Yampa's Life

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Yampa’s life has changed, but he is still a happy dog. He is a little bit slower. At age eleven with only 3 legs we would expect that. Don’t know what to say about why he is continuing to do so well. The surgery was a success. The chemo didn’t bother him. Maybe it is the anti-cancer diet that he is on. All my wife and I know is, we still have our Yampa. Good luck to everyone who is just facing this new diagnosis for their family member.

Yampa is continuing to suprise us. He has had 3 treatments of chemo, only had problems with the second. Back to his old self this week, running and playing in the snow. I will get pictures up as soon as I can.

It  has been almost a month since surgery. One week since the first round of chemo. So far, so good.  Getting around just fine on 3 legs. Running seems to be easier than walking. Still chasing snowballs.

Can anyone help me figure out how to use a dog door with only one front leg?

Chasing snowballs today. The happiest he has been yet. Tail Wagging kind of day.

Wants to run! Looking great!

Got a nice walk in today.

Yampa’s last day with 4 legs…

What should we do? How about a long walk…

I want to thank every one on this site that have written blogs and left comments. The information and your thoughts have helped us prepare for the big day.

It was a great day for a walk!!!!!

Tripawds is a user-supported community. Thank you for your support!

Hi, This is Yampa’s story.

Yampa’s life changed drastically on Dec. 7, 2009. Or should I say, my wife and I’s life changed. Yampa is still as happy as ever. The humans are a mess.

It must of started late this summer. One day on our daily run, after about 100yds, he turned around and went home. He still ran with my wife, so I thought he just didn’t like my pace anymore. About a month later he started to limp. We took him to the vet, and was told that he had arthritis in his shoulder. A week of rest and anti-inflammatories and he appeared better. No more limp. He actually started running with me again. Short runs, then I would run by the house and drop him off. He would wait patiently on the porch for me to return. About 3 weeks later Lisa noticed some swelling in his wrist. Took him to the vet the next day. That is when we got the bad news.

“I think I found the problem” our vet said. She showed us the xray, almost 60% of the distal radius was a blur. I couldn’t believe he was still walking. From that point on our vet was basically useless. We were told Yampa would need an amputation, and she would call us later  that day to schedule. She never called. The next day, I had the clinic download his xrays on a disc. When I picked up the disc, I was promised that our vet would call us with our options. One of the other vets in the office left a voice mail 2 days later. By then we had visited the wonderful people at the CSU vet school. Lots of tests; xray, blood work, bone scan. All of our options were explained to us in detail. Good news, no evidence of spread. Bad news, can’t always see micro lesions of the cancer. We talked about limb sparing surgery or radiation, but the cancer had gone too far to make these reasonable options. So after a long night of discussion, we opted for the amputation and chemotherapy route. Yampa will become a “Tripawd” on Dec. 17, 2009. That is when his journey begins. Until then, he is living every moment, “as happy as ever”.  (I think he is trying to teach me something.)

Waiting to go somewhere. Anywhere!

Yampa's best friend, Remington

Why all the pictures?