Three Legged Dog Club
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Yogi

I met Yogi before he lost his leg.
I wanted to take him home because I knew his owner (without going into details) had all he could do to take care of himself, let alone a dog.

The owner had a habit of letting the dog run free around the neighborhood, which for any dog could be dangerous, but for a little 10lb dog, even worse. Well, something did happen.

His dog came home with a mangled leg and he could not afford to do anything about it. He gave the dog up to the dog warden. When I heard of the situation, my husband and I found out that this little 4 year old dog was going to be put to sleep that very day if no one adopted him and paid for his surgery.

So we agreed, and the surgery went fine. However, the doctor failed to take precaution and did not put an E-collar on the dog and during the night, the dog ate away at another injury on the back on his foot. By morning, all he had left was one toe.

So we were left with a dog with one amputated leg and another leg with just a small pad from one foot on it. This was a gross error and this little dog that had been saved almost surely would end up getting put to sleep, for he could not walk on two legs and a peg.

I took the dog to my local vet who did not see any positive solution
and suggested I put the dog to sleep. She said surgery would be very costly and she gave us no guarantees that it would work.

They had to surgically trim back bone that was exposed and it meant many bandage changes. This is where I got weak and my husband got strong.

He said get the referral to the surgeon and let's bring our dog to him. Dr. L at the Connecticut Vet Hosp. gave us so much hope and he helped our little dog. After many bandage changes, infections and sleepless nights, it was all worth it. Yogi is a happy, healthy dog. There is nothing he is afraid of. He walks with his back leg propped up and uses his front right and back right leg to walk and run. When standing he will put his back left leg down, for balance. He is remarkable and Yogi has no problem keeping up with his younger brother Bubu.

Thanks for letting us share our story about Yogi Bear.
Sharon Dina, CT
Tuesday August 8, 2006

 
Lord Spencer

This is my old English sheepdog "Lord Spencer."
At 6 1/2 years old he was diagnosed with hemangiopericytoma in his front right leg. We have had two removals of the tumor and just finished a six month treatment of chemotherapy. Three weeks after the last treatment the tumor recurred. At 8 years old now I am faced with making the decision of having his front leg amputated.

I have an appointment with the cancer vet on the 14th.
He is only in town 5 days a month. When I found the tumor they changed his meds. He is now taking chlorambucil once a day. Do you know anything about this med? I have mixed feelings on amputation. I am not sure what I should do. I don't know if he will adjust to losing a front leg at 8 years old and the pain of the surgery. I sometimes think I am just putting him through a lot of pain and restrictions because I don't want to lose him. I am really in love with him. He is such a great companion. I do not want to be selfish and put him through so much. Then I look outside the heart and know that he is fine except his right leg. I want to thank you for responding to my e-mail.

I want to find out as much information on amputation of a front leg of a large 8 year old so that I can sort this out and do the right thing for Spencer.

Thank You,
Karen Vale
Thursday August 10, 2006

 
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