Dog Prosthetics – Can Your Dog Live With One?

Is there a chance that your dog will need to have one of its legs amputated as a result of injury or illness? Dog amputation isn’t uncommon, particularly when the pet is hit by a car or other serious accident, or suffers from bone cancer. Those conditions often call for an amputation. These dogs are lovingly referred to as “tripods”, a fun nickname meant to ease the negative feelings associated with such a condition.

Is a Dog Prosthesis Right For Your Pet?

It is common to feel worried and maybe even ashamed when deciding on an amputation of your pet’s limb. But rest assured that even though your dog’s life will certainly change, it will move on to be healthy and happy just as it used to be, after the surgery is completed.

The initial consideration you need to focus on is where to amputate, either at the leg, the shoulder, or the hip. This depends partly on the reason of the surgery, and whether or not you intend to give your dog a prosthetic leg.

If cancer is the reason for the limb’s amputation, it is normally best to amputate the whole leg. But if there is no disease present and the reason for the procedure is an injury, then you have the option of leaving part of the limb intact, such as a stump. If a stump is left in place, that is conducive to a prosthetic limb. The stump helps the artificial limb to remain tightly in place and attached.

Leaving a stump of the limb in tact makes to attaching of a prosthetic leg much easier. If the amputation is carried out below knee level, then a prosthetic limb will give your dog almost full functionality. The lower section of the stump needs to be healthy of course. Sometimes part of the surgery is to remove tissue from the amputated error and connect it to the bottom of the stump. This is for added protection in the area that connects to the dog prosthesis.

In cases where your dog’s leg requires a complete amputation, which occurs in many cases of bone cancer, a quality prosthetic limb can not be attached. Perhaps in the future this might become possible, as we are all hoping, but for now such canines will have to get used to life with three legs. With love and guidance from their owners this is a lot easier than you might imagine.

Related posts:

1. Dog Leg Amputation