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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Woohoo! I'm so happy to see surgery is behind you and LD! And with a vet team like his recovery will be much easier thank without such great peeps looking out for him.
Saw your PM will reply in the AM. Thanks! I
So glad to hear that Lucky Dude came through surgery and is starting his recovery. I am glad everyone jumped in to help give advice. Keep us informed of how he is doing. Also glad you have a great vet team and you were aware of his reaction to give them a heads up 🙂
Lucky will do great.
Michelle & Angels Sassy, Bosch, Baby Simba and Sweet Snickers
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Lucky Update: We are home now and doing super so far! Lucky Dude has his own special corner of the living room right by mom and dad’ s work space. He is a little groggy ( not groggy enough to still stand up on 2 legs for a treat, though;) and a little wobbly for potty time but nothing we didn’t expect. I made a small sling from a pillow case that works as a “just in case” ( no pun intended or maybe it is lol, ) so when we do go out to do our business he doesn’t do a face plant while he gets used to his new normal balance. He is sure happy to be home and loves giving kisses to let us know. He is really pretty happy and just chilling. The other dogs were mildly curious but for the most part are separated and cool with that. I anticipate dinner time will bring its own challenges as Lucky still does get up and get excited when he hears a food bag open 😉
I will send some pics and update along the way. Thanks to everyone here for all the support! Priceless 🙂
Love,
Kim and Lucky Dude <3
I made a small sling from a pillow case that works as a “just in case
😂🤣Keeping a sense of humor on this journey is a must for keeping uour sanity😂🤣
So glad to hear Licky Dude is doing so well this early on. Just chilling and resting is exactly what he needs now. Sometimes, not always, but sometimes there can be a bit of a crash once the hospital meds are out of their systems.
Stay connected and keep is updated, okay?
Higs
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!
Day 2 and Lucky is doing about as well as can be expected. ( what that is is probably different for everyone and fur kid) one thing that I didn’t expect really was the size of the incision being big enough that he could reach a small part of it to lick! I bring this up because with a front leg amputation we didn’t think we would need the cone…Well, here’s about how that went:
Noticed Lucky could reach part of it, put a t-shirt on him…
Lucky : “ I don’t like t-shirt at all” Mom puts cone on… Mom: “ would you rather have cone?” Lucky glares, won’t move. Mom waits, takes cone off, puts t-shirt back on. Mom : “ cone or t-shirt?” …..Lucky: “ ok, yes to the t-shirt! “ and relaxes and lays down.
I did purchase a great dog t-shirt that is soft, breathable and washable ( found one on Amazon by searching shirts for surgery recovery) it also seems to help him relax a little, too. 😉
He is also starting to get a little more comfortable with his balance, being able to potty all by himself mom is there to support him if needed of course. And he is a great little trooper! Tomorrow the “ nerve block” for pain will wear off and I am sure we will have a new set of unknowns and challenge’s which we will face with a bright attitude and lots of love.
Thanks everyone for the continued support.
being able to potty all by himself
SPECTACULAR !!👏👏👏👏
Glad you were able to have a "conversation" with Lucky where he decided to tolerate the shirt.😎
What pain meds did they give you? Usually it's Buprenorphine maybe with Gabapentin. . What dose frequency did the Vet suggest?
Thanks for the update..it's a good one!
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!
Lucky is not quite 7lbs, so he’s small 😉 He also has a bad reaction to some anesthesia and opiates ( this I had noticed, and anyone may with neutering, teeth cleaning etc) I think I mentioned that. Soo….tramadol buprenorphine and others were a no go for us, thankfully the vet team knew this ahead of time.
To answer your question: Lucky has Rimadyl for pain, 25mg 1/4 tablet every 12 hours ( based on his size) and gabapentin as needed 8 hours 50mg 1/2-1 tablet.
since surgery I have not had to give him the gabapentin yet. ( he was taking it prior to surgery though)
he also has a sedative ( actually one anti anxiety, one that is a true sedative for if he starts to get to active too soon. We haven’t got that far yet though.
Hope that answers your question and I will continue to give updates 🙂 Thanks again for everything!
Lucky may seem to have a unique situation with his tolerance or lack thereof, but that’s just my experience. I have 4 dogs and no other one has this kind of thing.
Hugs!
Kim and Lucky
Sounds like things are going well so far! Don't be afraid to use the Gabapentin- in my opinion an anti inflammatory like rimadyl is not enough after amputation. And since he was taking it before surgery you know how he acts on it.
I got this soft collar for my 15 pound Pug mix after her spay surgery: soft cone
Callie wore a medium so maybe the small would fit Lucky...if you need it and can get it in time. Callie liked this option the best- in fact it never seemed to bother her at all. She didn't like the cone and hated the surgery recovery suit.
Keep up the good healing!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Love that convo you had with him! 😂 Yep dogs can be super sneaky with getting around the cone. Let us know how the shirt works out.
If it's ok with your vet I agree with Karen that it's good to restart the Gaba before the 3-day wears off. Making sure pain doesn't spiral out of control is one of the biggest challenges of recovery, it's so much harder to bring down once it escalates.
Thanks everyone for the continued support!
Lucky day 3 update: he is doing well even after the “ local block” wore off. ( Nocita is what it’s called if anyone is wondering, I will spare you the long definition)
He is pretty “ happy go lucky”yes, pun intended. He did his potty on his own, although #2 we don’t know, he might have some constipation or just a little fear and anxiety about exactly how to do it. His pain level does seem to be managed well so far, although I will keep monitoring him and give him gabapentin if needed. ( he’s pretty good at expressing himself when he’s uncomfortable, not always but most of the time)
he is a little more alert, even sitting in a familiar position where he would have his front legs crossed…now it’s one front leg and the hind leg, very cute. This is where the orthopedic bed /couch has really helped. He is learning quickly how to rearrange himself to be comfortable…walking in circles on his bed, then putting his head kinda down and using his remaining leg to slowly ease himself down ( hard to explain but he’s getting it)
The t-shirt is great to protect the incision from licking but! I do take it off for a bit because I notice he tries to shake ( like the wet dog after a bath shake) so when he does, I take it off and use a super soft baby brush to help him with the “ itchies” and to just make him comfortable plus remove excess hair etc.
as far as other dogs, I still have him separated but they get a little visit when they are curious.
thanks again everyone! I can’t express how wonderful you all have been as we continue on our journey.
Quick update this evening: Lucky did seem to be in more discomfort, he’s very stoic so he doesn’t always let you know. Thank you to the folks here for the advice on “ not being afraid to give him the gabapentin” . He is doing great still but I did notice his shaking a little bit (a sign of pain ) and generally not really seeming quite comfortable although he will move around etc. so. I gave him the gabapentin because it can only help not hurt him.
so glad I found this community!
I gave him the gabapentin because it can only help not hurt
Good for you for recognizing he was showing you pain signs. You were able to do what needed to be done with the Gaba to get him comfortable again.
Because Lucky is so stoic it's easy to forget he just had MAJOR that needs good pain management . For now, ,give him the Gaba on a conn6 basis as it's harder mto stop the pain once it's had a chance to get ahead start..
So delighted to hear how well he's figuring things out. It cert helps to have such a good caregiver like yourself.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Not much help on how to get him to poop. Keep him hydrated and maybe a little bit of natural pumpkin....check with Vet though.
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!
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