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Its been just over 1 week since Charlies left front leg amputation. It's been difficult, we went thru the pee/poop issues most people seem to be having. Its a victory if and when he goes. Last couple of days he's done both but this morning only pee.
He's on 300 mg Gabapentin 2 - 3x a day. Tramadol 50mg 2 - 3x a day with the gabapentin and I give him 1 more tramadol 4 hours after the initial dose. Also on Cephalexin 500mg 2 - 3x/day at the same time as the other meds.
Evenings seem to be the worse, after he has his meds he whimpers quite a bit for up to 2 hours. I don't know if its pain, the meds or just for the attention. If I pet/stroke him he stops but starts again after I stop. It's so hard to ignore, I cant fall asleep. So yesterday he seemed to be having a pretty good day, wanted to go outside, short walk, maybe 2 houses down and back, peed and pooped and was more alert when we got back into the house so I thought it might be a good time to start reducing pain meds, cleared it with the tech at the vets office. At 3:00 pm, his afternoon med time I gave him 1 gabapentin and 1 1/2 tramadol. By 8 he was in obvious pain with one episode where he howled and cried for several minutes, he has done that 3x now, scares the s__t out of me. Called vet and was able to give him 1 more tramadol and 1 more gabapentin. He was obviously uncomfortable still 10:30 so I gave him his 11:00 meds at that time. Took him about an hour to settle down so at 12 midnight I was able to try and get some sleep. I got up at 3:00 am to give him his extra tramadol and that resulted in the onset of wimpering as described above until 4 at which time I gave him a Xanax. By 5 he was relaxed and I was able to get a little more sleep. Up again at 7 am for morning meds. Wife works midnights, came home at 8:30, got Charlie up to go outside and a very short walk, he peed, no poopers. Laid down on the neighbor lawn for about 10 minutes before I could get him up and back inside the house. Ate and drank some water and has been laying down since. 11:00 for an extra tramadol and still resting. It 12:25 pm now and he is sitting up, going to try to get him outside at 1 again.
11:33 am
Bucketeers
15 December 2015
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The fact that he is whimpering after you give him his meds makes me wonder if it could be a reaction to one of the meds themselves. Obviously you'll need to discuss this with your vet but this sort of reaction to opioids (such as tramadol) is not uncommon. My tripawd is actually fine on it, but my quadpawd, Elsie, has a terrible time, whimpers and cannot settle at all. I wonder if it might be worth discussing an alternative. Is he not on any NSAIs? Such as metacam?
i hope you are managing to get some rest yourself. This stage is exhausting but things will start to get better from here and it will certainly help if you can tweak the meds to get Charlie more comfortable.
Big hug,
Meg, Clare and Elsie Pie xxx
Ruby, Staffy, born June 2022, became a Tripawd, November 2023, adopted 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 Elsie Pie and Bille. In the pawprints of giants...
He is getting metacam, used to give it to him after his morning meal but after surgery and he came home we shifted to the evening meal in the hopes it would make him more comfortable at night.
I suspect some of his whimpering is due to the meds, prob. some discomfort and he knows I will eventually respond, because I cant take it anymore, and comfort him so spoiled? As soon as I stroke him he quiets down but it starts up again soon after I stop.
The Thursday after he came home he had an event when I was trying to get him up. OMG, he howled, went rigid and cried for several minutes. I panicked and made arrangement to get him back to the surgeon, a 45 min drive. So I gave him an additional tramadol to help with pain during transport. Of course there was nothing the vet found, another 5 hrs down the drain, but since then I started giving him 1 50mg tramadol 4 hours after his initial dose of 2 50mg tramadol.
Oops its 7am now, been up with him since 3. Going to try to get him outside to do his business b4 giving him his meds as then he gets to out of it.
Thanks for your input and support
9:06 am
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Bucketeers
22 February 2013
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This recovery period can be really rough sometimes and very, very exhausting!!! Lack of sleep adds to an already stressful situation.
Yeah, I agree with Clsre that it may be abput tweaking the meds and reducing some. Is it possible the Tramadol is causing some of the whimpering and restlessness? It can do that with some dogs. Plus, it sounds like you are saying he's pretty out of it from the drugs, right? Gaba can have a sedation effect sometimes.
Of course as you are already doing, never make any changes without Vet guidance! The tree episodes of oitbursts of crying, do you think that's phantom limb pain? Bring those episodes ronyiur Vet's attention also.
Based on what you were describing as far as "having a better day" when you reduced some of his meds, that certainly made sense. He was on right much meds at that point.
As far as Charlie needing to have you by his side for comfort, I know it's exhausting you, but if it work that's good!!! He probably feels a bit whacko from the meds and you bring him security.
Eating, pooping, drinking, peeing...all good!!! Not sure how much distance was involved walking "two houses", but for now it should just be out to potty znd back in. Some dogs seem to really enjoy just laying outside on a blanket soaking up nature after they potty. You might try that.
Guess the bottom line is to try and get on a schedule with pain meds that work, as well as trying to determine which, IF any, of the meds can be reduced...IF!!! Again, all with a Vet's aproval. Speak directly to a Vet, not a tech. Also, keep a notevook to write down when he appears to be jn pain..or restless....how long before dose of "x" , or after dose of "x", etc. It needs to be determined what is pain related and what may be related to the drugs. And it's very hard to distinguish between the two sometimes! Ugh!!
For whatever it's worth, recovery doesn't last forever! It just seems like it!!! It took me three weeks before I could finally say I did this FOR my Happy Hannah and not TO her!
Update when you can, okay? And TRY znd get some rest!
Hugs
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!
9:53 am
29 August 2017
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charlie1 - I know this doesn't help you get more sleep, but just wanted to reply to let you know that you're not alone....my dog Roscoe is in week 2 of post-amputation recovery, and we had some good nights earlier in the week, but the past few have been rough.
Even though Roscoe had been fine when taking Tramadol pre-surgery (he had a leg fracture), we found that Tramadol was making him crazy when taken in combo with a Fentanyl patch - our vet gave us the OK to stop the Tramadol, and we saw a huge improvement (and a few good nights of sleep!).
We went back to Tramadol after we removed the Fentanyl patch, but it seems that the dosage and/or frequency isn't quite right....as Roscoe is sleeping a lot during the day, but like Charlie, isn't sleeping at night.
Bottom line is hang in there....talk to your vet....I just sent a very long e-mail to my vet outlining the last few days so that he can advise on what adjustments to make....figured it would be easier for him to read and give input based on seeing the timeline of meds + behavior to help figure out what may be throwing things off.....Fingers crossed, as I'm getting cranky from lack of sleep....
Caffeine is my new best friend!
Good luck to both of us - I'm confident that we'll all be back to being well-rested by next week. 
First I want to thank all who have replied with their encouragement, and really to all who post on this website. It sure helps.
Charlie lost his left front leg, staples coming out on Monday. He's 90#. I am currently transporting him in my sons pickup truck but its a lease and going away end of next week. He's in the army so wont be replacing it any time soon. I'm left with my cargo van/work truck and my wife's impala. I know I can work with my van but major changes to accomadate him. I think the impala is going to be to tight a squeeze for him with only 1 front leg.
How are those of you with bigger dogs fairing with this issue. AND, this is something I never gave a thought to, is there an appliance to help with chewing on a bone or tendon? With only 1 leg he cant hold it. Any thoughts on that?
12:27 pm
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Bucketeers
22 February 2013
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Can't remember who it was, but it was a brilliant idea! They put a bone in a Kong and that helped hold it :-).
Frankie (a front legger) just hold his paw on it and kind of holds it a little bit upright with his mouth as he chews in it. He a@so just lets it kay in the ground and holds it still with his paw while he gnaws on the end.
And this may not be for everyone, but I let Frankie carry his bone up in the sofa. I put it in an upright position and wedge it tightly between the cushions and he gnaws on it that way. Yeah, my dogs are spoiled! 🙂
The smaller car may actually work better than the Van. Just pull the front seat up as far as possible and he sould be able to hop in with no problem. I woukd just stuff lots of blankets in the "well space" nehind the front seats so he doesn't try to get up and down off the seat. Plus it gives him some more "stretch out" room.
Others will chime in with better ideas, vut this is a start!
So Charlie is getting along well now? It's still early, but sounds like he's getting along okay now?
Hugs
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!
The kong is a great idea, might go to the store today and look for one. I've been thinking of some type of contraption I could build, if I come up with something I will post it.
Last night was Charlie's best ever, I still didn't sleep much, kept listening for any noises he made but for the most part he went thru the night. This morning he was actually whining to go out and walked the farthest yet. Even went "grazing" for the first time since surgery. Seemed more like his old self. Staples came out today and we are starting to reduce the meds from 3x per day to twice. If no issues arise that will surely help with sleep as midnight was one of the times we had to give him meds. Prob. keep that up until the end of the week and then start reducing the dosage of tramadol at first, then if that's ok we will start on the gabapentin. Still will keep up with the metacam.
Our holistic vet thinks we should keep him on the gabapentin and metacam indefinitely. Has any one else been told that? The surgeon thinks we should eliminate all asap. Is nothing simple?
He lost almost 20# over 2 weeks. Of course some of that was his leg. Pre surgery he was about 95# and 3 days post surgery he was just over 90#. I had cut back on the food after surgery as nothing was coming out the other end. And then continued to cut back some as he wasn't active. So gave him an extra meal at noon today of ground chicken backs. Wish there was some way of weighing him at home, he's just to big. Its not a bad thing as less weight means less stress on the remaining leg, at least until he builds up more strength in it.
Crossing my fingers now but not holding my breath.
2:11 pm
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18 October 2009
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Staples out... yay!
Sounds like Charile is doing well overall.
Does he have arthritis or other underlying conditions that cause pain and/or inflammation? My quad-pug Tani was on gaba and an anti-inflam med permanently but it was for her very bad arthritis.
Being on the light side is a good thing for a Tripawd!
I bought a food dispensing toy for Elly that might work for holding a bone or chew: <a href="