Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives
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Our pup had front right leg amputation 7 days ago. He also has hip dysphasia in both hips. He occasionally will shiver out of the blue. Not sure if this is normal, is due to him being in pain or not feeling well. It's been going on for the past couple days.
Welcome and best wishes for your pup! What's his name?
Please consult your vet with any serious concerns, but shivering can indicate pain or be a sign that he is overdoing it. Shivering, twitching and sudden outbursts may also be symptoms of phantom pain . All of which are indeed a normal part of recovery.
First, please make sure your dog does not have a fever, which could suggest infection. Make sure he is also confined and getting plenty of rest during these early days. There will be plenty of time for rehab and exercise later, all he needs now is short leashed potty time. Finally, since he has been shaved, your pup may just be cold. Consider putting an old t-shirt or sweatshirt on him, which can also help keep he incision area clean.
Bookmark Jerry's Required Reading List for more helpful tips or consider downloading the Tripawds e-boooks for fast answers to common concerns.
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Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome.
A little more information would be helpful. What pain meds is he on? What supplements?Â
I'm guessing since he has hip dysplasia that he is a good size dog? How old is he?
Getting the pain med regimen correct after amputation can be challenging, is he panting or showing other pain signs?
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
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        Maggie's Story          Amputation and Chemo
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Find me now on Tripawds Circle
His name is Tank and he's almost 5. He's a pit/lab mix. He's taking Rimadyl, Tramadol, Dasaquin and Fish Oil. I talked to his surgeon and we are also putting him on Gabapentin.
Hopefully the addition of Gabapentin will help. It may take a day or two for it to kick in. It's srill very early in recovery and it is major surgery.
Adjustment to three legs, as well as the hip dysplasia possibly flairing up while his muscles and joints figure things out can cause some soreness.
As already mentioned, Tank just needs to be doing potty breaks and then rest.
Is he eating and drinking okay? Incision looking okay? Is he in an antibiotic?
Does he show any other signs of pain like restlessness or panting? If he does show signs of pain, is it at the tail end of his last pain med dose? Ake some notes and then you can talk with your Vet to see if doses need to be more frequent or higher amounts, etc. Also, speak to yiur Vet about giving the individual pain meds at separate times instead of loading up all at once.
You might try gentle massage up and down his spine, neck and shoulder. Does he tense up at any point as though something hurts?
Recovery is no picnic for a couple of weeks. It took me three weeks before I could finally say I did this FOR my Happy Hannah and not TO her!
Stay connected and let us know how Tank is doing. Can't wait to see pictures of yiur sweet boy.
Hugs to all!
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!
He is eating and drinking, however, it seems to take some coaxing. I do give him massages which seems to help with the shivering a little. As far as any consistancies as to when shivering occurs, we've noticed it seems to come about before he needs to go pottie...almost like he knows he needs to go but doesn't want to cuz he knows it's gonna hurt...not sure if that's it or not.
I do know he will have ups and downs throughout recovery, it's just hard to see him going through it...like you put it...it feels like we did it TO him, not FOR him!
I am so glad to have been directed to this site...it has helped us tremendously!
Not being excited about eating or drinking is common after surgery, it's great that he will even if it takes coaxing.
I'm glad the vet added gaba- it does sometimes take a day or two to kick in with full effect. Are you alternating the dosing times so he always has something in his system? Many here have found that works well for their pups.
Hang in there, it does get better!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Â
        Maggie's Story          Amputation and Chemo
Â
Find me now on Tripawds Circle
Tank is probably getting staples out tomorrow...what should we expect? Is he going to be somewhat sedated or do they just remove them like stitches?
It's a very simple procedure, we've never heard of sedation being required. Please let us know how it goes!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Just curious, the staples are coming out on day eight? Generally, most dogs keep their stitches about two weeks, or maybe a few days earlier. Not a Vet, but this seems a little early.
I know this isip such a hard time and everyone here can relate! Remember, this IS major surgery. Heck, humans would probably be in the hospital for days and with a morphine drip!!
STAY CONNECTED and update again when you can. Just continue to feed him basically anything he'll eat. Cheeseburgers are yummy...cheese pizza...scrambled eggs.
And yeah, Tank may "anticipate" going out to potty equals some pain. Hopefully the Gabapentin and staggering the pain meds will help.
Hang in there!! You're doing great!
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!
His surgery was on the 3rd of November. His surgeon asked for pictures of his incision and she feels that on day 9 he should be okay to have them removed but wants to see them in person before the final decision is made. They wanted to have them removed before chemo which is scheduled for the 16th. It does appear the skin is starting to grow around a couple of them...we shall see what they say. He took Gabapentin for the first time last night...he seemed really dopey...we are going to ask about dosage on his meds today as well.
As far as the Gaba, sedation can happen with some dogs. Your Vet may reduce the dose. It may be that the sedation may lessen after a few days. The Vet will guide you along those lines.
Were yiu able to see if the pain seemed to lesse (the shivering)?
Glad the incision is healing nicely and Tank can soon get rid of thise pesky stitches!
Drive-thru cheeseburger in the way home from the Vet for Tank! 🙂 🙂
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!
Tank got his staples out yesterday!!! However, this morning his head started to shake (like he was saying no). I put my hand on him and it stopped. Not sure if this is a side effect of Gabapentin that was just added a couple days ago (no other change to his meds or dosages)...
YAY FOR STITCH REMOVAL!!! I know that feels good to Mr Tank!
Hmmm...not sure about the head shaking and if the Gaba could cause that or not. The factthat once you petted his head it stopped is, in my j professional opinion, a good sign!! You can ask the Vet about it. It may just be a fluke one time thing.
Just a weird thought...is it possible he may have had something in his ear and was starting to try and shake it out? Remember, we have to scrat h our puls all over several tImes a day to make sure we scratch places they can't reach as easily as a tripawd.
Still early in recovery and it WILL continue to get better!!
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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