Hello,

My Baby Bear is 2 weeks post op from a complete front leg amputation.  The vet took everything including the shoulder and shoulder blade.  There was a very fast growing tumor that invaded her bone.  The first vet said nothing could be done but keep her comfy and gave a grim 5 day to a ‘possibly a month’ prognosis.  By the grace of God everything worked out where I found an amazing vet for a 2nd option. They rushed her back the same day for an amputation even though it was just regular apt scheduled.  The time that passed between the first vet and 2nd vets visit was 4 days. In that time the tumor was growing so quickly that she was having a hard time swallowing her food.  The new vet saved her life. 

Heres her information.  She is 11 yrs old and healthy.  Pathology came back as soft tissue sarcoma.  She did have a rough first couple weeks...

3 days post op she jumped in the tub.  Actually she fell in the tub.  I didn’t realize she didn’t want to walk until that night when she peed her bed.  The next day, (day 4), after the Onsior wore off she was in a lot of pain and her back leg had a noticeable lump on it.  It was Saturday and the vets office closed at noon ~ the Onsior wore off after 1 pm.  She stopped eating and drinking.  I still gave her her bupropion for pain that night.  The next day (Sunday) I realized she hasn’t gone to the bathroom since Friday night and she wasn’t drinking anything. She looked and fit every detail of dehydration.   I rushed to the store and bought pedialyte and gave her that mixed with bone broth (that I made for her on Tuesday) via a 1cc syringe.  In fear that the medication could mess up her kidneys and liver since she wasn’t going to the bathroom or drinking any fluids I didn’t give her her am pain meds until around 4pm (and only half a dose to take the edge off).  Finally around 9 pm she finally went to the bathroom.  I gave her approximately 4-6oz of fluids throughout the day and felt comfortable that her organs were ok so I gave her the other half of syringe of pain meds.  (ps the emergency vets in my area are HORRIBLE so that wasn’t an option.  You know there’s a problem when over 50% of the reviews say don’t go here if you want your pet to live). 

When we arrived at her vets office for our emergency Monday morning appointment.  The surgeon that did the amputation removed the bandages and gave her an anti inflammatory shot for the swelling in her leg.  Said it was only a soft tissue bruise.  

From Friday forward she refused to use the litter box and peed in her bed. She still didn’t want to eat or drink.  Finally mid week she slept in her litter box and peed in it.  I left the urine in it so she would know that’s where she needs to go and it worked!  No more accidents! :D. I gave her a bath and all was good until Saturday when she pulled her stitches out and chewed open her wound. Another emergency visit on Monday but the vet said it was ok that it needed to granulate over to heal.  ~ I’m sure you are wondering why I didn’t put the cone on her. She was barely eating and drinking as it was. The cone prevents her from being able to consume anything by herself...she can’t reach to food in the bowl. 

I have learned a few things over the course of this experience.  1) lay yoga mats on the floor for traction and when they fall it will be cushioned. (I wish I knew about this when I brought her home, she slipped and fell so many times from losing her balance that it just crushed me).  2) Have unflavored pedialyte and homemade bone broth on hand.  They don’t want to eat or drink because of the meds and pain. The bone broth has so many nutrients that will help recovery, it also entices them to drink.   3)  Be very cautious of the medications and duration they give to your cat.  Cats do not have the enzymes in the liver to break down NSAID’s among other medications. The NSAID’s by themselves and especially w combination of other medications can cause your cat to get liver toxicology and go into organ failure.   4). Stasis Breaker works!  It’s a prescription and only available through a Traditional Chinese Medical Vet (TCMV).  I did a bunch of research on it..please look it up there is hope!  This link will get you started https://miracle.....r-animals/

Now here is where I’m needing assistance.  I have been slowly introducing her back to her old habits and trying to treat her as if nothing happened to her.  Even though I absolutely dote over her and she IS my baby.  She walks when she wants to etc so mobility is not an issue.   She will be fine, then 30 seconds later she will be ultra scared and runs and hides.  How can I help her get over the stressed out scared of her shadow issue she’s having?  

Sorry this is soooo long, but I wanted to make sure you realized her 2 week recovery period had a few bumps and hiccups along the way. 

Thank you for all of your help.