Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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DISCOVERY is re-discovering her normal social self and how to reclaim her usual routine👍
again, you are doing a wonderful job of caring for her and I’m so glad you are starting to see her be Discovery again.
Hugs
Sallly 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!
Discovery update:
My girl is doing great, very mobile, great appetite, grooming herself and using her litter box. She plays with her toys and goes up and down stairs easily. She's been doing so well we have stopped confining her to the spare room when were not home, she now has the run of the living room. Stairs are still blocked by baby gates. We are also back to sleeping in our bed, which is great.
We are supposed to be reducing her gabapentin today from 100mg every 12 hours to 50mg every 12 hours. But she’s having these occasional spells where she’s off balance and vocalizes her frustration (long loud agitated meow). She kind of walks backwards while lifting the “stump” up. It’s like she thinks she stuck and is trying to free her leg that isn’t there anymore. It usually happens when she first wakes up, and only last a few seconds. After it passes, she lets me comfort her and she purrs and acts completely normal. When I gently pet the stump and incision area she doesn’t flinch or withdraw just purrs and settles back down.
I've read Madison and Simba's tread, and the informational page on "how to help amputee cats walking backwards". Seems exactly like what Discovery is going through. I don't really know if its pain so much as she wakes up disoriented and doesn't understand why she cant move the way she wants to. I've emailed the vet and will keep her on 100mg Gabapentin every 12 hours, instead of reducing it as scheduled, until I hear back from them. The spells are infrequent and short, and she recovers very quickly.
Thanks for this excellent update! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 whoo hoo Discovery!
You are onto your new normal now!! Eating, mobile, playing using her litter box, her SPARKLE is back!!!🎉🎊🙌🏻
I agree; go back to what was working, the 100 mg every 12 hours. I'm glad you phoned the vet to keep them in the loop. You know what you are doing & Discovery thanks you for being such an excellent advocate for her.
I think it is a form of phantom limb pain when this happens. No one seems to know EXACTLY why. I think it only makes sense we cut the sciatic nerve; it's angry. Im glad to hear they are infrequent and short-lasting! On the correct dosage of gaba they don't happen. I do believe in time, you will be able to reduce, but Discovery is your guide she will show you.
Im delighted to hear OVERALL Discovery is doing EXCELLENT, and yay for being back in your bed, too.
Extra scratches and smooch to Discovery, please,
Thanks again for the update!
(((Hugs)))
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Wow overall not bad at all, she is doing so much better. She's not even trying to jump or get around the baby gate ? Wow! Good kitty!
Doesn't it feel great to have your bed back?! Everyone is rested now. YAY!
Smart move to not cut back on the Gabapentin until you talk with the vet. The backwards walking thing is such an odd phenomena, we just don't see it in dogs and nobody seems to have any idea why. It just seems like in time, along with gabapentin, it goes away when the nerves calm down.
Let us know what your vet says.
Discovery had a set back last night. All of a sudden she was acting scared and hissed every time we approached her. She got in the bed with us to sleep but would hiss and run if I moved a hand towards her. I got home at 530 and she was fine, she let me pick her up and ate some food with 50mg gabapentin; by 7 she was hissing and growling at me if I took a step towards her. I left some food out for her overnight and she didn't touch it. Using some gardening gloves I was able to syringe 100mg of gabapentin into her this morning. She had 100mg yesterday morning too. She's peeing but hasn't pooped in 2 days. We're 5 weeks out from surgery, she was doing great and now... I'm so worried about her.
Wel that’s a bummer. Yes, a setback but it will get figured out, okay?
my first thought is she may have tweaked a back muscle or neck muscle, etc. That can happen quickly and it can be painful and will explain why she didn’t want to be touched or moved.
So the gaba was once yesterday at 100 and then later 50 and once today (so far)? If she’s tweaked something that, along with rest, should help.
Also wondering if not pooping is causing her discomfort.
Holly will see this and give some great advice and possible solutions.
Agaiwe are not Vets and not giving Vet advice. You may need a trip to the Vet, or at least a phone consult, to find the underlying cause.
Hang in there and keep us updated.
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!
I'm sorry to hear this for you all!!!🫂🫂🫂 It sounds to me that reducing the meds at this time is not working. Are you not comfortable continuing the gaba? It's an extremely safe drug to continue to use. Great job syringing the meds.
Not pooping is likely due to the gaba; you can safely use over-the-counter Miralax - add 1/8 or 1/4 tsp am and pm to her meals to help with that. (dissolve the Miralax in water ) & add to her wet food. Its tasteless she won't know its there, its also dose dependant, so watch & see what the poop looks like and adjust if needed. You can go higher in dosage but thats where I would start. Stick with am and pm dosing and continue it until she is not on pain meds. It takes a few days to work most times!
Have you discussed this setback with the vet? I would continue the 100 mg every 8 to 12 hours and keep her comfortable. The other option that MAY work is the 50 mg every 8 hours. I don't know what you can do in a workday. My thoughts and the only way to know is by doing and remaining on a dose and timing and seeing how she does. KEEP NOTES! Of course I am not a vet and not giving vet advice just what me as a cat mom would do;)
(((HUGS))) scratches to Discovery, please
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She pooped before I left the house this morning, so that's good but she hissed at me after that so it wasn't a complete relief. I've been giving her TikiCat with Pumpkin in it to help her poop, but will try Miralax if she continues to have problems.
We had decreased her Gabapentin on Friday from 100mg 2x a day to 50mg 2x a day. By Sunday it was clear that the phantom pain was more frequent and we decided to give her 100mg Monday morning so she could have a good restful day and then go to 50mg 3x a day starting Monday evening. That's why we gave her 50mg last night before everything went south. I tried to give her 50mg 8 hours later in food but she didn't touch it, and I didn't want to push it with her trying to syringe feed her when she was so upset.
I put on a long pair of gardening gloves this morning and syringed her 100mg, she didn't bite the gloves were just a precaution. Will do so again this evening. Right now I'm watching her on the webcam and she's sleeping with her little arm over her face. I hope when we get home she's calmer. It was strange that she still wanted to be in the bed with us but didn't want us to touch her. I think this is probably pain but also anxiety; right before this started last night my husband and I were arguing and he raised his voice. Were all good now and it was short lived, he's just super stressed at work right now (6th grade teacher). I think he scared her, and in her sensitive condition she's not been able to get over it quickly 🙁
We do have Buprenex we can give her, but I'm hesitant to do that since it may be more stress than pain that's causing this episode.
Ohhhh ugh! I'm sorry!
Have you given her anything to get her system moving along? Did she eat today?
Try not to panic. Many times a new Tripawd will pull a muscle and experience very short term pain like this. How is she doing this morning? Can you touch her at all? Can anyone else?
Have you given her anything to get her system moving along? Did she eat today?
I've been feeding her TikiCat with Pumpkin to help her go. Her digestion has been slow the past week, that's one of the reasons her vet wanted to back off the Gabapentin. The idea was to get her moving around more to help get her more regular. She did actually poop this morning after I posted, but that didn't seem to improve her mood.
How is she doing this morning? Can you touch her at all? Can anyone else?
This morning she didn't want her food but I left it out for her so maybe she ate after I left. I was able to syringe some liquid food with 100mg gabapentin in it but she growled at me the whole time. She got up in the bed and laid next to me but hissed when reached for her.
I have her on the webcam and she's been sleeping all day. I really hope she's calmed down by the time I get home this evening.
YAAAY for poop, and glad to hear she is sleeping peacefully I hope things are much improved when you get home. Pumpkin is excellent for SOME cats, not ALL. If this continues to be an issue and or the poop looks larger or dry - try the Miralax.
I hope things are much improved when you get home. Im sorry things were going so well for some time. Hang in there; you will get this all figured out! What works and doesn't. It's trial and error sometimes, but thats the only way to KNOW. Keep the vet in the loop as you always do.
Keep us posted please, sorry on the tiff too but glad it is all worked out now!
(((HUGS)))
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Still hissing and growling. She didn't use her litter box at all since this morning, no pee or poop.This is so heartbreaking.
I'm so sorry 🥺🫂🫂🫂
How many hours has it been since she peed?
We know she pooped this a.m. Do we know if she strained at all pooping? Do you happen to have a camera on her litter box?
I recently had this covo with our vet for the site -how many hours before we should have them phone or head to the vet if they have not peed?
She said "a cat should pee 24-36 hours. Most importantly, making sure they aren't straining and not producing or producing very small amounts. Cats with stress can get sterile cystitis "
I would phone my vet and get their input on her having these pains again, I would want to know more about WHY. Phantom limb pain comes and go; this is lasting all day again. I'm not understanding what continues to happen. We should have seen progress with her 100 mg Gaba every 8 hours. You could also post in our Ask the vet.
I know you have buprenorphine on hand, but if I remember right, she reacted to that at the vet's, and they used the transdermal. Any chance you have the transdermal at home? Discovery's vet must know what's happening to help you through this. Do not hesitate to tell them about the finances and ask what you can do at home to help her.
I feel terribly for you all!
((((HUGS)))
Yes I went back thru your post they gave her Zorbium when she did not do well on the buprenex at the vets. I personally would not use it for that reason.
(((hugs)))
Afterthought -Is it possible she was not getting her meds ( ie eating them)? If so, that would explain more to me. If she missed a dose and the dose was lowered twofer. Then we are chasing pain and not staying on top of it, If that makes sense. Let the vet know stay on 100 mg every 8 hours, and IF the vet sent you home with the Zorbium use that too until you hear back from the vet. I see now by googling the Zorbium is administered at the vets. UGH. I'm keeping our paws crossed and 🙏🏻 for you all!!
Please keep us updated as you can.
Was Discovery ever on Onsior? Ask the vet about the Onsior. It would be worth adding in and trying for Discovery; it is a NSAID flavored. SOME cats will readily eat it, but not all of it is a three day course. I have given that to my cats. One would readily eat one would not.
When I reread your post, I saw she had exploratory surgery. When was that, I know, before amputation, but how prior? All was fine there? As you can see, I am thinking of Discovery & you!
(((HUGS)))
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