Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives

…well enough. They asked my to bring her up Friday morning so they could check her out.

We went up Friday morning, and everything was good. Her incision looked great, no signs of infection, minimal swelling. They were very pleased with it and they gave me Pregabalin, THANK GOD!!!!

Since she has

…it altogether if your vet thinks that is OK to do. 

What you are describing could be pain signals
, or it could be something internally like an infection from the previous surgery. What kind of complications did she go through? Were there any issues with her incision healing?

Try to take a deep

…more questions to start with. How much does he weigh, what pain meds is he on, dose and frequency?   Is he on a y anti-inflammatory??

Is his incision showing signs of infection, or the Vets are saying the infection is from something else?  

Yes, some bruising can be expected,  but none of us are…

…rest.

Hang tight, okay?  

It's Not Unusual at all to have these types of hurdles the first couple of weeks. I would definitely want to get the infection under control and also confirm that the bruising has not gotten worse, but is actually dissipating.

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry

…him from going further due to risk of fracture from radiation. Now that he had his Cementoplasty surgery, next two weeks will be recovery, checking incision for infection, and limiting his movement for the cement to harden and no fracture.

Recap: Took him in for what I thought to be dislocated

…him from going further due to risk of fracture from radiation. Now that he had his Cementoplasty surgery, next two weeks will be recovery, checking incision for infection, and limiting his movement for the cement to harden and no fracture.

Recap: Took him in for what I thought to be dislocated

…Kaiser weigh? What are the doses and frequencies of the meds that he is on now? What's his activity level like? Have the antibiotics improved the infection appearance on the incision?

It's still very, very early in recovery.  I know it's hard to be patient during these first two weeks.  Just…

…on what you've said, Kaiser's recovery  with some ups and downs doesn't  sound too unusual  this early.  Of course, you'll want to make sure the infection is being handled,  no fever, etc.

Update when you lcan.  You're doing a great job!!!

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle

…ate.  The surgeon recommended Benadryl as an alternative to the trazadone to help relax him and get more sleep.  He also developed a little bit of infection at the incision site which the surgeon prescribed antibiotics(cefpodoxime).   We seemed to have turned the corner over the weekend as he was

…adoption groups in the area.

During Nicki’s initial recovery we did have a setback. At her 2 week appointment for stitches removal there was some infection and necrotic skin around the bottom area of her incision. The vet warned me that could happen and is a common complication in greyhounds. Their…

…. She also restitched a smaller 1 inch area because she didn’t like how it healed. We go tomorrow to get the second set of stitches removed!! Her incision looks great. Normal pink skin, no bruising, and no swelling. A night and day difference from her amputation incision!

Nicki is still taking 2…

…gabapentin a day. I’ve been able to wean her down to that amount over the last 2 weeks. Before her second procedure she was taking 6 a day! The infection was causing a lot of pain. I’ve tried twice to get Nicki down to 1 pill a day but she starts to show signs of pain. Restlessness, panting, wide

…food, because that will turn him off from eating completely, and then it's hard to rebuild trust after that. 

- What if he gets a serious infection or has severe swelling? What if he's still bleeding?

Sometimes infection will happen. A seroma
and accompanying swelling is normal, and while…

…(more pink colored than blood red) that is to be expected when a limb is removed (that fluid has to go somewhere). You want to keep an eye on the incision to make sure it's not getting infected.

- What if he never heals properly, or his personality changes?

Very few people have reported in our

…kind responses! Here is an update:

Soren has been home for nine days now, I think, and most of that time has passed without major incident. His incision hasn't done anything weird, and the bruising is much improved. There is still a 4x4 inch section left, which I imagine is still painful. We've had…

…continue the codeine or not -- he's still having a few episodes of feeling hot to us and panting a day. I can't see how this would be any kind of infection -- he was on antibiotics for almost 2 weeks (finished them yesterday). He's been sleeping a lot and is not interested in doing much. We're only

…show any aggressive characteristics and that they don’t think it’s cancer at all. They thought it was possibly a cyst or some fungal/bacterial infection going on and offered that I could do a biopsy to rule it out. Time comes and goes and she improves for a few months with no more issues. Come late…

…days post-op not including surgery day and she is doing amazing. She moves around just fine, she isn’t too concerned with attempting to lick at her incision, she IS miserable with her cone but she goes for her check up Aug 12 so hopefully we can remove it soon. 

I unfortunately cannot afford chemo for

…like blood, which it kind of does- But it's clear it's not blood, but looks like it. That might be worrisome..

He is taking antibiotics for infections though, the same ones he took prior due to having high infection stats before that have definitely went down.

One other thing you may want to…

…try is to de-sensitize his incision area.

I'll make sure to try that, thank you!

Thank you so much for all the help, I was quite stressed before, but it's getting better now and

…. If your vet doesn't have a referral, let me know and I'll find a practice for you.

To answer your questions:

The vet reviewed images of her incision and said it was healing well, with no signs of infection. 

Awesome! Document the bruising and you'll see a  change over time, usually a…

…amp site (which we have tried to implement to help the pain per some great posts on this site!) 

Did you see this post about desensitizing the incision area? Super helpful, and calming for both her and you!

She responded well to a cold compress in the 2-3 days right after surgery. Should we

…vet's office tomorrow if there is no change. So, that's where we are for now. 

A few other things to note: 

The vet reviewed images of her incision and said it was healing well, with no signs of infection. 
No vomiting. 
Daph seems to be more tense overall and movements seem more frantic

…of an eye! No time for me to react. But he landed ok his back legs work fine for his weight..

The sutures were removed today as well and his incision looks really great apart from that little wound. There was blood all over the place today but by Tonight it seems to ooze a lot less. I begged the…

…vets to put a bandage again but they were totally opposed to it. I said that the e collar won’t prevent him from scratching his incision and there is no scab created yet. Obviously we cannot watch him 24/7… I ll talk to them again in a couple of days but what do you think I should do…

…so happy for him. He is doing great and he makes it easy for us to nurse him (hope this is the right word). It would be a shame if he develops an infection because of scratches or reopen the wound and need stitches… 

…bowel movement on her third day post op and now is regular again.

Her bruising is slowly starting to dissipate along with her fluid build up, her incision looks good with no signs of infection. Every day she gets better at walking, we let her walk around the house under supervision, and it’s amazing

…at the way the sutures were done.  Some of the subcutaneous ones were accidentally pulled up through the top skin layer...  At the end of the incision near her ribs, it looks like she has an "outie" bellybutton now...SMH

Ripley was so calm and sweet, allowing her to work on cleaning the incision for over an hour with no sedation.  She is such a sweetheart.  My daughter said that if we hadn't removed the stitches that day, there would have…

…been significant necrosis of the skin around the incision, and the infection from the skin folds would have been out of control, possibly requiring another surgery to remove the necrotic tissue and re-stitch everything with…

…and decided to take her home with her, so she and her husband (he is her assistant with her mobile vet clinic) could clean the folds around the incision each day and keep a close eye on it, while I was away on a business trip.  I am so thankful to them both.

While I was gone, Ripley improved a lot…

….  She is now going up and down the stairs at their house, and the skin infection is clearing up with a topical ointment and daily cleaning.  Unfortunately, the way the incision healed produced what seems to be permanent folds,

…on this crazy journey, but it sure does help keep things balanced.

One thing I forgot to ask you Natasha, could you take a picture of the incision and make sure you include where this infection "bubbled over"? I know you mentioned that the vet put some stitches in it because of the dead skin

…going to be normal for a bit because the tissue isn't healthy enough, because yes their is dead tissue. The dead tissue is actualy not at the actual incision. We go back Thursday to see how things look.

Oh, yes Benny. Sasha was given a few different medications. We left the emerge vet with Metacam,…

…so much money... plus my heart breaks seeing her like this. Unfortunately we're going to be in this for the long haul. With the dead tissue and infection, getting her back up and running is going to take way longer then I wanted for her.

…the ER and now your Vet this morning,  Gueesing they gave you a course of antibiotics  at the ER?

Sid they mention of any of the skin around the incision  was dead?

Regardless,  getting your Vet to do a culture, check out the reasons ro the anemia,  etc.  As yucky as it was to see, the "burst of infection" tetting out was agood thing for starter

Did Sasha have osteosarcoma  or another form?

Was all of her blood work normal before the surgery 

In

…than before and Nika seems to know she can't keep up with their antics and will eventually lay down to have a rest and watch the goings on.

Her incision is healing super well.  We had to revisit the vet today as a 2" circle of skin above the incision has been showing some small signs of infection -

…is at work, as long as everything goes as planned during the initial recovery. Usually it does, but there are times when things happen, like an incision infection, or uncontrolled pain, that delays recovery. Should an issue overlap while you guys are getting married and then leaving, you'll need a

…Sam and Nova,

So the latest updates are Ella is still doing relatively well. I say relatively because we had a slight setback with her incision yesterday. The cone the surgeons staff put on initially was too short and Ella was able to reach edge of wound and lick apparently. We never…

…noticed until day before appointment. It really didn’t look bad to my wife and I, and had no infection, but surgeon felt she needed some staples put in, and sentenced to much larger cone for 3 weeks. We were all quite bummed about that. It’s

…Pain After a Cat or Dog's Amputation Surgery is Common, and Treatable.

Have you ever noticed your cat or dog's muscles twitching near the incision site during amputation surgery recovery? Or, have they ever jumped up with a sudden yelp, weeks after their leg was removed? These scary behaviors…

…begin?

Ilaria Borghese: [00:39:19] I would probably allow the dog to heal somewhat. If the surgical site looks good, there isn't any infection, there's no redness, there's nothing like that. And it's starting to heal. I would probably start on week two after surgery.

Jjust give…

…them a little bit of time to heal. I wouldn't go directly on the incision site. I would go around it. Leave the incision site alone. You can certainly use the chenille to go all around the incision site. That's fine. I wouldn't use vibration. I think the warm and

…perspective and more willingness to try new methods than older vets who are more set in their ways.

Has the vet taken a culture sample of the infection? If not you really want one done asap to make sure the antibiotics are appropriate for the type of infection she might have. 

I say might,…

… because are you sure it's an infection and not a seroma
, which is usually harmless and goes away in a few days once the drainage dissipates. You can encourage draining by using a warm…

…washcloth compress applied to the area for about 15 minutes, a few times a day.

It sounds like this could be a problem with the incision area if the stitches are not holding together. In that case, sometimes a surgical debridement is necessary (removal of old dead skin to encourage…

…new growth). So if the incision area is not healthy, be prepared for that. 

Remember that chemo is optional. Right now deal with what is in front of you, and if your money needs

…options. I do wish you could get her in to somewhere else for a second opinion. Maybe they would just it wouldn't be too costly.

And obvious infection how quickly and aggressively. Was any type drain suggested?

Also important would be for the vet to culture the infection and eliminate MRSA
.…

…be to have this Vet give you some answers regarding what to expect for recovery. Let that vet know she is still lethargic and not eating and  the incision is not healing. If there is any way you can take your temperature for her at home, I would try to do that too.

Please keep us posted and

…we had a little bit of a setback this week, and Nancy was issued a new cone 🤦‍♀️. 

She had a spot along her incision that was getting irritated, and I ended up sending a pic to the vets at OSU because it was getting darker and darker (you can see the progression…

…photos here). They were more concerned about the redness and what looked like discharge. They had me get it checked out thinking it could be infection or recurrence - they suggested having it palpated and doin a fine needle aspiration. I got her to the urgent care vet that day and they said there

…for this rather than updating my previous thread on Trevor's post-op lethargy, which seemed to have been due to soreness but maybe now also due to infection. 

Trevor (3 yo Goldendoodle) had a front forelimb amputation on 2/14 for chondrosarcoma in his proximal humerus. We're at three weeks post-op…

…in food, almost no interest in food yesterday. Very low energy, as if he were heavily medicated, but he wasn't. 

We have been examining his incision site daily. He's had lots of eyes on it, almost every other day, between photos sent to the surgeon (at 14 days post op), our regular vet (twice …

…Trevor almost non stop, always making sure he doesn't lick, keeping him clean, changing his shirts regularly, getting people to look at his incision. It feels like this just snuck up on us, but with the size of the abscess he had, it seems it was brewing for awhile, right under our noses. 

I…

…various things, so whatever was brewing maybe wasn't all that obvious. I do now think some of his panting and lethargy these past several days was infection related and not so much the sore muscle issue. 

SO hard when dogs can't tell us what's wrong!! ugh.

…ve been testing out the soft cone today, but so far she's still able to lick too close to the incision for my comfort. She's very anxious to groom, especially with the litter box incidents since she's been home. Apparently my cleaning is not up to…

…(she's not trying to rip it off or anything). Our surgeon was pretty anti-shirts or recovery suits saying that they can trap moisture and lead to infection, so I'd rather use that as a last resort. 

Thanks for the tip about the edible green clay
- I'll check that out!

…Arin, welcome. 

We have some photos of incisions in our Tripawds Gallery. Also see:

Tripawd Amputation Incision Infection Symptoms to Know About

After you hear from Dr. Pam, come join us in Treatment and Recovery so we can support you in your journey!