Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi guys!
My boy, Otis, has been doing great since his December 21 front leg amputation. I couldn't have been happier. Yesterday, we went for our fourth round of physical therapy. Each time they are upping the time on the underwater treadmill and then he has laser therapy for muscle relief. He's always done fine. Yesterday I brought him home and after about an hour I left. I came back 3 hours later and he was laying on the couch screaming. I mean screaming. Not just a yelp here and there. I quickly ran and got a Gabapentin and Galliprant and being a bulldog, he ate it...thank you pill pockets. I called for my husband to come home and we rushed him to the vet. When the vet checked him out she found he was painful in his incision area. She felt it was deeper than muscular so she took an Xray. Xray was all clear. She was stumped. We added Tramadol and that seemed to finally put him in a place of comfort. Once that kicked in he ate dinner, pooped and peed and returned to bed. He had a restful night with all the pain meds.
I'm hoping and praying it was just the extra time on the treadmill that did him in but the vet thought that it was odd that the pain seemed deeper than muscular. We have him on round the clock pain meds for a day and then we are to stop them to see how he is. I'm thinking he may need longer than that in case it is muscular.
Anyone have any experience or thoughts on this?
Oh Otis! So sorry you had such a rough time!!
Yes, muscular ouches can certainly take more than a day to heal, more like two weeks or more. So keeop doing what you're doing with the pajn meed and keeping him quiet. You kmow rhe drill, no jumping, running etc.
Glad his xrays and check up turned up nothing. I my very unprofessional opinion, this seems DIRECTLY related to overdoing it in the treadmill. Maybe too much...or too much too soon. Amputation wasn't done that long ago. Maybe that, combined with him getting up on rhe couch he did a really bad tweak.
The fact that with the pain meds and some rest, he ate and pooped and see comfortable is a really good sign!
Keep us posted. We love our Otis!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Is the PT an actual Rehabilitation Specialist? Has he had actual Rehab therapies in addition to the treadmill?
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!
Oh I'm so hoping that's all it is. We went to our local vet and they were great but said if he doesn't improve I will need to take him back up to UC Davis where they did the surgery. That's such a production. I'll do it, of course, but OY!!
Yes, this is a Physical Therapy vet. The main PT vet checks them out on day 1. They have a 1 hour appt to review the case, examine the dog and come up with a plan. There is no other physical therapy going on besides the water treadmill. She didn't think he needed it as he is in such great shape besides his stamina. So that's what we were working towards...better stamina. The gals that do the actual water therapy are techs. They follow a specific protocol so they aren't just making it up as they go along. They do keep a close watch on him and always follow up after each visit.
The timing of all this just seems like it has got to be related to the PT. Fingers crossed.
Thanks for your opinion!! Every little bit helps. xo
I'm hoping too Colleen. This isn't unusual, and is often resolved with R&R and pain management . Did the vet report it to the PT staff and did they prescribe any kind of massage therapy or acupuncture for him? Oftentimes a pain episode like this takes a multi-faceted approach to resolve it, using different therapies.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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I called the PT office first. Both tech's were with patients and the doc wasn't in. After I returned from seeing my local vet (saw a new, to us, vet as mine was on vacation) I got a call from the PT office. The PT Doc was also on vacation. The gal that called took all the info and was going to relay it back to the PT vet. I haven't heard anything since. I'm thinking I should call again and see if they recommend any massage therapy or anything else for him.
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