Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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hi guys, just jumping in late here.First of all, LOVE your story about Megs booting it up the stairs & awed the neighbour LOL I could just picture her haha!
Also wanted you to know I'm having the same eating problems with Kylie for forever now it seems. I go through all the great food suggestions people have posted on the site and it seems one will work for a bit then she will turn her nose away from it, so we have to try something new. Last night she had top sirloin & roasted potatoes from the bbq 
Earlier that day my husband thawed and fried her a hamburger. Anything to make her eat! The boiled chicken with a bit of rice and a drizzle of broth was a big favourite a few days ago, she'd devour it. Then next time she ate around the rice, just wanted the chicken, then she wouldn't even eat the chicken. 🙁
Other ideas that worked for her were scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes made with chicken broth instead of water, and she also loves ground beef. Just trial & error I guess. As long as they keep drinking I don't get so worried. I'm also in big favour of hand feeding. Its the only way to get food in her some days.
But now for us the problem stems from the chemo she had Thursday, its started to cause side effects I guess so now we're back to NO appetite the last couple days & today she vomited..twice. So now she's on meds for that.
I'm also supposed to restrict her food for 24hrs and her water for 12hrs. I really hate doing that. 🙁 Ugh the ups & downs.. Good thing we love them so much!
So like others have said, you really do have to play around to find what works for your own dog (with meds and with food) It seems to be a balance of finding the proper dosage to manage her pain and also knowing your pet and how she's responding to it.
We made the mistake of thinking Kylie's down mood, not walking much and her loss of appetite were all due to pain at one point, but it was 12 days after surgery, the sutures were due to come out & the Vet said she should not need that much Tramadol anymore. so once we quit we saw a positive change in her within in 12hrs! She perked up to our old girl! So turns out she didn't need the pain relief anymore and the extra doses were just making her dopey. 🙁 Now I know your little Meg is still very much early on in recovery so she still needs the meds, but just wanted to share that anyway as you play around with how often she needs the meds, whether to stagger the dose with another med, etc. We found if we gave Tramadol at 7am then her Metacam at 9:30am, it helped her get through to mornings a bit better, than having both at 7am, as she would always wake us around 5:30am by panting heavy & changing positions alot in bed.
Well now as I type this she just ran out of the room and puked again 🙁 Looks like it was the long strands of grass she ate earlier when she was out for a pee. I told her to stop but I knew she got some. Damn chemo
Anyway please keep us posted on Megs recovery, I will be following her! 
~Chris & Kylie xo
He Chris and Kylie! I was lucky with my Happy Hannah in that she never experienced the somewhat expected nausea. Others wil jave ro chime in who dealt with it.
A couple of questions, when did she start the Cerenq? Also, curious about the withholding water and food. If she's pukig, it seems that water woud be important to keep her from becoming dehydrated. It also seems that, if she's willing to eat several small meals over a 24 hr period that woud also be beneficial in settling her tummy. Curious if pepcid would help. Again, I've not dealt with this and am certainly not a vet. Just some tthings you might discuss with the vet.
Other than the chemo side effect, it sounds like she really turned the corner once you got the meds worked out!
And ...shhhh....I'm all for doi g whatever it takes ri get them to eat! And...shhhh...if that means hand feeding, doit! Good thiing this is our secret because there could be others who would espouse more of a "tough love" approach!
Keep js posted!
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!
We were also told to withhold food for 24 hours after giving the Cerenia (but nothing about water). The Cerenia worked fairly quickly for us - if this continues beyond another day or so, call your oncologist. Otis was also put on the Pepcid A/C, which helped him. Again, ask your oncologist.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Hey everyone!
Meg still isn't eating too much, will need to stock up on eggs, potatoes etc and see if she goes for mashed potato or scrambled eggs. She has hardly stopped shaking all day, seems like she has really overdone all the moving around in the last few days 
.
Good news though - she pooped! Well, she did about three poops 
. All a nice orange colour thanks to the baby food, and probably so much peanut butter .
Will see what the vet has to say about the pain and appetite issues this afternoon.
I hope Kylie improves and the chemo symptoms settle down soon! Poor girl, just after it seemed you turned a corner by figuring out the tramadol/exercise issues!
VET UPDATE!
Fentanyl patch is off, wound bandage is off! The vet is none the wiser about the tramadol - she said ease off or stop all together but then I mentioned she is still showing pain towards the end of the tramadol cycle so she said keep her on it. Back to playing around with it and hoping for the best!
The biopsy of the lymph node also came back! Good news and bad news (why do vets say that it just makes me panic!). There were mast cell tumours in the lymph node but they weren't cancerous. She said it was pretty normal for mast cells to be anywhere in the body, especially when it comes to immunity related things like lymph nodes, and even more, it wasn't surprising given the tumour was pretty large and very close to the node.
So fingers crossed there weren't any stray cancer MC's in the lymph node that managed spread elsewhere before the chop, but we have to stay vigilant and if there is any changes in her diet or behaviour we bring her in for tests. If things are looking bad we'll start her on chemo drugs or "chemo like drugs", I suppose that would be those prednisone type drugs? I'm surprised they didn't already want to do tests or offer drugs as a precaution, but hey, makes our wallets happy. I'm honestly expecting to deal with more cancer in the future but for now I just want Meg to be happy and healthy. The vet said if she makes 2 years without a cancer occurance she'll be in the clear - honestly I'll be thrilled beyond words if we've given her another 2 years, cancer or no cancer.
Stitches out wednesday week! Bring on that day!
That is great news! We did not start to wean off the Tramadol until the stitches came out, and tapered off that third week (really quickly got to just 1 pill before bed).
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Katie said
There were mast cell tumours in the lymph node but they weren't cancerous...
They were mast cells* just cells, not tumours (typo/habit)!
Meg threw up her "lunch" (a cheese slice) and isn't interested in dinner. Seems like she didn't eat enough to have the rimadyl, and the tramadol is suppressing her appetite. Vet said to cut the rimadyl if it makes her sick, but also if we cut that and just have the tramadol she won't be hungry! 
. Might call the vet tomorrow and see what to do
Great news from the vet! Just sorry to hear that Meggie's still feeling rough. I've no relevant experience, but just wondered whether you'd tried natural yoghurt? My two go wild for Greek yoghurt, and might it help settle her tummy? I don't know. But sending every positive vibe from my Meg to your one...
C&M (&EP) xxx
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, 23 November 2023, adopted 12 January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
Ooh Greek yoghurt is a good idea! She has enjoyed yoghurt in the past. Will get some tomorrow. Poor lil thing doesn't want anything we have in the house.
Drug complications galore! So whatever is causing he not to eat (tramadol, probably) meant she didn't get enough food with the rimadyl. She threw up her lunch, threw up the spoonful of ice cream she had for dinner, and had verrrrrry runny poop. She was panting and looking all sorts of out of it (more of a tramadol wearing off thing?).
Vet said cut rimadyl, give an antiacid to improve her appetite hopefully. But stay on the tramadol. If she is in pain she'll get another fentanyl patch, if she doesn't start eating she'll need to go on a drip tomorrow. Eat Meggo, eat!
Meg has mast cell cancer, right?
Here is another possibility for the stomach issues. It is common practice to put dogs on benadryl and a stomach acid med like pepcid after surgery for a tumor or messing with tumors in any way. One of the things mast cell tumors can do is to release a lot of histamines which the benadryl helps control. When the body is dealing with lots of excess histamines the stomach will release extra acid in response causing many of the symptoms Meg is exhibiting, which is why something like pepcid is given.
If Meg is not getting these meds I would discuss with the vet/oncologist and maybe add them to see if they help her feel better.
I always had the pug girls on benadryl and pepcid whenever we even touched one of the tumors.
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
Thanks Karen - you're right, I remember the vet saying she was loaded up with anti histamines and once they wore off she might have problems, especially mixed with the rimadyl issues she has a history of. We started anti acid tablets this morning, and an hour later she ate breakfast (woo). Things looked in the clear, but this afternoon she vomited and more runny poop 
Boo! Hopefully after a few more antacids things calm down - she happily ate her dinner so hopefully we've avoided an IV drip.
Her pain levels without the rimadyl seems reasonable today as well. Hard to tell if shaking is because she is a chihuahua and shakes whenever she feels anything other than being calm, or if she feels sick, if she is in pain, or if it is a tramadol side effect. Will see if the panting comes back tonight as the afternoon tramadol wears off.
This sounds like an improvement, in that Meg is now eating. Here's hoping the antacids continue to calm things down. It's been a wretched couple of days but, for what it's worth, my sense is that Miss Meg is turning a corner...
Big hug to you both,
Meg and Clare (and Elsie Pie) xxx
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, 23 November 2023, adopted 12 January 2024.
Also Angel Tripawd Meg (aka The Megastar), who died in April 2023, aged 14, after seven glorious years on three, and Angel Staffies Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
As always Stubborn Pug Maggie's mom knows her stuff!!!
How is sweet Meg today?
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!
Meg had a really good day yesterday (after vomiting throughout the night)! Ate plenty, sunbaked lots, went down the stairs for the first time. Even had a quick visit to the dog park, just to sit and watch the other dogs. She had her Meggy spark back.
Today she seems a lot more tired (did too much yesterday while feeling good), but overall I think we've turned a corner on the tummy upset front! Think a few rest days are in store!
Just posted a more detailed account in Meg's blog if anyone is interested to read my ramblings haha
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