Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives

…on. She should not need to go out 5 times a day, but she definitely should be urinating at least once every 12 hours. She may have a urinary tract infection, incision infection, or could need more pain control. These things sometimes happen and they are almost always easily treatable.

What kind of

…s so hard to tell whether it's muscle pain, her leg proper, a disc issue, or phantom pain
.

Good news: After seeing her primary Vet today, her incision, despite the infection, appears to be healing well. Likewise, it seems like her leg proper is actually fine from what they can tell. She also has

…she often enjoyed doing like looking out the front window. Hopefully the Tramadol will give her a little comfort. We also discovered that her incision may have a slight infection, so she’s now on an antibiotic. Not sure if the infection could be at play here in her symptoms, but I thought I’d

…info, it's bodily fluid that builds up when you remove a limb...the fluid has to go somewhere and it will take the path of least resistance, the incision area. Usually nothing to worry about and they resolve on their own. You may start to see drainage, and as long as it's more pinkish than bloody,…

… doesn't smell or look like an infection, it's probably normal. If you apply a warm compress for a few minutes a couple of times a day, you can encourage the site to drain. Keep an eye on

…a course of steroids and although he rarely limped anymore the lump wasn't improving. The vet checked it again and drew a sample to check for infections while Sarge started a course of antibiotics. Unfortunately, that didn't help either. 

On April 15th I took Sarge in to have the mass surgically…

…gave him a 25% chance at best of making it to one year. I decided to go ahead with the amputation as soon as possible. The tumor was keeping his incision from closing and amputation might be an adjustment but it's something he CAN heal from. The big question was whether he had any more tumors,

…morning Benny,

They did send out a tissue sample for MRSA
when they did the incision revision.  I just called and left a message, waiting for someone to call back.  When I picked him up yesterday the brought him out with a filthy…

…a thick yellow discharge.  I cleaned him as soon as we got home but it keeps returning and his eye looks very red. I hope he does not have an eye infection now too.

I am just disgusted with the care from this hospital. I will definitely see if there is some sort of oversight of vet hospitals once we…

…are through the worst of it.  I will also discuss with my family vet once they are back on site.

If it is an eye infection I hope the antibiotic he is on will cover it.  Now I just have to wait.

…is no drainage coming out of the incision.  I'll just keep her vet updated and send her daily pictures so she is aware of any changes.   We are enjoying a warm compress and some snuggles…

….  The bruising is a little concerning to me.   It is just everywhere.   Everything is new and scary right now.  We will watch it closely, an infection is our biggest worry right now.   

…month, and it came back as benign and just fluid. So we didn’t think much about it until I noticed that it was oozing the other day, and that the incision area had gotten more firm and bumpy, and was really itchy for him. REALLY itchy. Poor pup would fall over any time I itched or rubbed it. 

I…

…thinks that when they found and removed the lymph node they was cancerous, that it had already spread through the rest of his lymphatic system. His incision etc. is just full of spreading cancer, and it’s just too big to remove and stitch the skin back together. 

We are pursuing a different Chemo…

…dwell on the past and just spoil the heck out of our boy as much as possible. 

Our other dog (a golden retriever) also has an upper respiratory infection, so we are worried about Max getting it... but we can’t even contain his floof, so a germ/virus/bacteria seems like an impossible task. 

The

…a little, but it was not cloudy and had no smell, and I called the vet Friday and they said it was normal and as long as it wasn't showing signs of infection, they would just see me today. WELL. Apparently the stitches on the outside were fine, but the stitches on the inside had come undone at the spot…

…where they were leaking, and when the Dr went to take the outside stitches out, the incision gaped open and they had to sedate him, cut new edges where they had started healing separate from each other, and restitch him. Not fun. And the…

…t get at his stitches while we are sleeping (which he has been licking them a little, but not terribly). Also, he said there were zero signs of infection, but he wants him to take another round of antibiotics since he had to restitch him up.

So that's a pretty disappointing setback. Also I don't

…bruising which I understand us expected, but he developed what I can only describe as blood blisters in the tissue around the bottommost part of his incision. He fell over this afternoon when going potty, so I don't know if that burst some but it's been seeping what looks like blood for most of the day…

…he fell. Hank has been mostly inactive since surgery aside from getting up to go potty, and it doesn't smell or seem hot or show other signs of infection. Just wondering if anyone has seen something like this? Is it a seroma
? I appreciate any words of wisdom, thank you! 

…at this point in the journey. Time is needed for her to get strong and find her new normal. For now...

Did the vet do a culture of the infection/bulge area for MRSA
?  Leg swelling after amputation isn't unusual, many dogs suffer from a temporary edema. Remember, when a limb is removed that…

…bodily fluid that used to run through it has to go somewhere. Most often a seroma
(fluid build-up) happens around the incision area but it can also go elsewhere). Usually time and gentle massage takes care of it. At this point, along with a fever and possible infection is

…12 days Buprenorphine 0.3 mg every 8-12 hours

Do you have the recovery suit on or cone on Lucky now? It is usual for them to want to lick the incision! We don't want him going after or reaching the incision, not worth the risks! Restitched, restapled infection etc.

You are both doing Excellent

…there is a suture that didn't get taken out that is bothersome. Also, have you tried taking her temperature to see if she might have a fever from an incision infection? Sometimes the infection is internal and easy to miss. What does her incision look like? 

Have you talked to your vet about this?

…and pooping? Max hates to poop on a leash! Lol) or if front amputees really need a cone of shame post surgery? I doubt they can even reach the incision to lick it, can they?

Yes, all new Tripawds need the cone of shame
. You wouldn't believe how quickly they can destroy stitches when their…

…humans aren't looking. We've seen a lot of damage done to fresh incisions (which can lead to infection) so please use it. As for assistance, most will need a little bit of help during the first few days when the pain medication is new to their system

…his leg and put him on chemo in order to participate. 

This vaccine puts a cancer cell in with a listeria bacteria, and as his body fights the infection, it will learn how to also fight the cancer in the blood.

We decided that we would try to maximize his quality of life as much as possible, which…

…and pooping? Max hates to poop on a leash! Lol) or if front amputees really need a cone of shame
post surgery? I doubt they can even reach the incision to lick it, can they?

3) Experiences from other pet owners whose dogs have had cancer as well, what their dog’s experiences are on Chemo, etc. 

…fine, we thought, though a bit lackluster, obviously. But then he wasn't bouncing back...seemed to be getting more lethargic and yesterday his incision was a tiny bit wet and a bit raised.

We took him to the vet this AM and it is, indeed, an infection. I don't know how it happened. We washed his…

… kept the cone on (except once when I was putting on his vest and he got two licks in before we got the cone back on)

How common is a post-op infection? I'm beside myself. The vet is putting in a drain now, putting him on antibiotics and sending in for a culture to determine the exact sort of infection. I can't bear the thought that Buddy would go out this way. He's 13. Such a sweetie pie dog. 

[Our other dog (14, Pal) had cancer surgery -

…from the vet today and I am so happy!!

He was put on another week of antibiotics last week after my vet looked at the fluid leaking from his incision on a slide and saw lots of neutrophils. His incision finally stopped leaking 4 days ago and is completely healed now! For anyone looking back at…

…or 6 days after the stitches came out which was closer to 3 weeks post-op with still significant swelling and bruising. There was never any obvious infection in the incision but a blister that popped beside the incision and a small opening in the incision that continued to leak some pinkish serous fluid …

…(up until post-op day 27) was enough to put Jerry on antibiotics to stay ahead of any potential infection  and the second time to possibly treat a very early infection and to get that last little spot to heal up. It has been a long, emotional couple of…

…side.

Jerry's restlessness has completely resolved since he has been out of the cone and he is back to his old self. No more trazadone! His incision was stubborn to heal but all in all he did really well in his recovery. I saw Jerry turn a real corner a couple days ago when he started throwing

…your vet about that part, don't change anything without asking them. What's her Gabapentin dosage and frequency right now?  

The possibility of infection is also there, but don't jump to that just yet. Is her incision warm to the touch? Any drainage? If so, what does it look like? How's her

…s terrific your regular vet was able to take a look. We didn't deal with incision blisters but it doesn't surprise me that this happened on a dog with thin skin. Sounds like the abx will take care of any potential infection.

…to hear how well Jerry is doing!  We love good news like that!

Of course, not a Vet,  but I certainly  think your regular  Vet can assess the incision.   And I would suggest you do that to ensure there is no underlying  infection, a stitch irritation, etc.  Is your regular  the Vet the one taking

…. Every subsequent night seems a little better than the last now that he's at home and doing more routine things with our other dog. 

Now to his incision..it has been looking great and then I noticed a little blister beside his incision at the bottom of his stump 2 days ago. I also noticed a little…

…same area. That blister popped when he was lying on that side and now I'm just trying to keep it clean with a little warm water on gauze to prevent infection. I read that these blisters could be caused by friction when he is moving around in his bed. Has anyone else had any experience with blisters…

…around the incision? Greyhounds have such paper thin skin, it doesn't surprise me. There continues to be a small amount of serous fluid draining from that area. His…

…bruising has improved except at the very bottom of his stump where there is still dark red bruising along the one side of his incision and it feels hard. I sent a couple of pictures to the hospital where Jerry had his surgery and the surgeon looked at them and recommended he come in…

…I have my vet here look at it. I'm just waiting to hear back now. Everything is going so well, I'm a little upset that there is an issue with his incision now..

…asked for. We had a tiny complication at about Week Six when the stubble started to itch and she realized she could reach the very bottom of the incision. She did some chewing and got a very small infection. A round of antibiotics and a bit more time in her T-shirts got us through that with no

…under tennis balls, he loved it.

There was one little hiccup, however. I noticed 2 things today. The first thing was, the top part of Jake’s incision site looked a little red and somewhat puffy, it wasn’t warm to the touch and there’s no drainage. I took a pic this morning and took another this…

…of antibiotics (Rilexine 300mg 2 tabs q12hrs). The surgeon said it was fluid accumulation under the skin, is that just a sugar coated way to say infection? So we took a little road trip & we’re back home resting and starting our 2nd round of antibiotics. I’ve been so careful with him and making

…issues with her leg today.  It seemed that she was running a fever, she would not eat much and she shivered alot.   When I looked at her leg, the incision was healing nicely, but there was a "swelling" area that looked angry.   So, being the panicky mom that I am, off to the vets we went.   Turns out…

…that she had a nasty infection that started up in the last day or so.   Since we were set to go in tomorrow morning to do the x-rays and tests, I went ahead and had her stay

…out on Wednesday. The vets still feel we should wait for another week before deciding whether he needs stitches. They feel the wound looks good and infection free nad looks like it has narrowed a little in one place. So it's every 3 days dressing with antibiotic ointment and granulox spray. However, kaju…

…on a shirt on him while he enjoys licking and scratching himself he also invariably 8 out of 10 time manages to take off the gauze covering his open incision. I've ordered a different kind of soft collar let's hope he's less depressed in that and isn't able to open up the gauze bandage. 

His furless

…our human jobs!) and give a progress update on Lana. After a diligently putting on the Silver cream for a week that last about half inch of her incision that kept being weepy/oozy/puffy (but no infection) FINALLY healed over! So Lana has been cone free and fabulous. 

We are also down to 1

…here as I am not online too often these days, but my cat Tuxedo went through a very long period of healing following his surgery and subsequent wound infection.  Hopefully you will not have to go down the same path he did as it was very drawn out and costly too.  But just in case here is what he went…

…through in some detail. 

Tuxedo had a deep seated infection which opened up pretty much his whole incision.  A brief summary of it is here.  The  vet really did not have the option of closing the incision with sutures (or Staples) due to the amount of…

…skin lost after surgical debridement of it.  And after the problems with one incision, the last thing I wanted to try was the flap surgery that was offered as an option.  Instead, Tuxedo's incision was allowed to fill in and close

…in such a short time.

Post-op has mostly gone okay so far. She has already got the hang of the ramp I built off our back deck. Maddie’s incision looks good – no sign of infection. We weren’t able to use a cold compress on the incision those first few days because Maddie just would not have it…

… but I found a work-around. I got a heating pad and put it in her crate. It may not be quite as effective as a warm compress directly on the incision, but I figure it is better than nothing.

Our biggest post-op challenge so far has been pain management
. It is so hard to tell whether Maddie is

…! Our vet actually did Manuka honey with Ziggy when he had his first little infection and it seemed to go really well! I've never heard of the spray either but that's one of those things I'd discuss with the vet first to make sure it…

…some water on his own, when he didn't sling half his medicine all over himself or us, when he'd eat some of his food without being forced, when his incision didn't leak for an hour or two. Nothing wrong with cheering about little milestones!

…in stitches or staples on the section that opened up. We had that with Ziggy and the staples really helped things - he had a revision to his first incision and it was Y shaped, and opened up at the joining of the legs of the incision. We had the infection issue too - is he still on an antibiotic for