Comments on: Dog Amputation – Siberian Husky Shania

By: Milo

Milo — Mon, 05 Jan 2015 00:33:44 +0000

In reply to Missy. That is very sad to hear about your dog. (My son, age 7, who really wants a husky and is researhing them)

By: shibashake

shibashake — Wed, 01 Jan 2014 16:44:01 +0000

In reply to Heather. Thank you for letting me know about Beau. I am so glad that the surgery went well, and Beau is doing well. Shania sends her love and kisses, and a Happy New Year to you all. :D

By: Heather

Heather — Mon, 30 Dec 2013 05:19:54 +0000

In reply to Heather.

Thank you for sharing your decision making process, it really helped me think through it all.

I decided to attempt to save the leg as well. Beau had surgery about a week ago and seems to be doing well. Too well sometimes actually- he is a handful! He will have to basically be crated for about 8 weeks, and may require a second surgery- hopefully not- but we shall see.

Thanks again,
Heather & Beau

By: shibashake

shibashake — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 23:41:51 +0000

In reply to Heather.

Yeah, I had a very tough time deciding with Shania as well. After much thinking, I decided to try and save Shania’s leg. My reasons –

1. The specialist told us that Shania would get along fine on 3 legs. However, she would also place more stress on her legs and as a result, would likely get arthritis earlier on.

2. Although she would do fine on 3 legs, I also knew that losing a leg would make certain things more difficult. Shania just turned 6 and she is full of goodness and vim, however, she can’t dig holes as fast or as big as she wants. She loses her balance more often, and I do not let her get up on furniture. I am also a lot more careful with her during play, so she can’t play as hard or as rough as my other dogs.

In Shania’s case, the specialist gave the bone straightening procedure an 80% chance of success. Unfortunately, the procedure did not work, and we ultimately had to amputate.

I love Shania very much and still wish that we could have saved her leg. It would have put off the onset of arthritis, and given her a lot more freedom today to engage in all the things that she loves, with her full Husky energy. If there were something more that I could try then or today to give her those things, I would try it.

However, from a surgical perspective, Shania’s condition was somewhat different. Her thigh bone did not connect properly with her lower leg bone. The hope was that we could slowly realign the bones, and then the soft tissue would heal around the realigned bones and hold them in place. There was a high chance that the bone straightening procedure would succeed, in which case, the leg would be weight bearing. The specialist said that if the straightening was successful, she may have a very slight limp, but there would be no chronic pain. As she grew though, we may have needed to do additional surgeries to get things back into alignment.

Also, in Shania’s case, it was either the bone alignment procedure or amputation. If we did not try the surgery, we would have to amputate anyway, so it seemed worth it to try the surgery and have a chance at saving the leg.

Does Beau’s specialist have any suggestions in terms of how to help minimize wrist injury? Could they perhaps put something similar to a cast over it so that there is less wear and tear? Will the fusion plan not work if there is too much wear and tear? Is it wear and tear on the soft tissue that is the problem? If they do Option 2 and it does not work, is Option 1 still possible, or is it one or the other?

Sometimes, getting a second opinion can also be helpful.

Big hugs to Beau. If you have the time, please let me know how it goes.

By: Heather

Heather — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 02:23:44 +0000

I have a 13 week old Norwegian Elkhound, Beauregard, that is in a similar situation to Shania’s. He has a congenital defect that has caused his wrist bone to simply not grow on one front leg. The specialist has never seen a case like his, and has consulted with several other specialists on what would be best for him. He originally thought Beau could wait until he was fully grown, and then they would fuse his wrist and elbow. However, Beau’s wrist has gotten worse much faster than anticipated. The specialist has therefore given me 3 options.
Option 1: do nothing until he is full grown while trying to minimize injury and hopefully the original fusion plan will work. Option 2: we attempt a low probability of success surgery to shorten his radius and align all of his bones. Or, option 3: amputation.
I am truly having a difficult time making a decision! I know that he will have a full life as a tripod, but it is still a hard decision. I told you Beau’s story, because I wonder about Shania’s experience with her early surgeries. One of the fears I have is that I will put him through option 2, the low probability surgery, only to have to put him through yet another major surgery. My other great fear is that he will be in chronic pain from the surgery if it is “successful.” The specialist has, of course, left the decision up to me, but seems to be quite unsure about his future prospects for pain. I would like to know your opinion on the matter since you have had to make a similar decision for your baby.
Thank you!

By: Sarah

Sarah — Thu, 07 Mar 2013 08:44:10 +0000

This story has made feel much better about having to get my dog Apollo’s leg amputated. He was hit by a car this past weekend, which shattered his right rear leg, and I was concerned that I’d have to put him down. However the vets at Washington State University got him on the mend. What the surgeon, who was working on his case, told me was that he was going to have an extremely long and difficult healing process if I didn’t amputate his leg and even if he went though this whole ordeal there was no gaurntee that he’d be able to keep the leg. So I think in order to make his pain not last as long and having the possibility of having to have his leg amputated in the future I thought it best to just make his healing time faster and less painful. So thank you for making me even more confident in my decision.

By: shibashake

shibashake — Fri, 02 Nov 2012 19:42:46 +0000

In reply to Tina.

Hello Tina,

Thanks for sharing your story with us. It sounds like a very difficult situation, but I am glad that the puppy’s leg can be fully fixed with surgery. I still wish we could have saved Shania’s leg.

Hopefully, his breeder can proceed with the surgery, or get some help with it. I think breed rescue places will often help out, if they can, so I would also try contacting the local Shiba rescue and perhaps SPCA/Humane Society.

The SPCA at my old place had a vet clinic, and they were really great about helping people defray some of the medical costs. Many vets are also willing to let their clients pay for a surgery through a series of monthly payments.

By: Tina

Tina — Tue, 30 Oct 2012 22:52:28 +0000

Hi, I just want to say … you did such a wonderful thing for Shania. She is a very very lucky dog. I am still heart broken over the lost of my Shiba Inu puppy. I got him last week and I already became attached to him but then I found out that he has a genetic defect. He needs surgery which costs around $3000. I was devastated. He’s only 2 months old and he is such a good boy. I thought about financing the medical bill but I’m just a 19 year old student. I can’t handle that kind of medical bill … so I had no choice but to return him to the guy I bought him from. I’m really heart broken because I don’t know how his future will be. I don’t know if he’ll be able to be as luck as Shania. The vet told me that the surgery will completely heal his leg and he’ll live as a normal dog … but I’m not capable of giving him that kind of normal dog life. After reading your article … I felt like there is hope. I feel really happy for Shania because she has a great loving family and a happy doggy life. I hope the same for my baby Shiba boy.

By: shibashake

shibashake — Mon, 01 Oct 2012 19:25:40 +0000

In reply to Tiffany.

I just checked Murphy’s blog and am so glad to hear that everything went well. Murphy looks absolutely adorable!

Shania was groggy the first day we got her home, but after that, it was a challenge to get her to stay calm. Frozen Kongs really saved the day for us. 😀

Big hugs to Murphy! Would love to see her in her Halloween shirt.

By: Tiffany

Tiffany — Sun, 30 Sep 2012 22:31:39 +0000

Thank you so very much for sharing your experiences with your Shania. We just rescued a puppy with a severely broken leg from a family that was unable to afford her care and we were given two options: bone straightening and lengthening surgery or amputation. After considering the severity of her breaks and comparing the complexity & number of surgeries/external fixator use/recovery time against the choice of amputation, we have decided to proceed with the amputation as that seems to be the best option for our sweet Murphy. Because of your site, we are now preparing to start our lives with our 3-legged husky puppy (her surgery is tomorrow) and we are confident that we are making the best decision for our pup. Thank you so very much for the great advice and reassurance that 3 legged dogs can be just as happy (if not more) than “normal” 4 legged dogs!