Lucy was sleeping peacefully a few hours after returning home from the vet hospital.

After scheduling Lucy’s amputation surgery for tomorrow (Monday) morning, I’ve been doing some reading and research about three-legged dogs. Although several people made jokes about changing her name to “Hop-a-long” or “Tripod,” I’ve discovered that a lot of people with a three-legged dog use the term “tri-pawed” or “tripawd” when talking about their pet — it’s become shorthand in some circles. Please note, I am not changing Lucy’s name to any of these terms; if anything, I would call her “money pit.”

One of the items I’m looking to purchase is a full-torso harness with a handle on it. The handle will allow me to lift and assist Lucy over rough terrain and rocks as well as up and down stairs and into the truck. Many tri-pawed owners recommend the Ruff Wear Web Master Harness and I think I’ll purchase one of these for Lucy. She’ll still jump in and out of the truck and run up and down steep hills, even if she shouldn’t, but she will certainly need some assistance for the first few weeks after the surgery. There is also a D-ring in the harness itself, situated midway on the back that will allow her leash to attach instead of on her collar — I’ve read that three-legged dogs need to have a leash centrally-located to keep them from being pulled to one side and losing their balance.

I spent the day today playing with the dogs and taking them for a long walk in the nice weather (shh, don’t tell our vet we took a walk). We’re headed to the pet store in a while to grab more dog food and probably some special treats, too. Lucy deserves a good day before losing one of her legs.

After two and half years of fighting Lucy’s leg injury with bandages, a toe amputation and an arthrodesis surgery, we’ve come to the point where a decision had to be made: continue spending time and money to “save” the leg (and potentially suffering from an untreatable infection the next time she cuts her paw open), or remove the leg and let her live a more normal life. It’s a tough decision.

I’ve been told by many well-meaning people that three-legged dogs do just fine. They run and play and don’t seem to notice they aren’t like the other dogs. I’ve seen this myself as there are quite a few three-legged dogs in the area. I like the thought that Lucy will be able to play and go hiking and camping without the concern that she’ll lose the hiking boot she wears and cut her paw open (again). We won’t have to worry about bandages and the eventual resistance to almost all types of antibiotics and downtime healing up her paw. The money saved on many fewer visits to the vet for exams and bandaging and re-bandaging and more antibiotics… well, that would be nice too.

The hard part is making the decision… making the decision for a family member who cannot make the decision herself. It’s not a decision I am making lightly, either. If somebody came to me and told me that for everybody’s benefit I would need to have an arm amputated, I’m not sure how I would feel. I know dogs don’t have the mental capacity to reason through this process and I shouldn’t anthropomorphize their “feelings” into the decision, but I can’t help it. It’s a “life-changing” decision for her and for me. I’ve made the decision and I have to convince myself it’s the right thing to do.

We have a consultation with one more specialist tomorrow afternoon, and while I don’t want to go into the appointment with my mind pre-determined on the course of action, I’m unsure what he can say that will change my mind about the amputation. I’ve also decided that I don’t want any kind of prosthesis for her — all of the dogs I’ve seen with an amputation seem to get around quite well without any prosthetics.

Pending some miraculous and game-changing treatment option from the specialist tomorrow, we’ve tentatively scheduled the surgery for Monday 28 November.

We also received the go-ahead to start taking walks again. I had to “okie-improvise” a protective pad on the bottom of the bandage with some duct tape to keep the sidewalks from ripping then bandage material to shreds.

We’re getting close to the finish line now.

Lucy went to the surgical center for a check of her incision from the surgery to remove the metal plate from her leg. They also replaced the bandage and checked her lab culture results. Bad news: She has an infection of a type of bacteria that is very resistant to almost all medications. The only one which is capable of treating the infection is a very strong antibiotic that has severe potential side-effects, including kidney failure and deafness. She will have to receive an injection of this medication daily for the next week to ten days. The vet says that there is not a high risk of side-effects during this short dosage but there is a risk.

Let’s just say I am not in a great mood today after receiving this news. At least Lucy is keeping her spirits high.

Lucy’s surgery to remove the titanium plate from her leg was yesterday and it went well. She was very groggy from the anesthesia when I brought her home last night but today she is more alert and acting like herself again. I’ve had no issues so far getting her to ingest her medication, and the day has been very warm and sunny so she’s spent a lot of time in the yard sleeping.

The infection should subside soon with the removal of the growth medium (the plate) and hopefully in about six weeks she’ll be a “normal” dog again.

A quick photo of Emily, Lucy and Fabi at the summit of Boreas Pass. Yes, Lucy was still wearing a soft cast at this point. About a week after this photo was taken, the vet removed Lucy’s bandage completely and so far everything looks good. She places the foot “correctly” now and does not appear to be rolling and slapping the bottom of her foot, which was the cause of the ulcers.

She’s still on “light activity” for a while as she learns to live with fused bones and a titanium plate in her leg.

Lucy has been doing very well and this week the veterinarian removed the splint from her leg. She now only wears a full-leg soft bandage and appears to get along just fine, despite concerns from the vet that she may have difficulty walking without the extra support. To the contrary, Lucy has been running and jumping and wrestling with Fabi — until I catch her doing those things and calm her down.

I was hoping she would be able to do a little hiking and perhaps even a camping trip this week but I need to remain patient. She’ll be doing that stuff within a month or so, and I must wait.