Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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Hello everyone,
my cat had her back leg amputated 3 days ago and last night she started having back walking seizures. As I have read from other people, vets are very lost and have no idea how to help. I called my vet today and he said he never heard of anything like this. I was wondering if my cat could maybe benefit from taking CBD oil? Is CBD oil safe for cats taking medication? She is on gabapentin. All advice is appreciates, her seizures are really scary to watch and I can see how it ruins her mood and energy level.
Hi and welcome. Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away. What is your cat's name and age, and why the amputation? Also, what kind of pain medication is she on besides Gabapentin? And how much/often is the dosage? Anything else?
I'm guessing you saw our article about backward walking in cats after amputation? If your vet is unfamiliar with this condition, you may want to send them this link so they can see that it affects quite a few cats after amputation surgery.
If you're interested in CBD oil right now, definitely talk to your vet since she is so early in recovery and on Gabapentin. I wouldn't add anything into the mix until you do. Your vet may have a brand that s/he prefers for cats. Others here have tried it and the results are mixed all over the place, it's hard to say what will work and what won't. Our cannabis articles and interviews with vets can give you some information to share with yours.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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Other than the "walking backwards", how is your motty doing otherwise? Eating, drink, pooping, peeing?
It's a weird thing, but some cats do exper the walking backwards phenomenon after surgery. You used the term "seizure" though, so it may not be the same thing.
Download the e-book, Cool Tps for Three-legged Cats to get some more insight about all the aspects of kitty recovery.
Could you video the walking backwards episodes and post it here! Some of our kitty members should be able to help who jave experienced the same thing.
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!
She is doing good otherwise, good appetite, drinking, peeing, pooping. She has been having a lot of these episodes since yesterday, way more frequent, Im starting to think they are just painful muscle cramps as she's been able to stay a bit more calm while they are going on. I am worried tho, is this normal? She is crying out loud and we can see her stomp contracting. I will put the link here of one of these episodes last night.
https://drive.g.....sp=sharing
Thank you for the advice to all of you!
Awwww...I kNOW this is hard to see your sweet kitty in pain. And it does seem to be pain. You mentioned the stump twitching. Can't tell from the video, but did the amputation leave a "stump" or part of the leg, or is the amputation the full leg?
There is something we see here called phantom limb pain, or phantom pain. Basicaal, It's sort of when the brain is still firing off signals to the nerves in a leg that is no longer there. The pain nerve comes in quickly and painfully and the dogs or cats try to get up "run away" from the pain quickly. The hard pain usually lasts less than a minute. GE TLE massage AROUND the incision, not on it., can so eti es help as well as a warm towel over the incision area.
Gabapentin is usually the medication that helps with phantom pain. It may be that your Bet needs tonkncrease the dosage. WE ARE NOT VETS AND NOT GIVING.BET ADVICE. Cosult with your Vet about a better approach to manage the pain. . What else is your kitty taking? There's a good pain med that cats take, but I never can spell the name ....something like. Bupemorhin (sp). Sorry.... Gonna try and find the right name!
We'll look for your feedback. on some of the questions. Recovery is no picnic for a couple pf weeks, but it doesn't last furever! The fact that she is eating, drinking, potty ball great news!!..And how is her mobility at this poi t? Is she able to hop a short distance a little bit yet? And what was the cause of the amputation?
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!
Aww, that's sad to see. It's important that your cat have enough pain medication - my cat had buprenorphine and Metacam (for pain and inflammation). Others are given buprenorphine (or another opioid) and gabapentin and perhaps an antiinflammatory). I agree with Sally that if your cat is only on Gabapentin then that may not be enough.
I think it would be good for the vet to access this and the medication.
My cat liked cold facecloths on her incision. Cold helps to reduce inflammation.
I would stay away from CBD unless you have scientifically backed information on a quality controlled product that is specific for cats. Cats metabolize medication and supplements differently than dogs or humans.
It's not clear why your cat lost his leg. Was it due to an accident or cancer?
I hope you can find some help soon and perhaps get additional pain medication.
Kerren
Thank you so much for your replies! Her mobility is pretty good in my opinion, a few days ago she did try to go on little walks, and to be honest i think we made the mistake of letting her do too much. It was that evening that these episodes of pain/stress have started.
She broke her tibia (not sure how, she was outside), and the doctor told us that the tibia in the broken leg looks thinner and abnormal. He couldn't determine the reason of it, but he told us that if we try to fix the bone the outcome isnt guaranteed to be good. Might fracture again, wouldn't heal, and the abnormal looking bone could even be cancer. And she is 17, the recovery sounded way too long and the vet said if it was his own cat he'd do amputation. So we went with that because it sounded like the more humane option.
We talked to the vet yesterday and showed him the video as well. He said the neurologist doesn't think it would be anything major. He told us to leave her alone, we are petting her too much and not leaving her in a cage. So since he said that we really tried to leave her alone in her pen. It did seem to help, she didnt have any of these strong episodes last evening. However this morning she had it again, but only after my parents gave her the medication, gave her food, took off her collar, and then started petting her. I think she probably has pain, thats where these come from, but I also think we made it way worse by not leaving her alone. I was very annoyed that my parents couldnt resist the petting, because now again we cannot know what has caused this strong episode. She is still having very good appetite, and generally she seems okay besides those episodes.
My cat had similar sorts of phantom limb pains after his amputation 4 months ago. My Dash kitty would flip himself over and over trying to lift his stump up. I'd say his episodes peaked about 2-4 weeks post surgery right after he got his cone off and was starting to get more active again. I'd notice his episodes would get triggered when we'd pet him down his side and bump his stump or when he'd bump his stump against a wall or chair so I'd say avoid touching/handling her stump.
Dash would scream really bad when he started having his episodes but by 1 month post surgery he stopped yelling (which I assumed meant they were less painful) and now at 4 months I notice him suddenly flip over about 2x a week. We didn't end up changing his meds or anything because everything I could find on phantom limb pain in cats showed very limited success and that for the vast majority of cases the episodes went away on their own within a couple of months anyways.
joyflyer said
My cat had similar sorts of phantom limb pains after his amputation 4 months ago. My Dash kitty would flip himself over and over trying to lift his stump up. I'd say his episodes peaked about 2-4 weeks post surgery right after he got his cone off and was starting to get more active again. I'd notice his episodes would get triggered when we'd pet him down his side and bump his stump or when he'd bump his stump against a wall or chair so I'd say avoid touching/handling her stump.Dash would scream really bad when he started having his episodes but by 1 month post surgery he stopped yelling (which I assumed meant they were less painful) and now at 4 months I notice him suddenly flip over about 2x a week. We didn't end up changing his meds or anything because everything I could find on phantom limb pain in cats showed very limited success and that for the vast majority of cases the episodes went away on their own within a couple of months anyways.
Thanks for sharing. Nice to hear it going away in a couple of weeks for him. What medication was he on?
Jist to add some reassurance about the amputation, it was the eight decision for all the reasons yoir Vet
Yes, it is MAJOR surgery, especially for a senior. Just like a human recovering from a airgery, cats just want to be in a quiet place . In the wild, wounded animals try to hide as they know they are vulnerable when healing.
What pain meds...dose and frequency? She is definately showing pain signs...the hissing...the crying...all pain signals . Yes, it usually happens during the first week of two of recovery and does fo away, but in the meantime it is very painful and must ve treated!
So please get a second opinion from a Vet about pain management in cats.The pain CAN be managed
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!
Dash was on Clavamox, Buprenorphine, and Veraflox after his surgery. I think the Clavamox was the antibiotic since Dash needed his amputation due to a bad wound/infection in his ankle.
She is taking 25mg of gabapentin every 8 hours. Her pain episodes seemed to have improved a lot since we are leaving her alone. But now i have a new worry, since yesterday shes very lethargic, not really able to get up and she hasnt peed since yesterday morning. Is this normal?
Hopping on here quickly...sorry for the rush....but not peeing. for 24 hours needs to be checked out with Vet. as soon as possible.
❤❤
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!
It's clear you love your cat and I'm glad you have noticed that he's lethargic. I agree with Sally. It's possible your cat has a bladder, kidney, and/or urinary tract infection. It's not good if they can't pee.
A visit to the vet is important and they can review the pain medication. An amputation is major surgery and gabapentin is generally not enough to provide full pain relief.
I hope the visit goes well.
Kerren
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