We adopted Buddy, a yellow lab, through the Humane Society in Waterloo, Iowa. We’d been looking for a 2nd dog, as our dog Max, is 14 (he has since been diagnosed with liver cancer), and he fits into our home just right!
Buddy’d come into rescue with his front right paw the size of a pancake, we were told. He had a puncture wound on the bottom of his paw and was missing part of the pad. The wound site was almost closed, and we only needed to wrap it to keep dirt and such out. When I took him to our local vet for the first check-up home, they suggested surgery to remove all the scar tissue. He ended up needing two surgeries. The after-care was overwhelming at times, but he was a trooper, as were the kids (10 and 11), who helped soak his foot, change the dressings, take him out on a leash, and keep him quiet (he wasn’t supposed to move much, so he could heal.)
The wound has never healed, and we recently went to a specialist for a 2nd opinion. She, too, said this wasn’t looking good. It’s a fistula — a drainage tract with a foreign object somewhere in Buddy’s foot or leg. She can inject dye into the tract to see if she can find the object (she said this has worked 2 out of 20 times in her 16 years of experience), then operate to remove it. If the dye does not identify the object, she can do an exploratory surgery to find the object, but the fistula often returns. The next step is amputation.
I spoke with our vet yesterday, and he recommended amputation. Buddy has been through enough — dealing with months of pain and trying to heal, and who knows how long he had this injury before he came into rescue?? He has suggested that we do a non-scapular amputation, so I’m reading up on that.
He is currently on an antibiotic, as the site is infected. He is also on a pain med PRN. He wears a cute little boot when we go out, but overall he is stoic and doesn’t let it bother him — he’s a typical lab and great family dog.
I suppose I’ll use this blog to write about our journey. And if folks want to read and comment, that’s cool.
Hey Buddy’s people,
How old is Buddy?
We went through amputation on our dog about 2 months ago. I am happy to share our experiences with you or just be out here in the etherworld to read your blog and let you know there are lots of people who understand how this stuff feels.
If I could give you one thought it is that if cost is not a big issue, maybe try the dye/surgery to remove the foreign body because once the leg is off, it’s off. Although my dog is doing “fine” with 3 legs I regret not trying every other possible thing first. It has changed her life ALOT. But, my dog was not in pain, she just had a huge tumor on her leg (vet told us it was a lipoma, so we let it get bigger – stupid, stupid, stupid…) and it was starting to get in the way of her range of motion – turned out it was a non invasive type of cancer and she is supposedly cured but I’m not sure it was necessary to take the leg off – now I will never know.
Anyway, if your dog is in pain, that’s a whole other story and most of the people I talk to agree that amputation is better than pain… but I’m sad I didn’t try harder to keep the leg, I just blindly followed the vet’s advice without getting another opinion and I’ll probably always regret that.
Anyway – I’m certainly not trying to add confusion to your decision, I just know I would feel better now if I knew I tried everything else first.
Cheers and kisses to Buddy from Kenya (Flat Coat Retriever)
Colleen
Welcome and thanks for sharing Buddy’s story! We look forward to following his progress.
Can’t wait to hear how he got the name Zito. 🙂
Hi–
Zito is our last name. Zee-toe. 🙂
Colleen, I appreciate your comments, and I especially appreciate your honesty about blindly following the vet’s advice. That’s why we sought a 2nd opinion.
Turns out that our vet had already tried to find the foreign object when he went in during the two surgeries — he was cleaning up scar tissue and looking for the object. The specialist didn’t offer an opinion; she presented options. Our vet offered his opinion: stop messing around, stop his pain and suffering, and amputate. Yes, he is in pain, although he is quite stoic.
Again, I appreciate your honesty. And I’m sure I will be looking to you for advice as we move forward. Hopefully we will have some time to prepare.
Erica
My husband thought you might think we’re related to the famous baseball guy, Barry Zito. Alas, no we’re not. Just share his name!!
It sounds like you are definately making the right decision! I am very happy to share any experience I have with you as you go through this change. I’ll bet it will actually be alot easier than what you have already been through with an open foot wound. This can all be pretty scarey and I’m glad you found Tripawds to help you through it.
When you see Buddy tearing around and knocking his brother down and getting the tennis ball without pain, it will all be worth it. My heart is with you in this. What a lucky dog Buddy is to have you.