Thanks for the zippy reply.

To answer your questions/concerns…

She was in ICU from Friday afternoon until early Sunday.  She was on IV fentanyl during that time, although they incrementally lowered the dose.  They did their best to get some Metacam into her, and she was also on Tramadol (100mg every 8 hours).  She was released to my care on Sunday morning without ever having tried to get up. 

She is eating and drinking okay (drinking well, eating about 25%), now that she's at home.

She's currently on the same dose of Metacam and Tramadol as she was for a week prior to surgery.   Her medication schedule calls for her to be off Tramadol in another few days.

Yes, sorry, she had a rear leg amputation. 

We actually purchased a Ruffwear webmaster harness (thanks for the tip, though!!!) the day after her diagnosis, since I'd pretty much decided to go ahead with amputation, but figured even if we did the palliative thing, a harness would be necessary, anyway.  I wanted to get her used to wearing one as soon as possible.  We use one of my long, winter scarves as the sling.  It's nice and soft, and really long, but not as bulky as a bath/beach towel.

Neither tool makes it any less brutal on our backs (or, at least, the person doing rear duty), since she's not voluntarily putting any weight on her hind leg.  Bent over, supporting a lot of her weight (since we discovered ages ago that she naturally carries more weight in her rear than most dogs do…which explains her huge-for-a-Great-Dane thigh muscles), and trying to teach her to hop her leg forward to walk, and just generally trying to get her to put weight on it; whoever is doing the rear duty comes-in sweating and out of breath after just five minutes or so.  (Heck, when I'm on rear duty, I need a break after just a couple of minutes!  It's excruciating on my back!)  That's why my husband and I take turns.  …So neither one is overwhelmed with the harder rear-end duty.

She WILL get it, I'm sure.  But even something as simple as going outside to potty, requires both of us.  My husband took this morning off work, but really had to go into the office this afternoon.  I don't have much choice but to wait 'til he gets home, to take her out again.  Luckily, we have her on about a four hour schedule of potty breaks and/or turning her.  She still has not even attempted to get up on her own.  Getting her up is (to steal a line from 'Family Guy') a bit like trying to move a fouton. 

The way it is right now, about every four hours I wake her (since she's always, always sleeping), get her standing or sitting on the sofa (like Danes do), get her to eat something, then help her over to her water dish (or bring it to her…either way), then we take her outside to attempt elimination.  Successful or not, we eventually bring her back inside and prepare to lie her down on the opposite side to what she was previously on.  I usually give her another chance at water, before leaving her to fall asleep again.  She's asleep right now.  (I massage her, as I normally did daily.  I will sleep with her for at least part of the time, as I did normally, every day, anyway.)

If I mention that she's almost 11-years-old, you might think that it's a given she's taking so long to get up.  But parly why she was okayed for surgery is the fact that she's not like any 10-year-old, especially giant-breed, you've probably ever met.  She's super-fit, active, playful, happy.  She's most often mistaken for a puppy.  When someone asks her age, I have to clarify that I mean years, not months, much to the disbelief of onlookers.

I'm bolstered (somewhat) by the fact that she's still “out of it”.  If she was fully alert, and not trying to stand, that would be even more worrisome.  But she's loopey and distant.  I can get her to focus and look me in the eyes for a few minutes, before they start to droop and she wants to go back to sleep.  

Heart rate is good.  Breathing is good.

I'm hoping that her age is partly the reason why it's taking her awhile to clear the medication from her system.  (She does have a history of taking a bit longer to recover from sedation, too.)  But you'll notice that even in the stories you linked, those dogs were up and even walking pretty soon after surgery, even if they did face some problems later on.  (I want that “up and walking” thing to happen to us, too!  I will be over the moon when it does finally happen.)

It would be reassuring to know I'm not the only one whose dog is nearing four days post-op, and still hasn't attempted to stand on her own.

I know.  I know.  I'm being impatient.  She'll get it when she gets it.  But I'm human, and I worry we made the wrong decision; that she really can't handle her weight on that one leg; that we'll have to euthanize her because she's never able to stand and walk.  Those are pretty natural thoughts, I suspect, at this point in the journey.  But that knowledge doesn't make those ugly thoughts go away. 

If you know of any accounts where the dog took several days to stand and walk (especially a giant breed, and doesn't have extenuating health problems that would predict a difficult recovery) I'd really appreciate reading them.  Even if there aren't any helpful tips, the solidarity, alone, might be enough to reassure me a bit. 

wrigley said:

She will get it I'm sure- but we'll keep extra good thoughts and prayers coming your way.

Cemil was  bit slower getting back to normal- hopefully Mary will chime in… We recently saw Cemil at the Canine Cancer Walk and he looks great and gets along great. He is also a large breed. Maybe check out some of the posts for Cemil if we don't hear from Mary.

Good luck to you and keep us posted

Thanks!  I'll keep my eyes open for those posts!     EDIT: Oops!  And like magic, there it is!

tazziedog said:

I am a vet and I can tell you that some dogs are up and walking and eating the next day and others can take closer to a week.  I usually have the most problem with Greyhounds but this is a very traumatic surgery and it takes a lot out of them so any dog can have a hard time. Even if your dog is fit she is still a senior and many Danes have underlying heart disease that could cause lethargy and slow recovery.

100 mg of Tramadol is not much for a big dog (what is her weight?) but you could try cutting back if she seems dopey. I saw that she had IV Fentanyl, but did she also have a patch? Those can cause sedation.

I would give her more time!

Pam and Tazzie

Thanks so much for the reply, Pam. 

She lost weight during the few weeks while we tried to figure out what was wrong with her.  (Eventually leading to the OSA discovery.)  She weighs less than 100lbs, although she rarely ever weighed above 105, anyway.  All-muscle, not a speck of fat.

We went to a specialty hospital for the consults and surgery.  Prior to approval for surgery, we saw an oncologist, an orthopaedist, and a cardiologist (including having a cardiac ultrasound).  Ironically, the orthopaedist was the most optimistic, in terms of her prognosis, not that the others were negative. ...Just prudent.  Full disclosure, she has arthritis in her stifle (albeit well-tolerated), and a grade 3 heart murmur (mitral valve).  The hospital has an ICU unit, and she spent all her time there during recovery.  No fentanyl patch, just residual fentanyl from IV, and the Metacam and Tramadol.  If anything, she seems really drugged, just on what she's taking now. 

It's refreshing to read that some dogs take closer to a week.  To be completely frank, that's the first I've read that.  Pretty much every story I can think of, the dog was up and walking around within 48hrs of amputation.  That's what is freaking me out, a bit.  Mine isn't even close to that.  🙁

hugapitbull said:

I am sorry she is having such a tough time.  They do sleep LOTS those first few days.  We just left Trouble to snooze until she was off her meds. She was much better once we were past the med stupor.

Hope you guys have lots of happier days ahead.  I know it is hard, but she will be fine, in her own time.

Thanks for the support hugapitbull!  (And yes, I've hugged an awful lot of 'pit bulls' over the years.) 🙂  I just have to get this dog standing, then walking.  I can handle just about anything else that comes our way.  But the whole point of the surgery was to make her life better, and it just isn't, right now.  🙁  Thanks, though.  I'll try to keep it together until she does "get it".