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We made the decision to have Arby’s front right paw amputated and it happened this past Friday. He’s home and recovering and has even hobbled around a little. He’s hasn’t eaten much and it’s difficult giving him the medication; but we’re managing.
my question is about a harness. We think it might be a good idea but I don’t have a clue what to look for.
its his right front leg and he’s small and only weighs about 20 lbs. thoughts please?
Hey glad to hear that Arby is recovering! His appetite will return soon, it's a typical side effect of pain medications but after some more rest he should be wanting to eat soon. You can try giving him some warmed food, maybe scrambled eggs, something to tempt him.
Regarding a harness. They are so helpful if you guys have stairs, or if Arby goes lots of places in the car with you. Here's a post we wrote a while back about deciding on a harness:
3 Reasons Why Tripawds Need a Harness (or Don’t)
The Ruffwear Flagline is our #1 recommended harness for dogs missing a front leg. It can be a life saver in lots of places with tricky surfaces or tall places Arby needs to get to.
Let us know if you have any questions!
Thanks for the comments about his eating. We kind of thought once he got off of Chemo he’d start eating. I didn’t give the pain management piece of this ordeal any thought.
we did order a harness tonight. We got the webmaster harness hoping that it will help him out with the stairs.
i truly appreciate the quick response
Oh yeah the pain control medications can do a number on appetite. How is he doing today? Any new progress?
Harnesses are great in the sense that they help you help your dog on stairs. They aren't "supportive" in the sense that a brace is, but the top handle lets you help him around tricky places. Our Nellie wears hers every day, we don't go anywhere without it if we know stairs or a car are involved. I think you'll like it! Thank you so much for shopping with us 🙂
His appetite isn’t good. Arby had surgery on Friday. He came home on Saturday. He only eats small bits of anything we can figure out to feed him. I have cooked ground turkey and beef, made chicken and rice and have bought a turkey and pumpkin pate along with some chicken dinner by Verus. He was taking his meds (prior to surgery) with a variety of lunch meats to include roast beef, turkey, chicken, liverwurst and bolgna. We’ve tried cheddar cheese and American cheese, peanut butter and anything else anyone has suggested.
He is taking gabapentin, prednisolone and trazodone.
Have any of you experienced similar issues with eating (or lack of) 3 days after surgery?
All comments would be appreciated
I've had problems with trazadone making my dogs too drunk to get around and/or eat. It doesn't help with pain but is needed for some dogs when they are too active after surgery. My experience with prednisolone is that it increases thirst and urination and could increase apatite. It was also a med that can not be stopped suddenly- when Maggie was taking it as part of her cancer treatment we had to taper off.
How is he acting other than not eating? Is he exhibiting any other signs of pain like panting? Some dogs don't have much of an apatite after surgery and while on pain meds. It's hard to tell if he showing pain signs or if the meds are causing him not to eat. You might try some more enticing foods like hot dogs or cheeseburgers (as long as he isn't nauseous) or try heating the food. I've had good luck adding warm chicken broth to food. I make my own but if you use store bought be sure to get a low sodium version. My dogs love the water from tuna.
As far as meds- have you tried heating the cheese? That's what I do. It wraps around the pill and is a little greasy so it slides down. I'm sorry if you've seen this but it's a video I made a few years ago about pilling my dogs:
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Maggie's Story Amputation and Chemo
Find me now on Tripawds Circle
I tried the cheese trick; it didn’t work last night. I had bought these Lord Jameson PB&J pill hiders… turns out that for now he li’es them and has taken his pills.
i took him to my vet this morning. She gave him some Nutri-cal and Royal Canine recovery. He has been eating every several hours all day today.
maybe we’ve turned a corner!
fingers crossed and thanks for all the reassuring words.
How is Arby doing? You're not quite at a week out yet so I would not be too worried other than being able to get medication in.
I have gone through two amputations now. Nixon was very hungry the first 24 hours after amputation but he lost over 15 lbs the last few days prior to the surgery. Then they gave him a fentanyl patch and he stopped eating. I have video of me having to feed him dry food mixed with cottage cheese while he stayed in bed. Every day was an adventure trying to figure out what he was going to eat. Once he was off all pain meds, his normal eating habits returned.
Allen just refused to eat for over a week. He eventually started to eat cat treats on day 6 but only a few at a time. Then human baby food. Once the stitches came out, his interest in food picked up and he did return to normal and was never a trim greyhound again.
One of the things that seemed to bother both of my boys is that they wanted to stand to eat but I think they were a little too medicated to.
Woah he's a tough cookie! Glad you did find something that works. I haven't heard of that brand, thanks for letting us know.
What does your vet think about his progress in other areas so far? Glad to hear his appetite is picked up. Yep, that corner has been turned!
We thought Arby's appetite had returned; but it hasn't really... he's still on the gabapentin, prednilosone and enrofloxacin... he's been taking his meds pretty regularly until last evening when he didn't want any of them.
Yesterday, he was extremely lethargic even though my sister and her husband were over visiting. Guess he didn't feel well (and he didn't eat much either). Today, he's much more alert but again, getting him to eat is challenging. I bought about 6 small cans of food (because I've been wasting so much); he'll eat about 2 tablespoons at a time and that's it. He loves human foods (yesterday, he ate 1/2 of my hamburger and some salmon for dinner) but dog foods not so much.
He's 8 days post surgery, hobbling around pretty good but again, eating...not so good
Appreciate all of the continued comments... he really does help!
Been following Arby's journey so far. You've gotten excellent input already.
He loves human foods (yesterday, he ate 1/2 of my hamburger and some salmon for dinner) but dog foods not so much.
For now, I absolutely would give him whatever he will eat. The human food choices so far sound excellent. Once you get him eating a little better you can slowly reintroduce whatever used to be his favorite dog food prior to this into the human food.
Another thing you might try is to have a different person give him his dinner, whether it's chicken or salmon or hamburger or whatever. Sometimes just having a different energy do this task can help. If you're like most of us, when a dog doesn't eat I'm sure they can pick up on her energy when we give them food as we are watching every morsel that they may or may not be eating.
Overall would you say his recovery is as it should be this early on? Drinking water and potting normally? Incision looking good?
Hang in there, recovery doesn't last forever.... it just seems like it early on!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
I'm with Sally, give him whatever he will eat. MANY dogs are turned off of dog foods when they are on any kind of medication.
What's the pred being given for? Wondering if that has something to do with it. That's not something we typically see during an amputation recovery. Remind me, does Arby have another condition? Sorry if I missed that.
Hello all,
Arby is 2 weeks out of surgery now; I'm amazed at how he is hobbling around on his 3 paws. My vet suggested we give him Nutra Cal to get some good calories into him. We've done that for about a week now. His appetite still hadn't really returned... he only likes FRESH food! Can you believe it. Our surgeon suggested giving him Entyce to help his appetite. We had tried that before with absolutely no luck because it's a liquid. Then a lightbulb went off in my head... the Nutra Cal is a gel which you administer with a sort of syringe. He's supposed to take 3 ml at a time. So, I now add 1 ml Nutra Cal, then 1 ml Entyce and then a 2nd ml of Nutra Cal and low and behold, we've been able to give it to him.
The best part is that it is working! He has actually been eating his Royal Canin Recovery along with other dog foods (although he's not a fan of any stew, only a pate). Fortunately, Concord pets offers a variety of 2.5 ounce cans of pate and other foods that he is now enjoying.
We're waiting to hear from the surgeon and oncologist what the next steps are. The oncologist said that the mass cell tumor has metastasized (they think based on the 2 lymph nodes they removed) so they're suggesting intravenous chemo for 12 weeks or re-start the Palladia or just do nothing and let him live his life. None of these are easy decisions based on what he's already been through so we're holding off until he finishes his pain/antibiotics. It's just too much to think about now since the little guy is just starting to act like the dog we once knew.
This is a long way for me to get to my actual question... are dogs with one front leg missing able to go up and down stairs? And, if so, I imagine there's some way that we have to train him to do it?
Thanks,
Marianna
Thanks for the update! We are all thrilled his is earing better now!
He's supposed to take 3 ml at a time. So, I now add 1 ml Nutra Cal, then 1 ml Entyce and then a 2nd ml of Nutra Cal and low and behold, we've been able to give it to him.
Brilliant !! Good for you staying the course and figuring ways to overcome that hurdle!
It's just too much to think about now since the little guy is just starting to act like the dog we once knew.
Seeing him return to his Happy self (and it still gets better) is why we do what we do. Yes, just enjoy where you are right now and put future options on the back burner for now.
are dogs with one front leg missing able to go up and down stairs? And, if so, I imagine there's some way that we have to train him to do it?
Yes, front leggers cert can do stairs. Front leggers usually have a bit harder time at first going DOWN as all the force is on that o e leg. Going UP is easier as they use both back legs to push off. My Frankie was a front leg tripawd and he could sail up and down.....he was a very hard headed strong willed Coonhound and would not let me ise a harness to assist him.
How many stairs are you talking about? You may, or may not, want to use a harness, but maybe especially at first to help him feel secure. You will want to make sure the stairs have traction strips/rugs and not slippery hardwood.
Again, for now just soak in how much better Arby is doing. As I said earlier, it even gets better and better. This is still mighty early on in recovery.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Thanks for your response.. It's very encouraging to hear that he may be able to go up and down the steps (he's a little dog who sits low to the ground [corgi/dashund mix]).
There are only 3 steps to go down the deck (they have traction strips on them) and 3 steps to go out of the front of the house (they are cement); we also have a set of 3 steps for him to go up and down to get onto our bed.
Currently, we purchased a baby rail so that he will not fall out of the bed... that's at the foot of the bed and obviously my husband and I are on either side.
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