Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Thank you, I thought it might be a bit shy but honestly right now time seems to be dragging in a loop. After reading several articles while web surfing I ended up giving him one dose in the am. I also think behavioral is the road we are going down. Sometimes I just get that "look" like he has no clue. And he has no shame anymore when he has an accident. Honestly my hopes right now are pretty slim. The Proin is supposed to give him better "control" but if he is forgetting the difference then it may not help at all.
At least he is brighter now. Seems a bit more content, wants more attention but not in a bad way. Just takin' one day at a time with him.
Hugs,
Jackie 
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
Not sure on the dosing on dogs as far as how many drops?
Purrkins dose was two drops in the A.M. three drops P.M. to give you an idea.
I would add the evening dose and see if it helps! It can't hurt. Since you see a difference already, I believe it will help him even more. Give it time this did not happen overnight it won't be corrected overnight. Improvement is a step in the right direction.
0.5ml = 4.2 mg. Canine dose is 1mg/10 lb. We are giving him between .7 - .8 ml. in the am on an empty stomach.
I have to look and see if I half that for twice a day or if I add another whole dose. You are right and I'm stressed. Trying it twice a day won't hurt. I know they give it different ways for different ailments. I really should be documenting this in case it could help somebody else. Or even to reference his progress. Just need to start a journal. Especially now that we've added another medicine. Thanks, needed some grounding.
Huge hugs, you're the best ❤️❤️
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Oh sweetie what an ordeal ...
Incontinence is not easy to deal with for sure.
I haven't been through that with my pets but some of my friends did and in the end they just armed themselves with pacience (and in some cases diapers too) and dealt with cleaning on a daily basis.
Hopefully the medication you're trying will help, will keep fingers and toes crossed 🙏🏼
Sending you an avalanche of kisses sugar bun and cuddles galore to your cuties 😘😘😘🐮💫✨🌟🌹
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Online
Hang in there! I hope the proin works but if it is mental then I don't know.
I was doing a load of laundry everyday when Maggie became incontinent and she was a 17 pound pug! Of course she was also dealing with early kidney failure and the second cancer. We had liquid coming from one end or the other, sometimes both, every day. And right in the middle of all of that my dryer broke! Just what I needed with vet bills piling up- new appliances! Every piece of furniture in my house as well as all the dog beds crinkled since they were lined with incontinence pads. Fun times.
I think a journal is a great idea if you have the energy to keep it up
. You might be able to see a pattern in his behavior or see how effective (or not) the meds are. Have you tried diapers? At least they might contain the mess to him and cut down on laundry. I tried diapers with Mag before we went to meds but the darn things just would not stay on a dog with one back leg.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Teresa and Karen,
Thank you both, I thought I was out of the woods when Mitch had that surgery but we are not. He has finally decided to leave the diapers alone most of the time now so we have not needed to crate him like we did when he was taking the diapers off. I have the washable ones and I finally found a disposable one that fits from Chewy.com. They run very small, I had all but given up on a diaper that would fit a large dog.
He has been doing great with the CBD oil, no ill effects so far. We had a problem with the Proin and I have had him off of everything for a couple of days. He skipped 2 1/2 meals. I could not get him to eat anything. I have been giving him his medicine before feeding him, bad move on my part. Sunday morning he wouldn't eat after I gave him his pill. He was really quiet all day, slept most of it. Sunday night I woke him to go out and right after he lifted his head he wretched and threw up clear fluid. There was no food in it because he hadn't eaten anything all day.
I started him back on the CBD oil this morning. If I can get him to eat first I will try the Proin again. One of the side effects can be lack of appetite and he is already the worst eater in the WORLD! Last weekend I went out and got all the stuff to make corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick's day. While I was out I wandered into some beef and chicken livers and turkey throat... yummmbo 
I had the corned beef dinner on the stove, and I cooked the livers all afternoon long. Took a tiny handful of mixed veggies and mixed that in, then I food processed the whole thing. The cats liked it a lot, Mitchell walked away from it 
I thought I had done so well, I mean its LIVER!! He has even turned his nose up to biscuits and gravy... that should be against the law!!
Oh Karen, I can only imagine adding all of the other stuff into our pee party, I do have things to be thankful for! And I know you'll laugh at me, but some of my pet therapy is when Huckleberry hops up on to my lap at night, purrs and knits on me with his little talons, lol. Does my heart good, he always makes me smile. All of the throw rugs we got for Huckleberry have been christened enough times now that I have had to throw some out. I did find a great washable throw rug though. I never thought I would be so excited about a throw rug 
It is nice and soft, no slip, and can be washed as many times as I need to. The cats love them too.. they way they lay on them you would think I spiked them with cat nip lol.
Mitch started out at 73 pounds or so when we adopted him. He was down to 65 pounds at the time of his surgery, he is 60 pounds now. The doctor says he is at a good weight, I disagree. His butt is bony, his spine sticks out, and he is hugely barrel chested. I will try to stick it out with the Proin and see if we can get past it but he needs to keep eating. Maybe we can get him some Mirtazapine. I will ask the doctor if he can have all of these things at the same time. So much for his bad appetite being from a bad spleen.
I would still like to keep track of this all just in case by some miracle we hit the jackpot but at this stage of the game I am preparing for failure. Thank goodness my husband is retired now so Mitchell is rarely home alone.
Thank you so much for your well wishes, I will keep on trucking and hopefully something will stick!
Hugs,
Jackie
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Awww....so sorry to hear Mitchell is not up to par. I know this has to be worrisome on so many levels
I agree with you, that weight loss is something other than your Vet's "Gee, he's at a 'good' weight".kind of attitude. Hard not to think something is going on to cause the pee issues and the weight thing. Just seems like "something" is causing both. "Behavorial" wouldn't be causing weight loss. And yeah, turning down all that good cooking with all that "good " stuff.......nothing's adding up.
Sorry I don't have any answers. It's certainly a scenario thst requires patience and acceptance of a "different" lifestyle if the cause can't be figured out. You are xoing such aa good job!!!!! I know Mitchell is a very lucky boy!
Love and 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!
Yes! Behavioral is one thing... but I think dementia might be a totally different level. I remember as a young adult, right after I had my son, we went to spend Christmas with my parents close friends.. close like they knew my parents before I was born, lol. Her mom had dementia, really severe. If any kind of food was within arms reach she would fist fight you for it. She would eat until she was sick. I have seen the opposite also when I was a nursing assistant. I think this is my biggest worry, dementia.
His spark has been gone, I have actually seen a little gleam since the CBD oil. He has looked for us and as I am typing this he just got off the couch to come over for some lovin' and attention. Hang on a minute...
Maybe I should write about him more often ?!? I have Mr. Personality for the moment Not only did he come over for attention, he chased me down for some of my grilled tuna and Swiss sammie... I give.. really, I do lol.
Ok, journal it is.. even if it is dementia or some form of canine Alzheimer maybe it will be good reference for somebody else.
(((hugs))) love ya Sally, it's all going to be fine.. for both of us
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
And the saga continues... I feel like I should be starring in Days of Our Lives 
Anybody got an hourglass?
Just got back from the vet office. Mitch rechecked well. He has actually put 2 pounds ON. I don't know where he found it with the way he's been eating, but he did. This was "Mr. Personality" last night. He was the same way at the vets. We talked about his bad appetite and she gave me some Mirtazapine for him as needed when he goes on a hunger strike. I wonder if the 2 pounds was the gallon of water he drank before the visit?? Here is the glowing boy.
The doc had her tech go get a handful of warmed rotisserie chicken. Mitch acted like he hadn't eaten in a year. He snarfed it ALL, buddy. They sent me home with 2 frozen bags to reheat for him. I did. Mixed it with his food and a little bit of Crave canned.
Here is the REAL Mitchell
Yep.. I even tried to feed him the chicken by hand...wasn't having any of it.
So... after an interesting discussion with my husband, the lights started to glow a little up in my head.. Mitchell has been dry through the night all week. David went to the grocery and was gone for about an hour. Mitchell FILLED the diaper. Behavioral... I am starting to get it.. behavioral. David has been retired for 14 months now. He is home all the time. Not long ago he took Mitch out to pee, then brought him back in and spent about 45 minutes in the front yard doing a little yard work. Of course because he was home he didn't put a diaper on him. Guess what.. he peed in the house. Behavioral..
Like I have said before, sometimes it is like he pees out of spite. Another behavioral trait. He is having separation anxiety. I do not know what has sparked this off. When David is puttering around the house Mitch is on the other side of the room sleeping most of the time. Separation anxiety... wholly cow 
Sometimes the things right in front of your face are the last things you think about. I said it to the doctor and she nodded her head. Crap!!
Useful hints for leftover Gabapentin: See if it will help separation anxiety. There is no solid proof yet but she said we can try Trazadone or Gabapentin. My head snapped up at the thought of the brandy new bottle of Gabapentin that we ended up NOT needing for Huck. Yes, we will try 200 mg. about half an hour to an hour before separating the Siamese twins
So.. we are armed with Mirtazapine for hunger strikes. We will try Gabapentin for grocery runs. We will NOT give Proin unless he has eaten. We will continue with CBD oil (the doc was interested some, but not totally impressed ) Have I covered everything? He got his second flu shot so now he is covered.
Oh, in case you haven't heard. Canine flu is a new and popular nastiness that seems to be running rampant right now. Our animal hospital won't even GROOM a dog unless they have had the proper vaccine series (2 shots, three weeks apart). If you board or have your furbaby groomed you may want to look in to this. I know.. another vaccine is not going to impress most, given the nature of the cancer in this site. I am just throwing it out there so that everybody can do the proper research and see if it needs to be considered. I know here in Central KY several dogs have died from this flu. I have not had any problems (yet) with vaccines, and we do have to board Mitch twice a year. It took me years to finally find a vet I really like that is competent and takes care of animals the way I believe should be, it also happens to be the place Mitch boards at so I don't have much of a choice here and he gets excellent care there.
Separation anxiety... I am just getting used to anxiety in general (my own, lol). Let's see where this behavioral path takes us and just one more medication to chart and observe.
Hugs to all, if anybody out there gets even a little help, interest, or is sharing this path with me then all of the rambling might be worth it.
Jackie (and her unique crew of beautiful misfits)
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Blimey Jackie 😳
I was going to suggest boiled bull's heart and lamb's lungs 🤢🤢🤢 absolutely disgusting stuff but the ultimate irresistible treat for dogs, I tried that many moons ago with my first Dane Kinky and she almost swallowed her bowl 😋
Separation anxiety, who would have thought of that 🤔🙄?
How about leaving the TV on when David is out in the yard?
Would that do the trick I wonder?
Of course, if it does, it's only if Mitch does not want to go check out if Daddy is really there ...
I don't understand how gabapentin can help here, being a nerve blocker how does it help with anxiety ? ...
Anyway, probably worth a try as your vet is agreeable, really hope you can pull this off.
I sure love your humour and pawsitive energy dealing with Mitch's challenges.
Speaking about Mitch, he is GORGEOUS and looks the happiest dog in the world 😃🐾
Sending you the warmest of hugs and a truckload of cuddles to your cuties 😘😘🐮✨💫🌟🌹
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Sounds like anxiety and try not yelling or making a big deal when he does pee! That is attention!
CBD should help with anxiety! You can take it too! Just saying you can! I tried it but could not stand the taste of it myself.
I agree leave the tv on or radio going I did that with my dog! It can help. Not all Traditional vets are interested yet on CBD so know that and if you see improvement continue it and shrae what you see with her if she wants to hear it? Not all do.
I still say 2X a day? I am not sure with the Gaba now, you might have a zapped out Mitchell?
You would have to find a holistic Vet to get support in non-traditional ways.
Good luck hope something helps!
I agree, we always used to put a radio on if we were working and knew a thunder shower was coming. Thank you, I never thought of that, didn't think I needed it with David being home.
I started him on the CBD to help his cognitive functions. I think we can safely place anxiety in that category, I will keep on with it. I tried it Holly...omd it tasted like s@*t💩💩💩!! Like sucking on a pine cone with sap all over it
When we first took Huck in I looked for a holistic vet, I also looked for rehab for Huck, there's nothing around here. I wasn't surprised unfortunately. I miss the medicine in Rhode Island. I'm actually thankful that Huckleberry was feral now. He came to us in top physical condition except for his leg. He was so fast, like lightening when he hunted. That has helped him a great deal in his recovery.
The gaba is on an as needed basis. Only when he will be left alone which is not often and not for long usually. I think we try the radio first seeing it worked so well before. Maybe if we can ease that stress level we can turn it around? Maybe not. I think we're starting to get used to it. David just got selected for jury duty. This will be the test of all tests.
We're going to work on it and see what helps. Hopefully something will. I think of little dogs in diapers, not lab pittie mixes lmao
Hugs
❤️❤️
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Elly has severe separation anxiety which is quite a problem with us doing Nose Work. Of course she has her own form...
She is OK at home, she is never actually alone there, we consider it mild to moderate at home. Obie is always with her and my dad is home most of the time. She is not destructive and she doesn't poop or pee, but when I'm not there she spends 80 to 90% of her time looking out the window waiting for me. She will now eat when I'm not there (thank dog for the pug in her!) and the few times I've been gone overnight she will sleep with my dad and Obie. She used to be inappropriately happy to see me when I get home although that is a bit better now.
When I try to leave her anywhere besides home she absolutely loses it- well that was at first, it's a bit better now, sometimes. We actually discovered it when we started NW a year ago last January. At NW classes and at trials the dog has to wait in the car between turns. At our first class she was in the truck for about 20 minutes. When I got her out she was uncontrollable- crying, jumping up on me, grabbing me. I took her into the room to do our search and she wouldn't calm down. I tried to put her back in my truck but she wasn't having that at all! It took about 30 minutes for her to calm herself enough to even listen to me. Since then I've found that she freaks whenever she thinks I am going to leave her somewhere (other than at home).
In hindsight I realized that she has been 'dumped' several times, including when she came to me. Her foster mom and I worked out a deal where she dropped her off at my house and I took Elly to her last eye doc appointment. I was her fourth home at 10 months old so I can only imagine how she must feel when I walk away from her.
I've learned that sep anx manifests itself in many different ways. I've never dealt with it before and I have to say it is HARD! It takes lots of time and consistent desensitizing to whatever the triggers are. I do think our case is complicated by the fact that I am retired and so am home much of the time. Since we figured out the sep anx I've actually made an effort to leave her at home for at least an hour every other day or so. As far as leaving her in the truck- we stared with me just opening the door for a couple seconds, if she was calm she got a treat. We worked up to about 15 minutes at a time of me leaving her in the truck, but with me in view much of that time. That took a year!!! Although I didn't work with her as much as I probably should have. We had a setback a couple months ago and we are slowly building time again. I'm not sure she will ever be completely comfortable when I leave her, but one of the things I look for with her is that she can settle herself when I come back in a reasonable amount of time.
Our trainer recommended an expert on sep anx- her name is Malena DeMartini-Price. I have her book 'Treating Separation Anxiety in Dogs'. The book is written for trainers who are helping clients with their dogs, but I have found the methods seem to work when I adapt them to Elly's situation and triggers.
Send me a PM if you want to talk more. I'm certainly not an expert but I can share what I've learned with Elly.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Thank you so much Karen, I will do that. This has been going on ever since his knee surgery. That is the only thing for sure that I know as far as the accidents are concerned. I have seen some separation anxiety in pups that came to the animal hospital and I had a friend that had a Yorkie. She was the sweetest girl until anybody tried to leave the house. Then she was a land shark, lol. We had to put her in the bathroom whenever we got ready to leave because as soon as Peanut knew you were going she would chase you and bite you.
Thank you for sharing, I truly appreciate it.
Jackie
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
I always marvel how, if there's an "issue" here, chances are one of Karen's Pug dealt with it!! You name it, they've experienced it!! 🙂 And we get to benefit from her Sage advice!
BTW Jackie, lpve the GLOWING picture of Mitchell...such a sweetie! And of course he woofed down food at the Vet!!. It's some sort or genetically pre-wired thing in dogs! Perk up and eat at the Vet...be lethargic and don't eat at home!
Good job at recognizing the separation anxiety. Hard to say whst happened when he had his knee surgery at the Clinic and what has triggered all this. Certainly the pee was also medical at least initially. Then the crating...the separation from the pack...the interruption of sleep and not being able to sleep with his pack...And now all that seems to have crossed over to behavioral. And you still keep your humor!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 As Karen said, try and just ignore it with no reaction. I think you've already accepted it though...good job. Has to be hard!!
Wish Paul could zvpid jury duty by explaining Mitchell's situation, but I doubt that would work!!! 🙂 🙂
Love and 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!
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