Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives
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Our beautiful little bully girl had her left forelimb amputation on Monday due to a soft tissue sarcoma. She came home the same day due to our vet not being a 24 hour facility. The first night was ROUGH. She wouldn’t do anything other than pant and cry. By nights end she wet the bed and did eat and drink a little. Day 2, Tuesday was much better. She was wagging her tail, seemed very calm, ate and drank well. She still refused to walk, even with a sling. By nights end, we did get her to pee and poop outside. Day 3 is today. I feel like she’s going backwards. She refuses to stand, will not walk, had not gone potty. She did eat and drink. I look at her and think what have I done? She’s existing she’s not living. I’m planning on calling the vet in the AM. I’m not sure if I should be doing more? Am I doing something wrong? How can she not potty for 24 hours?
Hi and welcome to you and your girl. Your future posts won't require moderation so post away. What is her name?
Fear not, almost every single person has experienced what you are feeling right now. Take a deep breath and remember, this is major surgery and most new human amputees would be doing a lot worse at this point in time. It's not easy to see our dogs feeling down in the dumps but rest assured this is only temporary.
I'm glad you called your vet for some reassurance! What did they say?
It would be helpful to know what kind of pain management your dog is getting as far as pain meds. How much, what kind, how often? Good pain management makes for an excellent recovery. Weak pain management makes things much harder than they need to be. We are huge advocates for high quality pain control.
Also, remember that it's your attitude that determines how your dog responds to the situation. The more confident and optimistic you are, the more your dog will respond well to that pawsitivity.
Here are some links to help you feel better about things:
Tripawd Tuesday: Emerson the Labrador is Back at the Beach!
You Can Make a Tripawd’s Amputation Recovery Hard, or Easy
Keep us posted and let us know how things are going. We'll be waiting for a pupdate!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi and thank you for the reply! Her name is Emily Rose, but we call her Emily or Emmy 🥰
Our vet is seeing her at 1:40 est today. They are concerned about her lack of urinating.
As far as pain management , she’s on 150mg trazadone every 12 hours, 50mg of carprofen every 12 hours, 300mg of gabapentin every 12 hours, and .6cc of buprenex every 12 hours. She’s also on 200mg of simplicef every 12 hours to prevent infection. She weighs 62 pounds.
Her history is a rough one.
I fostered back in 2013. She was found on the side of the road after being hit by a car. She had surgical repair to her right rear femur. She made a full recovery but she is a bit arthritic and that leg is a bit shorter.
The morning of her front amputation, we found a very small mass in that same leg she previously had repaired. They aspirated it and it was consistent with a fatty tumor, but to be proactive, we opted to have that removed the same day as her amp.
So she is missing her left forelimb and has an incision on her right rear limb.
We’ve been reading through the site here as well in the Facebook group. Everyone and all of the reading material has been so helpful and supportive.
I’m hoping this is just a minor setback and we’ll be posting a happier update after the vet. 🤞
Online
Ditto everything Jerry said👍
I look at her and think what have I done? She’s existing she’s not living
"Existing" is actually "recovering". Emily Rose is recovering from MAJOR SURGERY, all while trying to adjust on three and on pain meds, as well as a heavy sedative (Trazodone). Not to mentione her back leg jas to be aore from having that lump removed.
I, like you and like many, second guessed my decision early in recovery and wondered what in the world I had done TO my dog. I actually joined here in Day six thinking I had made a horrible mistake. This wonderful community threw me a lifeline, gave me support and information. It took a couple of weeks, but I was finally able to dpsay I did this FOR my Happy Hannah!
Yes, you do want to get the pee flowing, so good idea to have the Vet check to see of her bladder is full and needs to be expressed.
And yes, usually there is a vit of a crash around day three or so because all the strong hospital pain meds are out of their sys around then.
I would ask the Vet about dropping the Trazedone though. Unless there is some compelling reason, that can cause a lot of lethargy, dullness, etc. It sounds like her pain is being managed, so that's good. Once you drop the Trazedone (IF the Bet agrees), then you can asses if there are any pain signals a little better. Keep in the mind that the Gabapentin can be given every eight hours roo if you see pain signals breaking thru before the twelve hour mark.
She'll get her sea legs and master mobility before long. And some dogs freeze up when you try to ,use a aling. My Happy Hannah did.
And BTW, YAY for Poop!!!! She's ahead of the curve with that victory!!
Hang in there. Recovery is no picnic at first, but she'll get her spa back soon! Promise!!
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!
Hey how did the vet visit go? I hope things are better.
Her meds sound standard, and that trazadone makes a LOT of dogs wonky so that might have just been the issue. Also, some dogs who are not getting enough medication may show the symptoms you described. pain signals can be tricky to decipher during recovery. I do know that for many dogs, Gabapentin every 12 hours is not enough consistent pain relief during recovery. Many dogs her size are on it 3x a day.
And I really vouch for Sally's description about "existing." It's so true, that is what recovery looks like. Give it time, you will see her sparkle return. She had major surgery on top of a smaller one, and needs time to get her bearings. In another couple of weeks you will be surprised at her rebound.
As for not urinating or pooping, that's pretty typical and as long as you stay in the loop with your vet, easily resolved. Not pooping is because of constipation caused by pain meds. You can do lots to promote the poop flow by adding steamed squash, canned pumpkin pulp or olive oil to her food. Our e-books library has lots of tips about recovery if you haven't seen them yet.
Keep us posted and hang in there, you've got this!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you so much! They were able to get her to urinate 👏👏👏
They put firm pressure on her bladder and brought another pup out with her to “encourage” her. They were also a little more “tough” with her and made her cooperate and take a few hops. Something we were really at fault for. We’ve let our emotions get in the way and have been “babying” her a lot.
They did give her some sub q fluids. Her urine was dark which was likely a combo of holding it and not drinking enough. They said if we think she’s drinking enough, have her drink more. She can’t have too much water.
They also removed her bandages since she came home wrapped and I think that made her feel so much better.
Since we’ve been home, she’s already had a potty break and she did go on her own. It might have been her giant Dane brother that she needed for some reassurance ☺️
We can’t wait for more positive updates as we progress along.
Wonderful news!!!! Yep, it's called "expressing a dog's bladder" and it happens a lot. You can even learn to do it yourself with their guidance. It's a helpful skill that we hope to never use but when you do, it works like a charm.
This journey is such a fine line of being helpful without babying, being supportive without being too tough. It's not easy! We've all had to learn to walk it and you are doing great. One step at a time, you're getting there!
Hope you all get some lovely, well-deserved cuddle time and restful sleep tonight.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Sounds like a very pawsitive Vet visit and Emily Rose is doing well. I like their suggestion on the water: "If you think she's drinking enough, have her drink more." You can try adding chicken broth to it, maybe even some tuna water.
And love the idea of bringing another dog out with her to motivate her tompee👍
Did the Vet still want to keep her on the Trazedone? Did the Vet think the Gabapentin every twelve hours was adequate?
Glad things are going well. Hard to ge patient, but recovery does last mfurever.
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!
She’s doing awesome today 🙂
They did want to continue the Trazadone for now since she’s a pretty “hyper” gal and we have 3 other dogs. However they said we can go to an “as needed” basis, based on how she is during the day.
They gave us the okay to increase the gabapentin as well 😁
We’ve been taking her out quite a bit in her stroller since she loves her normal walks and she’s really perking up quite a bit.
She’s also going potty every time we take her out too which is a HUGE relief.
We are experiencing a bit of fluid build up on and around where the leg was. They drained quite a bit yesterday when we panicked and rushed her there after a huge gush of fluid. They drained almost 2 cups 😩😩😩
It seemed to resolve but now we’re seeing a lot of it again 😩
I’m thinking we may need to reach out to the vet again if this continues 😭
So glad Emily Rose is doing so well. I know it doesn't seem like it, but she IS making progress!!! YAY for peeing normally now!!
Check out seroma . It's when fluid accumulates in an area where the limb used to be. The fluid eventually reabsorbed. My Hapoy Hannah's fluid settled in an area that gave her a saggy booby. I never had to jave it drained, but do remember it sort of went away and then came back fairly quickly a second time but less. Yoi can GENTLY massage around the area and also cold compresses may help. Certainly if you have any concerns check with your
Here's a link to another member who is dealing with a seroma . I think you'll find it helpful and Jerry gave lots of links in her reply
https://tripawd.....anagement/
Your doing a great job of monitoring her care.
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!
Wow this really sounds pawsitive and much better than the first time you posted!
A seroma is pretty minor compared to everything else that could possibly happen so I know it's concerning to you when you see all that ick coming out, but honestly that's a good sign that her body is healing and mending. Did the vet recommend applying any compresses to help with the draining?
Yeah Sally's link does go to someone else who is dealing with fluid drainage. It's not fun that's for sure! But hang in there. She's getting her sparkle back little by little, and in another week you will see she's made more progress!
Hope you guys are having a fantastic weekend. 
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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