Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives
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Our Maxwell had his front left leg/shoulder amputated on Tuesday. Max is a 10 year old 80 lb black lab, with hip displasion in the rear, so his recovery has been slower than what we have read on this website. We brought Max home Wednesday afternoon and he urinated when we layed him down in the living room. The next time he urinated was Thursday afternoon when we carried him outside to try and encourage him to go to the bathroom. We didn't quite get him to the lawn, he ended up wanting to lay on the sidewalk and urinated there.
We have tried to take him outside 3-4 times per day on Friday and today (Saturday), but he has not urinated since Thursday afternoon. He is pretty much back to normal eating and has been drinking water pretty much normally (albeit while laying down). We are getting concerned that he has not urinated in 2 days. Our vet says when he needs to go he will go, but we are worried.
Has anyone else out there had similar issues with older tripawds? Please help us!
Craig and Vanessa (and Maxwell)
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Didn't have that issue, although it did take Cooper (also a left front amp) a few days to poop post-op!
Maybe get some more water in him by giving him some mushy food...don't know what you're feeding but maybe some canned food with water added, cooked meat chopped and mixed with water, etc. I don't see how that could hurt anything. He might just be discombobulated about how to pee! Cooper was rather perturbed about how being able to hike his leg...he still tries but tends to lose his balance and is adjusting.
This is only day five....don't expect too much too soon from your old guy, from what I've read it takes some dogs a couple of weeks to start adjusting to being a tripod.
All dogs are different and recover at different rates. Taking a few days to geth the potty thing down is pretty normal. You'll read lots of stories about people being joyous when their pups finally went!
The pain meds may still have Maxwell not wanting to do much of anything. Hang in there and keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Indeed, each tripawd seems to respond a little differently but urinary and bowl movement irregularities are common. Most work themselves out, but stay on top of this with your vet. Cherry had one day where she wanted to urinate every fifteen minutes, a three day period that she had considerable blood in her urine, sometimes have a problem with “leaking” urine in our sleep, and other intestinal track issues. We had numerous visits to our vet, but all worked out in the end. Cherry is also a left-front amputee and using the sling that my surgeon provided, I was able to keep her well balanced and off the ground. The sling also came in handy to get Cherry outside. I would place the sling around her chest, loop the handles around my neck (much like one would do with a broken arm) and lift with the sling and one of my free arms. This provided a free arm to open doors and could result in very quick trips outside.
Keep us posted and keep your spirits up (especially in front of Maxwell).
Bob and Cherry
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