Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Tomorrow marks two weeks since Ivan's surgery, and it has been rough! Some days are better than others, and there is no consistency in his healing process. We have him on four Gabapentin every 8 hours, and he's still having some very bad spasms and then last night he had a restless, painful night.

At this point, I'm not sure what to do. Is nerve damage a thing that can happen in a mid femoral amputation? He's supposed to have his stitches out on Tuesday. They look like a total mess and I don't even know how the vet can possibly remove them. In all surgeries I looked up, they used sutures or staples. Ivan has this thick plastic thread in his skin... So we'll see how that goes. I don't want the vet touching that area, I don't want to see him have another pain spasm freak out. I feel so lost and now that my dad is realizing his vet is an idiot and I have better answers, he's relying on me to figure it all out.

Luckily our oncologist knows what she's talking about, and let us know he was severely under medicated. She works at a reputable, full scale veterinary hospital and not a day to day vet (where Ivan had his surgery). I wanted to have Ivan's leg amputated there and not at my dad's vet, but it would have been another $1,500 more than what the regular vet was charging us and we didn't have the money at the time. I even tried to convince my dad to take him to Dr. Pasternack at Helping Hands in Virginia, but he didn't want to do it. I would have been much happier if we went down to her, she clearly looks like she knows what she's doing and amputation is one of the things she does most. And it would have cost us less! But, this is the situation now. 

I'll keep everyone updated, there's only so many calls I can make on a Sunday.I made this little video to share with my friends and family that have been following Ivan's journey. Don't mind the funding links at the end, I didn't have the time to make a second video without them, I made it to share on FB and IG. But here is our baby, in action. 

https://www.you.....TNQL6pSzRQ

paws120 said
Good afternoon,

How long ago did Ivan lose his brother? That had to make a huge impact on him! The thick plastic suture material is just a non absorbing suture. That is not uncommon at all, is it purple or blue? They probably used a heavy duty suture because of the location and pressure that it would have to withstand. I have a feeling you may see a big difference in him once they are out. I don't think many, if any showed a big turn around until properly medicated and then even bigger once sutures were out. Please don't stress over the removal, he will be ok. It pinches a little, but usually takes no more than a few minutes to get them all out. Hang in there, you are doing a great job! Has his increased meds helped at all? He is lucky to have somebody advocate for him to try and keep him as comfortable as possible. Thank you for sharing your video, he is a handsome boy!

Jackie and Huck   

I wont see Ivan until this evening, but I'm pretty sure the stitches are blue.

Thank you so much. Your kind words helped put me a little at ease, and now I'm looking forward to him getting his stitches removed.

Ivan lost his brother in June of this year. Though they didn't live together, they saw each other often when I'd visit my dad or take Ivan to my house for sleep overs and adventure trips. Sebastien was my dog, a Pyrenees Cuvac mix. He's the dog in my avatar. Him injuring his leg is how I discovered Tripawds back in June.

Ivan could see Sebastien was sick, and he had injured his leg where he had a cancer metastasis. Ivan was being very protective of him, then the last week of Sebastien's life Ivan did not come to visit because I wanted to keep Seb calm. Though there's no way of letting him know Sebastien is gone, he always looks behind me when I arrive to see if Sebastien is following :/ They're not biological brothers, but we called them brothers, and they're both rescues from NGPR. They were pals. 

Ivan had his stitches out yesterday, but he's still having bad pain spasms. His oncologist thinks there is something wrong, and that he still shouldn't be having this kind of pain, so we are taking him to see their surgeons in the next two days. His days are better, but his nights and mornings are filled with spasms and we can't continue on with chemo with him feeling this way. 

Does anyone know anything about these Farabloc Blankets? I don't know if this could be related or not, but I read that it's supposed to block radiation from EMF fields. My dad lives in an apartment building on the first floor, and right on the other side of his bedroom wall is the control center for all of the gas and electric for each apartment, there are also six smart meters on that wall, a mere feet  away from where he and Ivan live.

I didn't know too much about smart meters before, but it seems they emit EMF signals all day long, every minute actually. We did an EMF reading of the meters, it was insane! I continued research on these meters and it seems they are bad news all around. But, could this be affecting his nerves and his pain? I'm not sure, but I bet I'd get a strange look if I mentioned this to any of his Dr's.

Does anyone have experience with this, or have used the blanket before? I'm just so desperate at this point to make my baby feel better.