Oh I am so relieved that Tucker is doing better!! I know that you are too!! Some of the Dogs on here do bounce back super fast and that can sometimes make some of us become worried that something must be wrong with our Dog. But since every Dog is different with different personalities and ages and everything else there can be a wide range of recovery times. I am so glad that you are starting to see Tucker doing some of things that he used to do. That is a very good sign. And it will only get better!! Hope you have been able to get some extra rest now. Keep hanging in there!! You are doing a great job!! We all know how hard this is. Keep us updated! Can't wait to hear what Tucker does next!! 

charliecheese said:

Wow….this is EXACTLY what is going on with Charlie (8 year old golden retriever-right front leg amputation).

You may be interested in knowing that before the surgery I grilled the vetrinarian on every scenario I could think of, and one of the questions I asked was: "have you (personally or at the hospital) ever had a dog, without noticeable complications or evidence of cancer spreading, that didn't recover?" They assured me that they had never had that occur, so when Tucker seemed to be the exception, I was skeptical. But the responses from the forum and other research I found that indicted that Goldens have a propensity for depression helped reassure me. Hopefully this helps you as well.

We do notice that the muscles in his hind legs are very knotted, and tight right now, so we have been trying to spend extra time messaging and trying to help the soreness there a bit while his body settles into adjusting to support and balance him in a new way (he continues to veer to the right as he walks). He definitely is not his old self Charliecheese, but I got a tail wag and a paw on my hand last night when I came home, which did bring a tear to my eye. So I hope this helps you know where we are too compared to the bouncy, smiley ball-chasing life prior, we do feel optimistic that this is not just in our past, but will be in our future for Tucker too. Hope this helps, since we are both just a week or less difference in the recovery stage, hopefully we can compare progress and setbacks and gain confidence from the shared experience.

Someone asked previously which meds Tucker was on. So here is the run-down: Rimadyl 75mg 2x daily for first 5 days post surgery (had been taking the week prior to surgery too); Tramadol 100mg every 8 hrs (this and Gabapentin seemed to be the primary culprits of the major depression, he was better at 100mg every 12 hours but we took him off altogether on post-op day 8); Gabapentin 300 mg (every 8 hrs was too much and hard to separate the impact of this vs. the Tramadol) he continues every 12 hours, but he missed it last night and seems fine. Antibiotic: Simplicef 200 mg 1x daily. 

Hang in there Charlie! Our Sammy also didn't return to himself until around 3 week – when we stopped making him wear his t-shirt! He started to turn the corner when his staples were removed but we left him in a shirt because he still had a spot that was weepy – I guess he felt back to his dog self when the shirt came off! Hang in there – it gets better! Xoxo Sue and Sammy