Max is an 11 year old golden/shep/rottie mix, who was diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma in his right rear stifle (knee joint).  After having his chest xrays and ultrasound to ensure no signs of the cancer elsewhere, he had his leg amputated on 2/15.  Today will be one week since the amputation.   He has always been a very active boy, and seemed to bounce back pretty well right after we picked him up last Thursday.  Today is the first day he has really seemed depressed and kind of restless/unhappy.  I am hoping this is only temporary, and perhaps due to the staples from the incistion becoming uncomfortable?   We had stopped the tramadol since he had not seemed to be in too much pain, does anyone have advice on how long they gave tramadol after an amputation?  He is still getting the anti-inflammatory (Rimidyl).   Hoping he gets happier next week when the staples come out, but today we were pretty sad.

Welcome Max!

Thanks for all the support and responses.  Max says we lowered the Tramadol dosage to quickly (and so does the vet, who I called today), so we have upped it back to either 2 or 3 a day (1 every 8 hours is the most he can have).  Hoping that will do the trick.  We are very excited and looking forward to getting the staples out, and are also waiting for our Ruff Wear vest to arrive.

Will try to figure out how to post a picture soon

Don't be surprised or discouraged by Max's occasional off days.  They're going to happen no matter how careful you are, so just try to grin and bear it.  The first two weeks after the amputation are the worst, then it will slowly improve over the next two.  Remember, this kind of discomfort can't go away immediately – all the nerve endings that used to go to his leg are still there, and still raw where they were severed.  They'll die off over the next couple of weeks, and then Max will be comfortable again.  You'll know he's properly healed when he lays down on the amputation side again – which is also a source of his psychological discomfort right now.  He's used to being able to flop down any way he pleases, and he can't figure out why it suddenly hurts on the right side.  Being able to do that again will make a big difference to him.  It took our dog (also named Max) about four weeks to do that, and he was very hesitant about it.  My wife and I were lucky enough to be watching when he finally did it, and it made us want to cheer.  Max was completely back to normal in about five weeks.  So don't get discouraged – you're not done yet, but you're making your way through the worst of it.

Thanks for all the support and replies.  Max is still feeling pretty shaky, even with the tramadol back up to 2 a day.   I will just try to continue to be patient, but it is sad without his usual fun loving personality.  He did actually lay down on the amputated side for the first time today, and slept on it for about an hour, so I guess that is a good sign.

I posted some pictures on flickr, and then tried to follow the instructions to insert the image, but it did not work.