspect of life as you say its causing him discomfort
and if it gets him Half Price at the Groomers I’d recommend removal of at least one of his legs !!! Cos anything for a good deal what’s a missing leg when it comes to half price deals !! ask if they need a Mascot maybe this could be his new found gift !!
We’ve already got a Jake Tripawd Therapy Dog now all we need is a Half Price Franklin and for the Mediums and Ghost writers we could always use My Fizzly if she’s not too busy 🙂
We could then take the show on the road and all become famous 🙂
keep your humour and laugh when he falls over and try to tape it you may get some serious money on one of those Animal Antic’s show 🙂
Franklin will amaze you and show you what real spirit and Zest for life really means , we as humans are slowly lagging behind in the get up and laugh stakes !
take care and make sure you take lots of pictures before and after as this is something that I wish I’d been told, because I don’t have many pictures of my fizzle’s and its one of my biggest regrets. It upsets me daily especially when I see all the wonderful Pictures of these amazing hoppers on here, as I wish I had some of my Fizzles 🙁
But now I get to tell people because memories and images are so important 🙂
talk to you soon
lots of love zena and Fizzly in Spirit xox
I don’t think it is selfish to give your dog more time. Magnum got another 8 months after amputation but we packed so much living into those 8 months. If we had let her go instead of giving her the chance of life she would have missed out on so much.
We also got even closer during those 8 months. It was a very special time.
Dogs adapt so well. It’s humans who have the problem with 3 legs, not dogs. Magnum was always a tom boy and whe would lift her leg to pee. She still lifted the her stump to pee after the amp. It was so cute.
You will be amazed.
Karen and Spirit Magnum
Your honesty about hearing the diagnosis is courageous. I know that most humans have felt the same way. Nobody looks forward to going through this scary ordeal.
Silly humans tend to jump ahead think up all sorts of scenarios during ruff times, often the worst possible ones. But what you’ll find is that Franklin is taking things day by day. Yes, he might fall at first, but he will get back up and not think twice about it. Once you see how he handles adversity and bouncing back, it will change your life forever.