Hey roper, I am speaking from experiance when saying this... if that dog has feeling in the leg, he is not chewing at it, and has some movement in it still I would wait to amputate. The amputaion process is a long and hard one, and only a strong dog will survive. If I've read correctly, you said that it was his front leg? That is a little different IMO than a back leg. They use their front legs a lot for balance, and climbing up creeks, and ect. I had a dog get tusked in the rear, and I HAD to get his leg cut off. BUT I did this because he could not feel nor use his leg any more, and started chewing at it. I ran 4 rounds of steroids through him and probably 5 rounds of anitbiotics, and still had to get it amputated. SO, if it were me and my dog, especially if he is a good one, I would try everything you possibly can before getting it cut off. Ask the vet for a round of steroids and see if that and antis will get him going. I will say though, if you do have a good dog then I would only amputate if you absolutely have to. If you think that he is strong enough to push through the procedure, if he ends up needing it, then yes, do it.... just know that it is going to be a long road. And btw, he still gets around good, but his was his back leg... so I don't know about the front. Good luck with whatever you decide to do. Good dogs are good dogs, and you'd like to be able to keep em all around forever. Just, IMO, there is a point to where you have to decide wether you are doing it for the dog, or for yourself.
This is Diablo right after the surgery.
This is Diablo after the surgery.
