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Hi, guys. Ollie's 10 days post-amp. We removed his fentanyl patch Sunday evening and he did regress a bit, so then we added tramadol to his existing regimen of gabapentin and rimadyl -- but the tramadol made him really wonky and whiny, so we only kept him on it three days. He seemed to do much better when we took him off it!
We're now considering reducing his other meds, and I'm wondering if you all found that 10 days out was a reasonable time to wean your dog off. Our vet doesn't have concrete instructions here -- her philosophy is "use them as needed." He is far from 100%, but when he has difficult moments, we're not always sure if it's due to actual pain or to the drugs.
We've been giving 300mg of gabapentin 3x a day and 50mg of rimadyl 2x a day -- we'd like to drop one of the gabapentins and see what happens. Thoughts? (Sutures are in for five more days. He is eating full meals and going to the bathroom regularly.)
Thanks! (Here's our boy clearly NOT interested in having his picture taken. He is still very mellow and his personality has not resurfaced yet since coming home from surgery over a week ago. We hope his mood improves soon.)
Six-year-old Ollie, a spunky, 55-lb. Australian cattle dog mix, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma May 1, 2015. Front right leg was amputated May 12. Did four rounds of carboplatin chemo treatment, ending Aug. 20. Lung x-rays still clear as of end of September. The rest of our story is still unfolding.
Aww love that boy!
OK, from what I understand, gabapentin is not a drug you stop cold turkey, it needs to be withdrawn gradually over several days. Get clarification from your vet on that one and if they don't know, ask them to contact the manufacturer for instructions.
For our dog Wyatt, a 75lb Shepherd, we withdrew it over about a week.
Many dogs are a bit cloudy on gaba, I'll bet once he's off it completely you'll see his old self again.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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Such a cutie pie! Look at that sweet face!
Glad that he's eating and doing well!
Every do is sooooo different when it comes to pain meds. MY happy Hannah needed them going into thre weeks...a reduced doseage but she still needed them.
Of course I'm no vet, but maybe try reducing the Gaba. to 2 x a day and continue on with the Rimadyl. But if Ollie shows any pain signs at all, I'd definitely give him a quick dose of Tramadol. Id rather see a dog a bit loopy and feel no pai , than to be in pain. It is quite a balancing act!
My Happy Hannah was a little slower getting her sparkle back too! It took a good three weeks before it started coming.back fairly consistently. Ollie will get his mojo back! I know you are so tired of hearing this, but ten days is STILL early in recovery from .MAJOR surgery!!
Keep us posted and keep those adorable pictures coming!
And a scoop of ice cream for Ollie will do wo ders!!
Lpve!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
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