Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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We are 15 days post op with our boxer having had her back left leg removed. We seem to be experiencing the same issues with the sudden crying out in horrible pain, her whole hip looking like it ia cramping and rotating forward, but it only happens at night and didn't start until about day 10. We sooth and massage her and help her through it as best we can. She is fine for the most part during the day, her activity is limited mostly to going to the bathroom and lying in the sun or on the couch. We took her to the vet and he said her symptms are somewhat unique in his experience. She was sent home with some bupamorphine (spelling?) For the first 24 hours and has been on gabapentin and carprofen since surgery as well as tramadol for most of that period too (we took her off for a couple of days but we'e told to put her back on when she went off of her food). I took her to the vet to get her staples removed yesterday and he gave us methocarbamol to give her at night but she is still having episodes. We are just looking for some hope and answers. Is there a timeframe we should be looking to for the episodes to pass or stop being so severe/frequent? Is there anything else we should be doing/trying? Would Ferabloc be an option? Thank you!!!
Hi Tempy's Mom, welcome. I'm sorry to hear about the pain. It's not uncommon for a new Tripawd to experience some level of nerve pain, but it's so important we do something about it right away. Good job taking her to the vet!
I'm curious though, other than the pain medication, did your vet give you a plan for dealing with the pain if the medication didn't work? Like perhaps a referral to a pain management specialist or a canine rehab therapist? If not, please make an appointment with one ASAP. Please don't wait. Any pain medications prescribed should be working by today. If not, there are probably more complicated pain issues than meds alone can help, and that's where rehab therapy comes in. Acupuncture, massage and chiropractic care helps many Tripawds feel better. But first, she needs an evaluation to find out where exactly the pain is coming from.
If you don't know how to find a pain management specialist/rehab therapy expert, let us know where you live approximately and we can try to point you to one. If you live in the states or Canada, The Tripawds Foundation will even pay for your first rehab visit , that's how much we feel that a consultation can help a new Tripawd like yours.
Our own Wyatt Ray takes methocarbamol on a daily basis. It's a muscle relaxer, which has helped him, but it's not the kind of drug that is usually given for such severe episodes. Gabapentin is usually the go-to choice and oftentimes it helps. Is she back on it now?
You asked about Farabloc . Yes, we have found that it's helped many Tripawds with pain management issues. Tomorrow watch for a Tripawds News blog post about it, we just interviewed two people who tell us more about how it works and helps animals.
Here's an article that explains more about post amputation pain.
Post-Surgery Pain in Tripawd Dogs and Cats, Part 1
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Sorry your sweet Tempy is having these issues. I know it's hard to watch and not be able to help.
Take a look at the links phantom limb pain phantom pain and see if this sounds like what's happening. The Gabapentin is usually the best treatment. How much does she weigh and what is his dose?
Can you video the episodes and post them here and show them to the Surgeon?
You say it happens st night. Does she try to lay on the amp side? A dog will delay laying on the amp side of it's still painful.
Someimes...not often...but sometimes a nerve gets jumbled up and the Surgeon has to go back in and fix it.
This will get figured out. Hang in there!
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!
Cora experienced something similar. The gabapentin helped her. We also did some rehab work and stretching helped her as well. This was 5 years ago when she had her amp (wow). She started having pain issues again this winter and learned there is a lot of wiggle room in how much gabapentin a dog can take. So, we increased her dose and it helped a lot.
As far as it mostly happening at night, benny55, had one good thought. I will throw in another. Please note, I'm not a veterinarian, and am theorizing based on my observation and some reading. The brain does strange things at night. For example, epileptic dogs often have more seizures at night/when sleeping. Restless leg syndrome in humans gets worse at night, and for a number of humans, so does phantom pain . There's at least one study, in humans, about the link between phantom pain and restless leg syndrome.
Fifteen days is still really early. Things should keep improving. Hang in there.
Topher
Vet Assistant (in school to be a licensed vet technician)
1.5 years Oncology department, moved to rehab & sportsmed December 2024
Tripawd Angel, Cora the Determined <3
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