bilateral front limb amputation

by **Sandie** » Thu Aug 23, 2012 9:10 pm

My toy German Spitz is about to lose his second front leg (the first was amputated last week). We are aiming to order him a cart, but I am interested to talk to anyone who is living with a bilateral front limb amputee. He can already step on only his back legs a short distance and scoot on his bottom, but I'd love practical advice on how they spend their days out of a cart, and how to help him move about, go to the bathroom etc. Also, has anyone had experience of any type of a prosthetic device for a dog who has one leg completely removed (with the shoulder blade) and needing to rely on the other partially amputated? Our vets are debating the level of amputation, thinking perhaps to leave a stump that some sort of device could be fitted to to give him a balance point so he can at least pee standing up. I'm worried about issues with pain and rubbing, but he is a very small dog which is why they think it may work.

by **critters** » Fri Aug 24, 2012 10:06 am

Front carts seem to be problematic, but many bipods learn to walk upright. http://faiththedog.info/ If they leave a usable stump, a prosthetic is a possibility too. If you try a prosthetic, I suggest that you do your best to have it made locally because it's SO much easier to have hands-on fittings.