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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
Hi Heather! We're so glad you are headed to CSU and know you will be impressed. They are so wonderful. For a preview, check out our blog article about the Lucy Oncology Clinic:
Lucy Leaves a Legacy at One of the Best Vet Cancer Clinics in the World
Also, be sure to compare the questions you've jotted down next to these:
Questions to Ask Your Veterinary Oncologist
Try to take things one day at a time. Once you help Gladys' get rid of that awful pain (which unfortunately, even the strongest narcotics eventually cannot do much about), you will see that everything else is icing on the cake! Learn to Be More Dog and you can get through this together and have a great, happy life on three.
Keep us posted on how the appointment goes, and let the CSU folks know that Tripawds says hello.
P.S. Did you have trouble logging into your account? Let us know OK? We're here to help.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Right now your head is spinning with so many unknowns and so many uncertainties, of course you are nervous and scared! We've all been in similar situations on this crazy journey!
All this will subside after your consultation . Once you get some answers, you will be able to move forward more confidently .
We'll be "with you"...well...sort of! We'll be surrounding you with our love and never ending support.
Oh, and a suggestion . maybe video or record the consultation. No matter how good my notes were, I still was only "half present " during the stress of all these things.
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!
Sally that is such a great idea to record the conversation! I have a "tape recorder" (remember those?) app on my phone that I use for interviews, what a smart thing to do when you're trying to absorb information at a medical appointment! I'll have to remember that when we update Three Legs & a Spare!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hello Everyone, It has been a very stressful last few days. Our appointment went well on Thursday, all of Gladys’ tests came back great, her bone looked good on the x-rays. She did have to be sedated for them, and also had her first infusion of zoledronic acid. They also sent us home with Gabapentin, to add into her pain med routine, which I was worried about as my male Newfoundland, Olaf, had some horrible reactions to Gabapentin. I started giving it to her on Saturday, just twice a day, and she was fine over the weekend. Monday morning, I am not sure if she tweaked herself or what, but she was limping worse, crying out in pain and completely agitated. On the Gabapentin label it said that I could give it up to three times a day, so I gave her three doses and then she was so lethargic, that I could not even get her to go potty. Has anyone had any experiences like this? She is still not herself, I have stopped the Gabapentin and she is a little more alert, but I feel like she might have some gastro issues such as excess stomach acid or mucus making it hard for her to swallow her food and water comfortably. I am absolutely beside myself right now. Does anyone have any insight?
Hi Gladys’s family,
Our dog Pee Wee (62 lbs for reference) was prescribed 300mg of Gabapentin every 8-12 hours after her splenectomy in August and she become severely ataxic (stumbling, unable to stand on her own, or roll herself over to shift positions while sleeping without assistance). It was absolutely terrifying to see her like this. We recently restarted her on Gabapentin but started at 100mg every 8-12 hours and titrated up slowly over about two weeks to 300mg and she hasn't had any problems. I’m not a vet but my guess is that your sweet pup may just be sensitive to Gabapentin like our dog and might need to start with a lower dose and then very slowly uptitrate to the desired dose.
Best wishes,
Heather, Paul, and Pee Wee
Glad all her tests came back looking good and you got the treatment started.
I would check in with the Onco about best way to get her newest bout of pain managed. She needs some form of meds consistently . Not a Bet, but because she handled the dose of Gaba twice a day well, I would not think that would be an issue woth a dog that size.
Heather gave some good insight into what worked for PeeWee
So yeah, check with a Vet, especially avout the new pain/limping in that leg. Not trying to alarm you at all, but fractures are always a concern with osteo, so we always advise to get any sudden pain like that checked out. Most likely she did jist tweak it and needs some form of consistent pain meds. You can ask avput codeine , or armandtine (okay...I screwed the name up badly....hopefully someone will come along and give You the right name).
You can also ask the Vet if the injection has any side effects like you are describing .
Keep us posted. Hang in there. You'll get this figured out!
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!
hls0303 said
I’m not a vet but my guess is that your sweet pup may just be sensitive to Gabapentin like our dog and might need to start with a lower dose and then very slowly uptitrate to the desired dose.
Perfect feedback! This is exactly what Dr. Petty advises in Dr. Petty's Pan Management for Dogs. You can also read more about Gabapentin here.
Hope she is feeling better by now! Don't ever hesitate to call CSU for situations that make you nervous, they are really great about being responsive to phone calls.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
WORRIED!!!!!
Hello Everyone, we are on our way to get Gladys from CSU, she had her CT Scan today and they found some nodules in her lungs and her lymph nodes and were going to be biopsying a lump they found under her skin, to see what type of cancer we are truly dealing with. We are extremely distraught and I am wondering if any of you have dealt with this?? Thank you.
Try not to panic until you know exactly what you're dealing with. Precautions like this are necessary to make sure that treatment will be effective. Sometimes the nodules turn out to be not what the oncos thought they were, and everything proceeds. Each case is different, remember Gladys is her own dog OK?
We're sending lots of pawsitivity. Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I second that. The diagnosis and treatment decision phase have as many, if not more, ups and downs than anything that comes later. It is good your doctors are being thorough. Sometimes what they think from a scan isn’t what it ends up being, which is why it is so helpful if you have the time to be through and really identify what Gladys is dealing with. We all jump to the worst case scenario, or cling to the best case scenario, but the truth is that every dog is different. I know it is impossible to turn off your brain! That’s what makes you such a caring mom to Gladys. You will find the right path forward for you both.
For what it is worth, my Irish setter was 10.5 at the time of amputation. He turned 11 on Thanksgiving, and this morning was chasing a Great Dane puppy twice his size away from a ball at the dog park! I don’t know how long I’ll have with him, but I am glad I focused on how much joy and energy he had in his life every day when I made my decision to amputate, rather than on his age and those who said he was old and it may not be worth it. You may decide amputation isn’t right for Gladys, and that’s ok- just focus on her and what you feel. It’s hard when doctors are sharing stats and averages, but remember to keep her and who she is ventral in your mind! It takes millions of dogs to get to that one average.
1 Guest(s)
