Many years ago I had a one-year-old cat, Daisy, who badly injured her right hind leg and had to have it surgically amputated ant the "ankle", which is about halfway up the leg (for all you non-cat people). Because she chewed at the bandaging covering the stump, my mother crocheted little covers that fit over the stump and tied around the cat's hips. Daisy chewed through the crocheted cover in about a week, just in time for the scheduled vet visit and a brand-new, very colorful stump cover. This went on for about 6 months (my mother had a lot of yarn scraps) but Daisy lived she for 19 years, surviving annother surgery at age 10. The only things Daisy couldn't do were climb trees and clean behind her right ear, a task gladly taken over by Alexander, one of the other cats we had at the time.
I just read a one of the James Herriott books, and in it he tells of treating a dog which, over a period of time, lost the use of both right legs. The owner couldn't bear the thought of putting the dog down, and the thing figured out a way to balance itself and still get around, almost as well as he did with four legs.
Puppies Born Without Front Legs Need Home
Poor doggies!