Tasha came home yesterday from front leg amputation and she has been doing pretty well…much better than I had expected.  She has been eating, sleeping and going the bathroom without any issues.  I know I am completely putting the cart before the horse but I have some questions about walking and exercise. 

She seems to tire very quickly.  When I take her out to go the bathroom (which is the only exercise she is getting) she will make it a few hops and then lay or sit down.  When she comes in she is panting and usually collapses as if we just went for a run.  Also her walk is a mess.  She walks like she is drunk or a newborn doe.  She seems to walk crooked and her back legs seem to wiggle around a lot. 

I know it is only 4 days since her surgery and maybe it is the drugs (she is taking 200mg of Tramadol and 75 mg of Rimadyl 2x a day) or just too soon.  I guess I am just questioning did I do the right thing and will she be able to walk and run and swim…all the things that she did before.

Any advice is greatly appreciated!

Kathy and Tasha

How wonderful that Tasha is doing so well such a short time after her surgery!  Yes, I think she is doing very well, being able to eat, sleep and go to the bathroom without issues when it's only been a couple of days.   

Your girl has been through major surgery, is on drugs, and is having to essentially re-learn how to walk.  After reading many blogs and forum posts after the fact, I think I probably hovered and worried over my Sylvia much more than I needed to.    But I'm not ashamed about continuing to use a sling for a few weeks and babying her.

I guess what I really am saying is that Tasha seems to be where she needs to be in the healing process.  As new tripawd pawrents we (understandably) try to figure out if what we're seeing in our dog is normal or not . . . if we are over- or under-reacting . . .  In most cases that I've seen here, we (again understandably) see every shake, every wobble, and every pant as a possible cause for concern, but again in most cases, our furbabys are actually doing better than we are!!

Hang in there!  I don't know what Tasha's amputation was the result of (cancer or trauma or ???), but I can say that we were so relieved to have Sylvia's "offending leg" (osteosarcoma) removed we actually didn't really second-guess ourselves.  The pain was gone.  The cancer was removed.  Once she healed from the surgery, I don't think she realized that she was missing anything!  I'm sure this will be the same for Tasha!

I'll be looking forward to hearing more about your Tasha-girl!

- Karen and Sweet Spirit Sylvie

I tortured myself with every wobble and pant during Tate's recovery, and it is really hard to know if you are doing everything right when it comes to pain meds.  But I agree with everyone else, Tasha's recovery is proceeding normally.

And she will walk and run and swim.  Here's Tate at 6 weeks post-amp, and believe me, on Day 4 I never would have believed he could do this again.