I got Cooper , my beautiful golden retriever in October 2013. He was 3 months old. I quickly realized within the next day or two that he had an injured paw. The pad on his foot was broke open and you could notice that he did not have full mobility in the wrist part of his paw. The vet said it was crushed , but we would see how he grew into it. As winter came and went , Cooper’s pad of his foot healed in the one spot and broke open in his toe. The cold weather and ice made it break open and bleed every time he went outdoors. We tried booties to protect the wound, he tore them off. With spring coming I expected the wound to close and heal. Instead his toe became swollen and he licked the paw a lot. We took him to the vet , who said he had an infection. He does not use his paw much, he comes up the stairs with his bad paw held close to his chest, and when running and playing the bad leg sometimes flaps to the side. He also said we were possibly looking at amputation of the toe or leg. I honestly didn’t know if this was something I could do. I felt devastated that my beautiful boy could possibly lose a leg. I didn’t know if he could have a good quality of life. After a lot of research i am trying to convince myself that he can have a wonderful life, free of the pain he has had in that leg since he was three months old.
Yesterday I took Cooper back to the vet for X-rays after he took his antibiotics for 3 weeks. The X-ray confirmed his foot was beyond repair, so his amputation of the front leg is scheduled in two weeks.
I feel your pain! I was physically ill at the thought of amputation. Jake is now 21 days post rear amputation. This site is what gave me the strength to deal with the decision. 1st week was bad but… Jake is now acting normal, off pain meds and a happy boy. In Cooper’s case he will probably be soo relieved to be rid of the useless, painful limb. Plus he is one step ahead of most Tripawds as he has been walking on three legs anyway. We are here for you, sorry you have to wait two weeks for the surgery.
Laurie AKA Jake’s Mom
Welcome Cooper and family-
Who can resist those beautiful Golden eyes? He is just awesome. I know how difficult this decision can be and it is more so when they are still just babies. I think you will be amazed at how much happier Cooper will be once he is out of pain.
It’s no walk in the park, but after the first couple of weeks as the pain from both his leg and the surgery are gone he will be one happy pup. Dogs are just so adaptable and accept what is handed them as long as they know they are loved.
Please keep us updated and someone is always here to listen and help.
Take care-
Luanne and Spirit Shooter
Cooper and family, welcome. I’m so glad you joined us, please consider coming to our Discussion Forums too so you can get lots of help and support.
Meanwhile, if you’re at all inclined, you may want to check out these OrthoPets interviews about tripawds and prosthetics. Cooper sounds like a great candidate for a prosthetic since he “only” needs a paw taken off, it’s something you might want to consider before the amputation (prosthetics only work if there’s enough leg left after the surgery). Check it out:
http://tripawds.com/tag/orthopets/
Meanwhile, he is such a sweetie! Be sure to play around with resizing your photos so they don’t make your blog template all distorted. We’re happy to help with that if you’d like, just post in “technical support’ and we’ll be there.
Let us know how else we can help OK?
I’m sorry to hear that Cooper has been dealt this hand (paw) at such a young age. I think you will be surprised at how resilient he will be after the surgery. The first week or so will be a little rough because they are so dependant on mom/dad to help with a lot. But once he starts getting things figured out on how to get around on 3 legs…watch out there won’t be any stopping him.
If you haven’t checked out the ebooks on this site (Three Legs and a Spare and Loving Life on 3 Legs) you may want to take a look. I found the information in them extremely helpful as my husband and I were kind of thrust into our Leland’s amputation (amputate or put him to sleep).
You and Cooper will get through this and Cooper will be happier not dealing with that painful paw/leg anymore.
Keep us posted on how things are going.
Sending positive thoughts Cooper’s way for a safe surgery and speedy recovery!!!
Sahana and her Angel Leland
Thanks for sharing Cooper’s story. And thank you for upgrading his blog with a Tripawds Supporter subscription!
Please keep us posted.
Just want to send you support and love. We are al, here for you wherever this journey takes you and Cooper!
One thing for certain, you two were born to be together! He’s a beautiful soul, as are you!
Sending love and clarity,
Sally and Happy Hannah
Cooper is absolutely beautiful! He will do just fine without his injured paw getting in his way and without the unnecessary pain. I just adopted a 3 month old shepard/rottie mix puppy from the local SPCA. He was surrendered when he fell from a shopping cart and shattered his front leg. 2 days later it was amputated and 2 days after that my son and I met him and fell in love. It has been 2 weeks since his surgery and he is running and playing with his four legged brother and sister as if he was no different. Good luck to Cooper and to his family!
Please let us know how he does! We will be thinking about him!
You will be amazed at what can be done on 3 legs!
Darcy & Bart (who continues to amaze)
Our little springer had to have his leg amputated after shattering bone in 3 places. He is amazing ..never looked back… Swims better than ever. It is more difficult for the human than the dog. The day after his surgery when we seen him for the first time was definitely hard be prepared as it is hard to watch but that was only momentary by the time he got home it was as though nothing had happened. And, he adores all the attention that he gets when out for a walk ! Good luck
Hi, I posted a couple comments on another one of your posts. My dog is also named Cooper, and is a front-leg amputee. You will be amazed at all the things he will still be able to do. Don’t worry! I know it’s hard not to worry, but really, you’ll see… he will be so much happier without that useless appendage. Our Coop had a crushed leg due to an unknown injury sustained when he was with his original owners. They couldn’t afford treatment OR surgery, so they returned him to rescue, and we adopted him. We also have his twin brother, Charlie Brown. Coop does everything Charlie does, and some things better. He can jump into the car through an open window if I leave the windows open!! All of my dogs are big boys. They weigh 75 pounds. Our entire house is stairs. Coop has no problem at all with stairs, and in fact when he does what I call the “Kangaroo Hop” (ha ha) he actually goes up the stairs faster than even our cats! In my other comment, I mentioned that we put our box spring and mattress on the floor with no frame or headboard so it’d be easier for him to get on and off the bed. Before I did that, we had a small child’s bed on the side of our bed so he could hop down onto that, and then onto the floor. The room was too small, so I had to come up with a different plan, therefore I dumped the frame and headboard. Good luck, everything’s going to be fine 🙂