Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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WOW JACKIE (aka The Cat Whisperer)!! GOOD STUFF!!! How very kind of you to take the time to give this incredibly detailed and informative tutorial on cat pilling!
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!
Ditto! Thank you Jackie, that is suuuuuper helpful!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Glad to help. 
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
You are incredible, Jackie...Thank you!!! Unfortunately, my vet was apparently slammed with patients today, because when I spoke to them at 9am they said they would have the Gabapentin ready for Olive today, but when I called back three times throughout the day they didn't answer, so Olive will have to wait until tomorrow to start her meds. 
I'll let you know what happens.
I checked out your blog and love the photos of your furry family!
No problem, nopawdy should go through this without help.
You are going to rock it ❤
I'm so glad you found tripawds 😊
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Hello, All, I have an update and a question. Olive started her Gabapentin on Thursday. Her doctor started her at 25mg per day (Olive is about 6.5 lbs.) and said we should monitor her and give her more if it doesn't seem to be helping. She doesn't want to give her so much that Olive just ends up dopey and lethargic. She is still in spasm most of the time, so we gave her about 33mg in the morning yesterday, and by last night she was very uncomfortable (seizing up, crying and howling), so we gave her 33mg more at bedtime and she was able to sleep. It's morning and her eyes are a bit glassy, and she was in spasm already this morning, so we're about to give her 33mg and possibly more later. Again, we don't want her to just sleep all day, we want her to live her life in comfort, so we don't want to overdose her.
My question is, can anyone tell me how long it might take for the Gaba to start working? I figured it has to build up a bit in her system, but are we looking at a week? A month? Also, does anyone remember what dosage they were giving their fur-baby?
A side note: our vet woke up in the middle of the night thinking about Olive () and it occurred to her that, since Olive is older and has some diminished kidney function, she might be potassium deficient, and one symptom of potassium deficiency is muscle spasms, so she gave us a gel potassium supplement to give Olive also, in hopes that that might help.
Thanks in advance for your insight!
Ok, wow.. total blast from the past, lol. I had to go back to Huckleberry's story because I wasn't sure about his dosage. Here is Huck's story if you would like to check it out. Sometimes it is nice to know you are not the only one that is full of worry going through this.
https://tripawd.....tee-to-be/
I found his gabapentin bottle too and it was 100mg every 8 hours. With that said Huck was younger than Olive and a couple pounds heavier. There is usually wiggle room in the dosing, they start smaller and adjust if it is not effective.
As far as her being groggy, that is how Huck was for the first couple of days but their body seems to adjust to the medication and after a couple of days he was not nearly as groggy. By the end of the first week or so he was taking his medicine and not sleepy at all.
I am very interested to see if any of this is her potassium, also interested to see if your vet increases the dose and you see good results. Either way for us we saw positive results soon after medicating. Remember though, just like people, all animals are different and some take longer than others, especially if they are a little older.
Please don't despair though, we have seen kitties older than Olive do well too. And it does seem to take the older kitties longer to recover, but they do just fine.
Hang in there, you are doing a wonderful job!!
Hugs,
Jackie and Huckleberry
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Thank you so much for the info, Jackie. I checked out your thread (poor Huckleberry!) and saw that Purrkins was also on 100mg every 8 hours, so I think we'll try to do 100mg throughout the day (33mg doses 3x today) and see if that helps, and if not, bump it to 50mg tomorrow.
I'M going to need sedation soon if she doesn't start feeling better. 
Thanks again!
It's hard to not worry yourself to tears when it's your furbaby. We have all been there. Try to stay pawsitive for Olive, and keep breathing. There will be a light at the end of the tunnel💖
I hope she starts to feel better soon❤
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Just be sure and run your new dose plan by your Vet, okay? While using Huckleberry's plan and Purrkins' plan as a good guideline, As Jackie already pointed out, Olive is different age wise and weight wise. Plus, there is still an unknown as to what exactly is causing her spasms.
And yes, the depleted potassium your Vet suggested certainly seems like a possibility. I know for humans, leg cramps can be a potassium shortage as well as dehydration.
Between the Gaba and potassium added, this may be exactly what Olove needs
Nah, skip the "sedation" and go straight for the chocolate.....washed down with ice cream!!!😎
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Video the episodes for your Vet. I remember we had a dog named Ollie (I think that was his name) and, it wasn't j til rhe Vet saw the video that it occured it was caused by a dangling nerve that hadn't been handled properly in surgery.....something like that. Anyway, it did mean an additional surgery to find rhe nerve and ."fix it" (close it off...don't know exact medical procedure ). Anyway certainly worth bringing up!
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!
Thank you so much for your input, Sally. Our vet did say to play with the dosage and up it if it didn't seem to be helping, but I will update her tomorrow and make sure we're on the right track. And thanks for the idea of videotaping the episodes...Olive did have them in front of both our regular vet and the orthopedic specialist, but it wasn't as severe (like with her howling and clawing to try and stand up) so that's a good idea. Ugh, that dangling nerve sounds awful and terrifying!
Thank you again!
To understand how gabapentin works and the dosing you might want to watch this short but informative video (or read the transcript) by Dr. Downing and her wonderful assistant: https://tripawd.....-tripawds/
I laughed when you said you may need sedation soon. It reminded me when my cat Mona jumped in my desk drawer and used it as a litter box during her recovery. I eyed her opioid Buprenorphine.... but just left the room to find something tasty in the kitchen.
I hope the spasms stop soon.
Hugs, Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
Thankyou so much for this video. Both me & hubby got frustrated about this. She cant ready to take her medicine.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
cloriak said
Thankyou so much for this video. Both me & hubby got frustrated about this. She cant ready to take her medicine.
You are so welcome. Please feel free to start an all new topic so we can learn about your Tripawd and help you better. Thanks!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks so much, Kerren, that video was great...we are trying to do as Dr. Downing said, to find the dose that takes away the pain but doesn't sedate her. We're at 33mg in 3x a day right now, but Olive is still spasming and unable to walk properly most of the time, and howling when it happens. Our vet recommended a magnesium cream, so we started that today, but her hip/nub is so sensitive she won't let me massage it for too long. The vet also gave me an antibiotic, because she said it's odd that it's still so sensitive after a month, so there could be an infection. She also recommended CBD oil, which we'll try as well. My poor baby is going to be a tiny pharmacy soon. 
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