Coming out of surgery--This mom needs support

[samckay315]

Hi,

Just looking for love, emotional support, and happy news.

"Little Monster" just came out of surgery at the CSU Vet Teaching Hospital here in Colorado. She had her right front let amputated at the shoulder. I've seen amputations before, but I'm just hoping we did the right thing.

She had a huge abscess on her leg that was drained and stitched. It did resolve, so we moved to surgery to move the entire abscess. It went well, but her leg literally died a week later. I brought her in this morning to double check and make sure the infection was going away, and the vet was like, "The leg is dead, I'm so sorry."

I just feel so bad! I'm pregnant and I do love her, but I'm hoping we didn't just go too far and ruin her life. The vet said there is great prognosis and the surgery went well and her tissue is very healthy--so we look good for now.

My husband is such a good man because he said to "Do it" so that we "do everything we can for her." She is about 5 and I rescued her off Craigslist. She has a fantastic home and is so lucky. She is bright, eating well, and moving around (even this morning before surgery), so I know she is at least doing okay mentally (hopefully?).

I'm nervous for her to come home. Her entire right front leg is gone. Poor baby.

 

[AHBD]

Aw,it sounds like Little Monster is doing very well so far. Beardie's can get along just fine with a missing limb so she should be O.K with a few adjustments to her tank. Keep the basking areas lower [ at least for a while ] so she doesn't have trouble climbing or fall .

There are quite a few owners with beardies that have missing feet, parts of the tail or entire legs like L. M. As long as the infection is gone she should do just fine.

 

[samckay315]

Thank you! I just cleaned her cage like a mad-woman and tried Googling ways to change her cage so so can access all her needs.

Aw,it sounds like Little Monster is doing very well so far. Beardie's can get along just fine with a missing limb so she should be O.K with a few adjustments to her tank. Keep the basking areas lower [ at least for a while ] so she doesn't have trouble climbing or fall .

There are quite a few owners with beardies that have missing feet, parts of the tail or entire legs like L. M. As long as the infection is gone she should do just fine.

 

[AHBD]

You can use newspaper or better yet, non adhesive shelf liner for the flooring. Can you post a few pics of the tank ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG

 

[samckay315]

She has a felt/carpet floor on the bottom and a hammock just hanging that leads up to her basking bulbs. She also has a food bowl, water bowl, and a couple piece of wood so she can get under/near her heat lamp (out for cleaning). No water bowl for now because of surgery. She also has a basking bulb, a ceramic (no light) heating bulb, and a UV reptisun light. She sits in the sun and we close it when it gets too hot (the AC is nearby so it's not that often). This winter we will probably turn on another heater (it snows and gets coooooold here) and when we didn't have enough heat the first year, she tried to hibernate! It scared me!

She also eats kale, mustard greens, and occasional other greens for fun. She does enjoy mango. She also LOVES cockroaches, but will eat crickets. I hate when they get away because I don't want them to pick on her. She also gets regularly dusted bugs for her vitamins. Lucky girl! I bought the hammock for her about a month ago because I felt guilty about her leg! :lol:

You can use newspaper or better yet, non adhesive shelf liner for the flooring. Can you post a few pics of the tank ? Here's how :
https://www.beardeddragon.org/useruploads/ Then hit XIMG

 

[AHBD]

The hammock may be a hazard because her claws can get snagged and her leg sprained. You might just opt for a very low to the ground log wrapped in a piece of smooth fabric [ like what a bandanna is made of ] Either that or just roll up a large piece of fabric to make a small "hill." If you feed her crickets, give her only what you can see her eat and don't leave a single one to hide in there and come out at night to bite at her wound.

Be careful of the tank being near the window with the basking lamp on, it may heat up like a green house. You can't be too careful with the patient.

 

[samckay315]

Ah! Making changes now. Thank you so much for your support! I'll post a picture after I pick her up from the vet hospital.

 

[SDragons]

so glad to hear that the surgery went well. After an adjustment period she should be able to adjust well to her new 3 leged lifestyle.

 

[samckay315]

She's home!

Vet said she did great and was already climbing around in their cage. They also said she is back to feisty self, which makes me so happy. I feel good about this. She has so many shots to do, but we will get them done. Please send happy thoughts our way!

 

[Drache613]

Hello,

Oh poor little Monster, I am sorry to hear she lost her entire arm like that!
I am sure that she will adjust just fine, but it will definitely take some time though. There are so many others here on the forum that have missing limbs, etc.
I hope she is doing well this evening.

Tracie

 

[AHBD]

She looks great ! She's a picture of health and beauty despite the missing arm. She looks like a boss-dragon already ... hopefully there will be no more infection .

 

[SDragons]

She looks pretty happy to be home.

 

[samckay315]

She is pretty awesome. Her character is hilarious. I definitely love her and feel awful all at the same time!

Gave her an anti-inflammatory shot tonight and she was of course not happy. She has maybe a few pieces of greens and I bribed her with 4 crickets. She was down for those.

Hoping for a good, clean recovery because she is part of our family (and she needs to meet baby in December!).

Thanks for the love and support, everyone. I'm hoping she returns to normal very soon!

 

[Fortunate]

I had a beardie with a front leg amputation, he was mobile and happy! climbing was a bit of an issue so instead of branches and hammocks he had ramps, also he had carpeting for substrate, just had to keep his nails short
I got a callous on his chest from the way he would use it to move but it was never anything to be concerned about.
I think little monster will be just fine.

 

[allusiontoanillusion]

She's beautiful and it sounds like she's got quite a bit of fight in her. Seems like your spunky gal will be back to causing trouble in no time.