{"id":996,"date":"2010-01-18T13:56:36","date_gmt":"2010-01-18T21:56:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/shibashake.com\/dog\/?p=996"},"modified":"2010-01-18T13:56:36","modified_gmt":"2010-01-18T21:56:36","slug":"dog-amputation-siberian-husky-shania","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shibashake.com\/dog\/dog-amputation-siberian-husky-shania\/","title":{"rendered":"Dog Amputation – Siberian Husky Shania"},"content":{"rendered":"

Siberian Husky Shania<\/a> – I love her more than words can say.<\/strong><\/p>\n

One of the first things that people notice about Shania is that she is a three legged dog.<\/p>\n

Shania was born with a condition called radial head luxation<\/em>. The bones on her left front leg did not connect properly, and as a result, she would experience pain when putting weight on it.<\/p>\n

She was first diagnosed at around 9 weeks old. We were devastated.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"Cute
Siberian Husky Shania at 8 weeks old.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n

The surgeon told us that the leg would only get worse as she grew, and ultimately, we would have to amputate. <\/p>\n

He presented us with three choices<\/strong> – <\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Try to straighten the leg. This would be very expensive and may include multiple surgeries over a period of one year.<\/li>\n
  2. Amputate the leg. He suggested that we amputate earlier rather than later. The leg was not weight bearing and it would become more of a painful hindrance to Shania.<\/li>\n
  3. Return Shania and get another puppy<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \"Siberian
    Siberian Husky Shania – I love her more than words can say.<\/div><\/div> <\/div><\/div>\n

    I seriously considered returning Shania. <\/p>\n

    \n

    Dog amputation is a big decision that I have never had to make before. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

    I didn’t know what taking care of a three legged dog<\/a> entailed, <\/p>\n