Well, I'm not a vet, but she sure seems to be on a lot of meds, so who knows what could be causing the lethargy and poor appetite. I would not hesitate to take her back to the vet if that will give you peace of mind. And I can understand your freaking out - it's so easy to do with this journey. My Dobe, Nitro, wouldn't eat for the first week after surgery, so I know this feeling too. I would think your vet is taking into account the different meds, and how they interact with one another. My thought would be that there is something med-wise that is causing this behaviour. And pain will also cause them to not want to eat, but hopefully this is not the case with Charley. 

Bottom line.....call you vet, be persistent if you are uneasy with anything. You don't need any added stress, you need answers.

Paula and Nitro

We're not many days ahead of you -- July 28 amputation, front left leg. 

Our hit was shortly after the Fentanyl patch came off.  It seems many dogs do better when that day occurs, but I swear we had opiod withdrawal symptoms.  Two days after the patch was gone Milo started skipping meals and was super lethargic.  Note -- that was all of 2-3 days ago!  We've been playing with his Tramadol dosage.  We went too low and he was in pain, and too high and he was looped out and nearly catatonic.  Milo can't do NSAIDs because he's one of the 5% who have bad liver reactions. 

Right now, on Tuesday Aug 9, my optimistic view of the world after spending a few hours at Tufts Animal Hospital today with a great team, is that the change in drugs hit Milo hard.  He ended up in pain without the Fentanyl.  He then didn't want to move because he was in pain.  Then his muscles that were just adjusting to the whole new weight and balance and strains tightened up while he wasn't moving.  Even as we worked to correct the pain meds, he was tight and sore from the previous stationary days, and starting into a nasty spiral. 

Milo did a lot of walking today -- probably more today than the previous post-amp days combined.  He heard me touch his dinner dish and he was ready and excited for dinner -- and he had skipped the last few meals.  He sort of ran to greet my husband's car tonight. 

Regarding the scratching the hot spot like drama -- have you had that before?  I had a golden before Milo.  She was the queen of hot spots.  I could walk into the house and smell if she had one going.  Much of the hot spot world of digging and scratching until it bleeds is just neurotic behavior.  It's not clear which drug gave Charley the "creepy skin" feel that led to the hot spot, but it's not unusual.  Heck - some of us people aren't far behind with mosquito bites -- I'm guilty of scratching uniil it bleeds sometimes! 

Anyway, it's the drug balance.  Many dogs seem to do better without fentanyl patch.  Milo thrived with it.  Then it was trying to figure out how much tramadol so that he wasn't in pain, but also wasn't a potato.  The appetite went away when he was in pain or too much tramadol -- but that's Milo. 

We wish you the best of luck.

Peace,

Jenifer & Milo

P.S.  In case you're curious, Milo is 72 pounds post amputation (80 pounds pre-).  He is on 300mg gabapentin 3x a day, and 100mg Tramadol 2x a day.  And just added an antiobiotic today because he had a fever at his appt today - I had no idea.  

That's great news!   I am so glad that she is eating and showing some interest in outside (and that you have the skin issues under control).   A lot of dogs really perk up when the staples come out, and that is also when many of us were able to start tapering down the meds (although my Otis continued on Tramadol - reduced doses and frequency - into week three).