Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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First off, thank you for this community. The research I've done mostly comes from this site and we are very grateful.
A bit of background on Herman. He is an 8 month old Chihuahua/Pug mix who shattered his front left leg last Saturday. The first few days he was great, sometimes even playful biting and snuggling like he used to. Yesterday (3rd day after his surgery) he started shaking and hiding from us and will only come out for treats or if he wants to go for a short walk, he sleeps with us nightly and since he was hiding we thought about leaving him in his hiding spot but shrieked as if in pain when we tried to shut our door for the night. This morning (4th day) we let him out of bed to use bathroom and he went right back to hiding. When my girlfriend left for work she went to put on his cone, he shrieked again. Mainly we are just concerned about the little guy and are looking for some guidance.
Any helpful suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
Thank you,
David
Hi David, welcome to Tripawds, the club nobody wants to join!
I'm so sorry to hear about Herman. How did he break his leg?
My first question is, what kind of pain meds is he on? Anything? To me this sounds like pain symptoms. Many dogs will crash and burn a few days after coming home from surgery high as a kite from pain meds & anesthesia. It's as if all the activity and feelings of being invincible have caught up with them. So this isn't too unusual but it's a good idea to let your vet know what's going on.
Dogs and cats often hide and want to be alone when they're healing. Sounds like Herman wants down time and also could use some good drugs to keep him calm and pain-free. It's a great sign that he got up to use the bathroom though! Is he eating?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
He broke his leg in an unfortunate leaping accident. He was being shown where to use the potty pad in my parents house while we were at a wedding and he leapt right out of my sister's arms and landed wrongly on his leg and broke both bones right above the elbow.
He is currently on 2 pain meds and one antibiotic. Meloxicam, Butorphanol are the two pain meds that he is on. I did talk to the vet last night and they were mainly concerned about infection and to make sure he was eating. It was just like a switch flipped, he was literally hopping the next morning to get from his bathroom to his food and water. We were just concerned that maybe he was having some other issues, maybe psychological, because he yelps when he thinks that he is alone and it breaks our hearts to have to leave for work in the morning.
In terms of eating, his appetite isn't the same, but I heard that was pretty normal while he is getting over the pain. So we decided to give him wet dog food leftover from when he was teething, which he seems to enjoy a bit more and is more willing to eat because of it.
I'm sorry to hear about Herman's accident. One of my pugs is known as the 'Flying Walenda' because she would always try and jump from your arms if you didn't hold on tight. She finally learned that being held is not a bad thing, but it took until she was about 12 years old.
Sounds kind of like pain to me also. Meloxicam is an anti-inflam that will relieve pain by reducing swelling but isn't that strong. Butorphanol isn't the strongest either I don't think- I haven't seen it prescribed for dogs here very often for pain. Is the vet using that combo because Herman is so young?
Unfortunately, the signs of too much pain medication are sometimes like pain- its a tough balancing act. When Tri-pug Maggie had her amp she was on a Fentanly patch, plus tramadol, plus and anti-inflam plus and anti-biotic. Same when quad pug-Obie had knee surgery. I think it is worth a talk with your vet- you definitely want to stay away from infection, but amputation is a big surgery and most dogs need strong pain meds to get through recovery.
Did he show any of the behavior your are talking about before the surgery? Has he ever worn a cone before? It's hard to tell from your avatar- does he have a short pug face? You might be able to use one of those inflatable cones- Obie was much more comfortable in that than the traditional lamp shade.
I hope Herman feels better soon.
Karen and Spirit Maggie
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hmmmm... according to Veterinary Partner, Butorphanol is a very short-lived pain medication. I would ask for something longer-lasting like Gabapentin or Tramadol. Let them know about his symptoms, sure seems to me like he's hurting. Xanax (the dog version) is also helpful to keep him calm while you're away.
Sorry to hear about the accident, that is scary but I'm glad he'll be OK. You're definitely on the right path with the wet food, whatever rocks his world right now, go for it.
Hang in there.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
From what the vet told me they are concerned that since he is so small giving him something stronger could be bad. He is barely 4 lbs soaking wet, so I just went with it. I just got home from work and he seems a whole lot better than this morning and last night. He even went so far as his usual door greeting and patented ear canal lick. He has the pug coloring and the pug face (minus the breathing issues) and the super curly tail.
We will continue monitoring him and if he is still hiding from tomorrow morning, I'll make a trip to the vet and see if there is something stronger for him pain med wise and see how that goes. It's too bad I can't upload the video my brother took of him the 2nd day after surgery hopping around our living room, you guys would get a good sense of why we love Herman so much.
Hi David
Just chiming in with all the others to say it sounds like pain to me - but I make this comment only through what I observed after my lab's amputation - not with the expertise that a vet has.
Herman is a tiny guy - in fact the leg that Tuck lost during his surgery weighed more than Herman does - and he was on Metacam, Tramadol and an antibiotic when he came home from the clinic. The tramadol was stopped when Tuck's sutures were removed at the two week mark.
Good Luck with your little guy - his avatar pic is very cute. My granddog, Oliver, is a pug so I can understand how loving they are.
Hugs
Linda and Tucker
I've run into the size issues too, although my pugs are giants compared to Herman!
The pugs have always been on 1/4 of a 50 mg tram two to three times a day, I don't think you could cut it up any smaller than that, and I don't know if tram comes in smaller than 50 mg tabs.
For future reference- my old girl is on gabapentin for arthritis pain, and neither the vet or I could find gaba in a small enough pill for her to take. We get it compounded into liquid form by Roadrunner Pharmacy, my vet sends them the prescription and they mail the liquid to me. If you ever need meds for little Herman keep that in mind.
It's wonderful that he seems to be doing better. We often see that in young pups, they seem to recover and adapt pretty quick.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Thanks for all of the advice and support for Herman.
Yesterday was a great day for him, he started to act almost completely normal for the first time in a few days. We believe that the prospect of putting his cone on gives him some serious anxiety because it usually means that we are leaving him alone for a while. We've been monitoring him and he doesn't try to get at his staples when the cone isn't on so we are going to take a slight risk and not have him wear it for the few hours a day when he is alone. Thanks for the information regarding liquid medication, we will definitely keep that in mind if he takes a turn for the worse or, heaven forbid, another problem arises. We are truly grateful for this community and I look forward to contributing with our story.
Gosh! just catching up on everuthing!
You've already gotten great advice! I'm so glad Herman is feeling better. Yeah, it is major surgery and he must ake it easy...I kow that's hard to maake a pupy not do too mich running around though!
Glad you got the pug ear canal lick as a sign that things are returning to normal! He still mayhave some ups and downs, but sounds like he's well on the road to recovery!
Hugs to all! Can't wait to see pics of this cutie!
Sally and Happy Hannah
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!
Wow I'm so grateful for the folks here who have smaller pups, I know nothing about giving medication that's anything smaller than a horse pill! I can see why Herman has to be super careful with the meds. Thanks all for chiming in.
I'm glad Herman is feeling better. He's definitely smart enough to put two and two together and realize the cone means "home alone" so yeah, see how it goes. I hope the good healing continues, keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Most medications can be obtained in a liquid form from a compounding pharmacy. Tramadol is definitely one of those meds as I order it frequently for work 
If you ever have trouble giving a pill ask about liquid- it can be expensive but worth it sometimes.
Mandy and Mav
Maverick is a wonderful miniature australian shepard born with a malformation of the front right radius/ulna, amputation performed on 11/4/13 at 6 months old. Follow his story at mavericksjourney.tripawds.com.
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