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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HOLLY! Yes! I think it was Olly!!!! Thanks!!!!!
And Jennifer, j8st so you know Holly, Mom to Purrkins, is the one what waqs a HUGE, HIGER, part of putting together the e-books about kitties being Tripawds. Ahe is a wealth of I information!
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!
The difference is Ollie was having his pain the whole time. Discovery was fine for nearly a week. If further surgery is required that is catastrophic. We don't have the money; after this week we'll be $7k in. If she's injured herself otherwise we'll never know because she wont let anyone touch her. This is the most heartbreaking thing I've ever been though. We don't have any more money to spend. We should have just made her a comfortable as possible from the cancer. This was a terrible mistake and I'll never forgive myself.
Goodness knows, many of us understand the financial situation. Many would not be able to ever afford the amputation to begin with.
Is it possible to bring Discovery home and continue the new pain med in tje enviornment of her home.
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!
They will give her the Zorbium today when the Bruprenex is worn off. Her Dr will let me know if she can come home tomorrow. But if she wont let me touch her how will I give her the gabapentin when she comes home? I can try putting it in her food but if she refuses to eat then she'll be without it and that will just make her pain worse.
Referring back to Holly in getting the pain med down. She'll probably have some ideas.
Is this Bet the one who did the surgery? Any possibility of getting a second opinion? Obviously the pain needs ro be addressed and, if it's not just about finding the right mix then the cause has to be discovered. Stating the obvious of course, but "something " happened two days ago that either uncovered a previously undiscovered issue or caused a new painful issue.
We are still going to hope that regardless, the new pain med works. And you can ask the vet how long it takes for that to kick in after administered? Is it a matter of hours or does it take a day etc?
Such a bummer you are going through this and we really hope it gets resolved quickly! And we believe it will!
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!
Second opinions cost money we don't have. We put all our eggs in this basket. I'm going to lose my girl.
I still THINK this was pain-related and very common in rear leggers to have phantom limb spells and NOT have enough pain medication through recovery. Gabapentin is always used for this and should always be sent home with our cats for recovery.
Please try to breathe. I know how stressful this is!! Let's SEE how the medication changes go since she did well on the Zorbium ( transdermal) before this will tell the vets more.
We are jumping the gun on you not being able to handle her. You usually can, yes? They won't send her home in a state—one step at a time.
Can you usually medicate her with liquid or pills? How food-motivated is she?
I haven't heard if she is eating in the clinic. What is the clinic saying other than she can possibly go home tomorrow ( which is great news)? They won't send her home if they don't feel she is ready.
Let us know some answers, and we will do our best to help. Update us when you hear how the med changes go.
Hugs
Going home tomorrow was in an effort to save money, likely she won't be able to. She ate for them today. She's generally very food motivated but has become finicky since all this.
Normally we give gabapentin in her food. 50mg every 12hrs. We have tried liquid and sometimes I'm successful but sometimes it's like she closes her throat and it just ends up dripping out of her mouth after ai let her go.
It's great to hear she ate for them!!! Whoo HOO
GREAT SIGN!!!
I hope the med change is the ticket, and she is coming home tomorrow!!!
I never put meds in food for two reasons 1. You do not want her going off her food because she tasted medicine. Food is life; never mess with her regular food. This may be why she is picky now. The second reason is to ensure our cats get the meds they need.
You can always have the vet show you how to pill her. I only have used gabapentin capsules. I opened the capsule and, add a little churu tube mix & slurped it up in a syringe to syringe our cats)
I do have an idea to try - A guarantee NO. THE Ony guarantee is pilling or syringing liquid medicine or using a transdermal. Get a couple of cans of Hills AD recovery food from the vet. It is super stinky, high-calorie food that most cats can't resist. (im not a fan of vet food. 🙂 Anyway, this is different & I have used AD to help a cat eat to survive.
Supervise and stand by her the entire time. See if she likes or loves the AD. Add a little AD (a teaspoon) in a bowl and see if she devours it. If so, GREAT! Prepare another tsp tad more food, open the gabapentin capsule, and mix in with the AD. Give her that if she Gobbled it up, have another little spoon prepared to give her medicine free. ( this is all happening as quickly as you can.)
This is all SEPARATE FROM HER NORMAL MEAL; every 8 - 12 hours, whatever your instructions are, Discovery gets a super tasty treat. The Ad is never given any other time; it is unique for med time only. We want a guaranteed im going to gobble this little bit of food up. We want something unlike her usual fare. You watch and ensure she has eaten it all.
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YAAAAAY. FOR. EATING!!!! Improvement, no matter how small, is still improvement!!!👏👏
As always, Holly had great suggestions👍
Once Discovery gets home and settles in, gets some quiet rest away from the clinic. that, along with good pain management , may help her get better.
Try and get some rest yourselves tonight. You've been through a lot. Discovery is in good hands and hopefully will be home tomrrow
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Just curious, has the Vet giving you any idea at all why they think she has had this pain flare-up? Did they do any diagnostics of any kind?
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, I'll get some Hills AD. I think we had figured that out a little by accident. I didn't think about it till I read your comment. But I had figured out that the one food I could consistently get her to eat laced with gabapentin was freaking Fancy Feast. Her whole life she's eaten Wellness Core fancy grain free high protein food but Fancy Feast is a the one she can't resist. Monday night while growling at me she ate a bunch of greenies and a bowl of fancy feast.
No diagnosis, just the ambition to get her pain under control.
Growling while eating Fancy Feast...we'll take it as a win!!.👏👏
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!
Jennifer we totally understand how frustrating this is, and expensive too. I'm so sorry! You haven't lost her though, really. So many people feel this level of despair when recovery doesn't go according to plan, it's a rollercoaster. Your vets sound awesome though, Discovery really is getting the latest pain meds and really, really great care. IF it's not medication related they seem like the team to troubleshoot what's going on. And better for her to be there than to add to your very understandable emotional turmoil, really.
And yep, thanks @purrkins, that's the post!
Keep us posted OK?
She was clearly in pain on Monday night, and yes, please leave her favorite & regular foods alone.
AD might become a favorite, but this is for meds only, with the hope she readily eats it for you.
If you have any concerns about being unable to get her meds, please tell the vet when you pick Discovery up! They are there to help us and want things to go well.
Hopefully, you have been updated, and Discovery might be coming home today.
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