Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hey all,
Several of you warned that this could/would happen and alas it did, right on schedule!!! Starting last night he seemed a lot more sleepy than usual. Then he woke up around 2am panting and I had to lay with him and put some heat pads on him and lull him back to sleep. We went to the vet this AM to have his catheter removed and the doc said he didn't feel that Chance was in any extra amount of pain. Did an exam and said he didn't seem reactive in the area.
He is moving soooo much slower today and just seems like his energy is zapped. For those of you who went through this, about how long did it last?
Thanks!
In Eurydice's case, it lasted a couple of days.
I was advised by the onco to just let her rest as much as she wanted and keep a good eye👀
Mans surely enough, she got better. And better. And better.
You're doing great, keep up the good work, you're half way to stitch removal, right?
Semding you a cloud ☁️ Of pawsitive energy and lots of cuddles to your sleepy boy 💤💤💤🐶
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
I meant And surely enough, damn autocorrect 😐
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Good 👍🏼 almost there 😊😘
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Days 5 and 6 were the worst for us. I discovered that it helped to stagger the pain meds. Otis was crashing as the Tramadol wore off. When he got his staples out at day 10, the worst was clearly behind us.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
What is Chance taking for pain? Murphy came home on Tramadol, Rimadyl & Gabapentin. Make sure that you aren't giving everything at the same time, like Christine said, stagger them so that you have more adequate coverage. Most dogs do better once their sutures come out. The hardest part of recovery is about 2 weeks or so.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
midnighter94 said
What is Chance taking for pain? Murphy came home on Tramadol, Rimadyl & Gabapentin. Make sure that you aren't giving everything at the same time, like Christine said, stagger them so that you have more adequate coverage. Most dogs do better once their sutures come out. The hardest part of recovery is about 2 weeks or so.Donna
Hey Donna, He is taking Tramadol, Gabapentin and Metacam -- all staggered since he began.
It's day 6 today and he is still very lethargic and this morning had no appetite for anything except cottage cheese. I talked to the vet again and he seems to think his sudden loss of appetite is unusual. What do you all think? No vomiting or diarrhea. Just lethargy.
We never had a loss of appetite. I wonder if he might be on too much Tramadol - maybe talk with the vet about reducing that dosage? Not all dogs react as well to Tramadol.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
How long has he been on metacam? Has he had it before? Those NSAIDs are known to cause stomach issues including loss of appetite.
The pain meds can cause sedation, especially the gaba. Also new tripawds tend to exhaust themselves about this time in the recovery process. Chance is using his muscles differently and it takes much more effort to get around now. He is using more energy just to balance when he is up.
I would recommend that you only change one med at a time so you can figure out what is causing the lack of apatite.
Karen
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
the weird thing re: the pain meds is that he's been on all three of these for awhile before the operation, to help manage the leg pain he was having. And he never had any side effects with any of them and no loss of appetite. I'm hoping this is just exhaustion from the surgery but am a short car ride away if we need to go in and check any blood or vitals.
Tonight I'm going to make him something extra delicious so if he rejects that, then I know for sure his tummy is not right. I have read on other posts people using anti nausea meds. I know that Cerenia is pretty pricey. What is a good over the counter one people have tried and had success with?
You can give Zantac - Murphy weighs 50 lbs and can take 75mg of Zantac. He gets pretty nauseous with the antibiotics he was taking (drooling, panting).
Murphy really didn't eat much during that first couple of weeks. I cooked some rice and poured chicken broth over it, then added some chunks of chicken to it. He did take his medicine with peanut butter.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
chanceypants said
Tonight I'm going to make him something extra delicious so if he rejects that, then I know for sure his tummy is not right.
Tonight I made boiled ground beef, brown rice and cottage cheese and he gobbled it all up! I'll take the small success right now 
YAAAAAAAAAY!!!! Was gonna chime in and BAM! I saw this great update!!!
So for now, keep in cooking some homemade goodies! Whatever it takes!! 🙂 is he drnking okay??
And around here, a "small" success is a HUGE success!! 🙂
Something that works sometimes is to have someone he likes come over and bring him a cheeseburger! Truly, having visitors sometimes perks them up.
It's stll very early in recovery. Hang in there!!
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!
Sounds like a change in menu did the trick!
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
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