Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I would not call that normal, it is definitely an involuntary twitch but I am not sure how painful she is from the video. Does she vocalize or cry during the episodes or if you touch her? If not you may be able to wait it out, although I would continue with the diazepam and gabapentin just to be sure as well as an NSAID.
Pam
Okay, she's back at the same Vet again for more pain meds?
If you can safely give her the pain meds at home, can you go back and bring her home? Just doesn't seem to make sense to keep her there any longer. She needs to be at home. Obviously, be real clear on the diazepam and Gaba doses. They can be highly sedative sometimes.
It would be another Specialist whomwoukd do the "nerve surgery", is that right? I woukd DEFINITELY want someone other than the Vet who is saying this is "normal". And I'm sorry, but it just doesn't seem like she coukd have been monitored enough while there. This happened as soon as you picked her up and has continued. Seems unlikely to me that it "cleared up" at the Vet....never happened...and "all of the sudden" it happened!
This is NOT the end of the road for Kira, okay????? I know it has to be sooooo hard dealing with this.....so incredibly hard. But this WILL get cleared up!!!
The survery to check the nerves isn't nearly as hard on her as her amputation surgery, okay? Keep that in mi d. As crazy as this sounds, even if they don't see anything "obvious", just the "going in and moving things around while they investigate" make clear it up! So just because they may not find anything, doesn't mean in anyway, shape or form that you have to nkt let her wake up!
The second surgery does sound like a good option. I would think the Surgeon Specialist would be mkre than willing to wprk with you on a discounted price, or certainly payments. If, for some reason the surgery is inconclusive, then it may mean staying on the Gaba for a bit longer as it does, indeed, work itself out.
And btw, this recovery period, especially when there ate additional challenges, will make you temporarily whacko nuts!!!! Yeah, we've all been there! And it's sooooo easy to jump to worse case scenarios when we're so Looney Tunes! So hang onto us! We've got you, okay?
We'll be cheering for Kira!!!
Love and 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!
Thank you SOOO much Pam and Sally for your continued support and advice, I can't tell you how much this is helping me at the moment. Sally you and I are on the same wave-length and I picked Kira back up from the vet today. Before I left they did some kind of laser thing on her wound that is supposed to promote healing - I was happy to agree to try anything and it didn't hurt her at all. She was twitching all the while I was there picking her up, I kept saying 'look this is what I meant' but she wasn't really reacting to the twitches so their response was basically it doesn't look like anything to worry about to them.
BUT I think you are right Pam, most of the episodes are more anxiety than pain and I have been misinterpreting it. She doesn't show her anxiety at the vets, so it looks like it doesn't bother her, then I get her home and she's panting, tensing, licking her lips, leaning into me, moving around and whining. She's generally such a quiet standoffish, stoic dog (she's a rescued street dog with multiple scars, including 2 pellets still in her, so she is used to hiding pain) that I haven't really ever seen 'clingy' from her before and may have jumped to pain before considering anxiety.
Anyway, now that she's home I think the twitches have decreased slightly (so far!) so fingers crossed. Still planning on seeing the specialist about the ultrasound to check it out but I'm hoping as Kira and I both calm down *maybe* this will go away by itself as you said Pam. At least if she does have to have a second surgery it doesn't sound as difficult, so thank you for mentioning that Sally :).
Back to feeling more positive - what an emotional roller-coaster this is!
Vicky
Oh good! I hear the relief in yirur voice!! I'm glad you did bring her home!
We talk about the "new normal" a lot during ecovery and how things that "threw us over the edge yesterday", weren't quite as scary the next day, or the day after, etc. Not saying this isn't scary and it shouldn't be addressed, just saying your energy is already transferring into a more confident and relaxed state. And thrst will also transfer to Kira.
Sure, she has become more clingy, etc. I think that's quite a od to you that she sees you as her pack leader in times of need. She now has someone who can bring her comfort, someone she knows loves her!!
One other quick suggestion. Does Kira have a human friend she likes who could stop by for a visit? The friend could bring her a really yummy treat and be all hyper-excited to see her? Sometimes little thinbs like that help improve the attitude.
STAY CONNECTED AND KEEP US UPDATED! You're on a path to get this resolved! I know it's soon enough, but it's coming!!
Extra bugs to you voth!
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!
Our Max got those same twitches all the time. They never seemed to cause him pain though so I just chocked it up to normal healing. Sometimes I would lightly massage the area and he seemed to like that. They did eventually stop happening as we got further into the healing process. Glad things are starting to look up for you and your beautiful girl! Hugs!
Morning everyone,
I was going to post that Kira's twitches seem to be reducing slowly (or at least not bothering her as much), but got up this morning to Kira's very swollen muzzle and eyes. So we're off back to the vet, hopefully she's tried to eat a bee or something, but I'm not sure when as she seemed fine last night and as far as I could tell there were no bugs in the house. I'll let you know how it goes.
Thanks for your post Linda, can I ask when Max stopped getting the twitches? Just a rough idea would be great thanks.
I'm supposed to be driving Kira to visit my parents tomorrow, they have a big garden in the countryside so I thought that might buck her up a bit.
Vicky
They lasted about a month and a half but during that time they diminished in intensity as time went on until they stopped completely. Hoping your vet can quickly figure out Kira's swelling and it turns out to be just a small bump in the road. Poor sweet girl and you have had your share of challenges. Keep us posted on what you find out as each of our experiences can help someone else someday in this intense journey! Sending hugs to you both!
Goodness gracious Kira! What have you gotten into now?? Does sound like some sort of bite....some sort of allergic reaction to something!!
YAY that the twitches are diminishing! Glad Linda gave you her take on it with Max's twitches. (Good job of helping out Max! :-))
Update as soon as you can. And I think your week end excursion sounds like a good one for Kira and you both!! 🙂 We MUST have pictures, okay? Video too!
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!
Hi everyone, this is going to be quite a long post but I thought it would be helpful if anyone else goes through something similar (hopefully without the swollen bee sting in the mouth incident in the middle!). I took Kira to my parent's on Wednesday, which is a 5 hour drive. She had the last diazepam tablet in the morning before we set off and she's still on the metacam substitute. She was understandably tired on the Wednesday, but she took a real nose dive on Thursday. She wouldn't drink (never happened before, she always drinks a lot), didn't want to move or seemed to get stuck stood up with her head hanging down, didn't want to interact with anyone and looked generally in pain/distress and depressed. The twitches were still upsetting her as every time she laid down it seemed to happen again and disturb her. I was seriously discussing having her put down because every day seemed to be getting worse for her. I decided to take her out into the countryside on Friday (3 weeks to the day after the op), and then drive to the vet afterwards and discuss having her put to sleep on Monday if there was no improvement. But as soon as we got her out into the countryside and off lead she was a different dog, she was alert, interested in sniffing, bouncing along rather than jarring herself as much - it was almost as if she knew that she had to start improving! So needless to say we didn't go to the vet afterwards! Since then she hasn't looked back, getting stronger (and more importantly happier) every day and the twitches have reduced significantly. I'm back home now and she's chasing after treats and bunny hopping all over, I'm struggling to keep up with her :). So if anyone reads this and they are in the same position, I hope it can provide a bit of reassurance, as everyone else's posts have for me.
Best wishes,
Vicky
P.S. I have a picture for you Pam but I don't have an online photosharing account to host it on 🙁
OOOMDDDD VICKY!!! WOW!!! THANKS SO MUCH FOR UPDATING US!!! I jave ro sah, I was holding my breath as I was reading, just hoping and hoping everything was turning out okay! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Sounds like Kira was ready ro get back to being Kira!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Sich a relief!!
Lots of 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!
vickynkira said
P.S. I have a picture for you Pam but I don't have an online photosharing account to host it on 🙁
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