Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Chisum is a little extra whiney, he has been for a couple hours. I think he may have a belly ache and need to 💩.. but that #2 business hasn’t been taken care of yet. He knows the potty word, pee, and poop.. we have a joke in the house about him “doing business” “being a businessman” and “1st or 2nd order of business” because he knows all the P words lol! I asked him if he needed to poop and he hopped right up but when we are outside it doesn’t seem like he can figure out what’s going on. I read one of the start pages and remember it saying when they have to go they’ll figure it out. But of course I’m worried.
He has been eating lots of small goodies and has eaten about 2 half meals. Is there anything that helps get things moving a little smoother? Maybe a specific food to help it come out, or a way to help hold him to squat? Or am I overthinking this?
Chisum’s other momma asked if there is anything we can do to help relieve the itchy shaved area where his hair is starting to grow back. He keeps popping up every now and then staring at his booty like a bug bit him, and if we gently rub it he calms down and gets smiley cause it feels good.
Aww poor Mr. Businessman! THAT is so dang cute! 
Glad he had another pee! Sounds like you are supporting him exactly right.
Is there anything that helps get things moving a little smoother? Maybe a specific food to help it come out, or a way to help hold him to squat? Or am I overthinking this?
Not overthinking it at all. Yes there is lots you can do. Try giving him some steamed squash, canned pumpkin pulp (not pie filling), sweet potatoes, olive oil, even some metamucil flakes (not too much) sprinkled on whatever he will eat. We've seen some dogs go up to 5 days without pooping but as you can imagine, it's not comfortable. Also keeping him hydrated helps too. Have you tried spiking his water with some no-salt chicken or beef broth? Tuna water is an option too! If none of those work this weekend, you can also try taking a baby wipe and with a gloved hand very, very gently wiping around his bum while he's in his potty spot, to stimulate poop to flow. We had to do that with Wyatt Ray later in life and as icky as it was, it worked.
We DO appreciate the updates! Let us know how your sweet boy is doing!
Yes, my little businessman 🥰 2nd order has not happened yet. We thought he was going to earlier cause he got up, ALL by himself (we celebrated this one too!), and hauled his little booty to the front door. Turns out he heard the mailman 😂 but we still took a short walk around the yard hopeful for some business, but the deal didn’t go through haha
We have some pumpkin pulp on the way to the house now! I’d hate for him to go so long without pooping with how well he is eating, I can only imagine how uncomfy that is. He’s doing well drinking water so far, obviously not as much as normal but he is drinking, I may try that spiking method but he is very picky about his water.
We wiped his booty with a wet paper towel earlier today because he was wanting to clean it. Yes, it’s icky but I felt bad for the poor guy! We will definitely try this trick while outside and see what we get.
Any recommendations on assisting with… the stance for 💩 ? (Can’t think of another word 😂) I don’t want to inhibit the process by trying to do too much for him but I know it’s a balance adjustment from before.
Aww I hope the pulp helps. Sorry for the false alarm but I'm sure it will happen this weekend. Your neighbors will get a good laugh when they see you cheering over the 
I don't think you'll need to worry about the poop stance. This is how Wyatt pooped on 3.
That picture is so helpful! Hard to imagine in your head how it will work lol!
He ate a spoonful of pulp and we had a couple stinky moments from the rear. Tried the wet paper towel on the booty outside, but no lucky yet. I think we are closer now though!
He is crying a lot today, I think the meds from surgery are finally wearing off cause he is definitely more aware. I am worried he is in pain with the constant crying but I can’t tell if it is the pain, or because his belly hurts, or he’s still a little off from the current pain meds. Maybe a mixture of all of them?
Oh I'm glad it helped! Yes, whether a dog is a front or rear legger, they shift their legs around to help them get into position. It's instinctive and so amazing to watch lol!
Hopefully by the time you read this the stinky moments will turn into business 😉
If he is crying a lot, yes, it could be from everything he's dealing with. Not vet advice, but you may need to adjust the timing of his gabapentin. Maybe it's not lasting through to the next dose. If so, consider giving it a bit early to make sure you stay ahead of the pain. Once it gets ahead of the medication, it takes twice as long to bring it down.
Animal resilience and ability to adapt is insane, I love it! It’s inspiring to see.
no luck on the 2nd order of business yet. Still some stinky moments and heard some gurgling in his belly, so crossing fingers it happens tonight.
Good news on the 1st order of business, Chisum had his first solo pee! 🥳 He hopped up and took me to the door quickly and by the time I had his leash and collar on he wanted out the door. So I grabbed his towel sling and by the time I was able to get it around him he was already peeing!
I think he may be building a tolerance to the gaba for sure, I gave it a little early this afternoon and I think it finally kicked in full swing a little while ago. I went ahead and gave him his evening dose a little early and going to try to space out the gaba and the carprofen so they work together throughout the day instead of at the same time! Thanks for that advice, I was hoping it wasn’t the wrong thing to do earlier but my gut said my boy needed it! 🥰
We had the smallest little 💩 nugget!! 🎉 we celebrate even though I wish it would have been more, but he beelined it straight to the door after! Might have woke up the neighbors with our little pawty on the front lawn hollering about how good of a business man he was! At least he knows his stance if anything for the next round.
Still whiney, but giving he next gaba soon. Does carprofen make them whiney, too? This is the first time he’s had it.
I read somewhere on a forum or one of the top pages about a crash a few days after the surgery. What does this crash look like? I’m pretty sure we are in the middle of it 😔 chisum has been restless, can’t seem to get comfy, doesn’t sleep for very long. I think the anesthesia wore all the way off and maybe the fentanyl patch is on the outs? We started giving gabapentin about an hour or so earlier than normal to try and keep it strong in his system.. so between 6.5-7 hours instead of 8 hours. And instead of giving carprofen around the same time as gaba we are giving it a few hours after so he has a more constant flow.. or at least that’s how it works in my head.
Obviously it’s the weekend, and he goes to see the vet tomorrow to remove the fentanyl patch.. so I can go with more questions. I’m just a worry wart and hate to see him not resting right now.
No more 💩 yet, but we had another good pee. He’s taken us to the door and gone out a couple times but no business was completed. I read they shouldn’t be too active so I try not to take him out too much but I think some of the whining is because of the lack of the full belly and no poop yet.
Chisum's back in business! Well, part time anyways. That's great news. I'll bet another meeting isn't too far behind the first one.
Staggering the medication can certainly be helpful, your GSD mama instinct is spot on. It sounds like staggering helped a little bit but if he is still restless today he can probably use additional pain management . If your vet can give you Gabapentin in 100mg capsules today or tomorrow at latest, you can add it to the 300mg so that he gets additional relief. Or, adding something like Amantadine at night can also help. And no, carprophen shouldn't cause anxiety. As for the Fentanyl, that's only good for 72 hours so it's long out of his system.
Is he good about letting you ice around the incision area? That might feel good to him. Some dogs allow it, some don't. Just a few minutes, no more than 10, with a towel between skin and ice pack, sometimes does the trick.
And you're doing great by minimizing his activity right now. Bare minimum potty walks are all he should be doing. Good job! 
Chisum is FULLY back in business now! He had a big 2nd order business meeting this morning and was a little more relaxed after. He has since started getting restless and whiney again. I will let the vet know tomorrow when he is seen to get the fentanyl patch off, they did say it was a time release patch that was supposed to last 4 days. I feel like it it already worn off for sure, some of the patch wasn’t in very good contact with the skin even though it was stapled on. They said I could get a sedative if needed before the weekend.. but he was still pretty loopy Friday so I didn’t get it. Kicking myself now!
Sometimes he has let me ice his legs after surgery, so i can always give that a shot.
thank you for your continued support
Mr. Businessman you are back in the biz! YEAH!!!!
Poor guy, I feel bad he's hurting. Hopefully the new staggered pain meds schedule will kick in soon. Meanwhile try the icing and see if that helps. And don't beat yourself up, this is a ride that nobody expects to be on. You are doing your best and it shows.
Let us know what the vet says OK?
Yes, my little businessman 🥰
We did some icing earlier and he tolerated it, I think it helped for sure. We skipped his carprofen this evening To see if it helped him rest, so far this is the longest he has stayed quiet and able to rest. I’m wondering if he is having a reaction to the carprofen that isn’t typical. I’ll ask the vet tomorrow!
We will definitely keep y’all in the loop, tripawds community is a part of his story now ❤️ we love all of you and your support is priceless!
Mr Businessman you are back in the
Really Jerry? biz? Perfect!!!👏
I know you and Chisum both feel better😎
Jerry gave good suggestions about the pain meds and maybe adding the Amantadine. Once the patch is off, you may find him to settle a bit with that completely oit of his system.. Also with that being stapled on, as well the incision stitches bugging him, that could cause some restlessness.
Although I can't remember the dose amount and frequency of happy Hannah's pain meds,it took some tweaking before some of her restlessness and whining subsided.
While I know this recovery seems like it's been going on furever, it hasn't even been a week yet! Still very early on. It is MAJOR surgery and Chisum seems to be having a fairly"normal " recover
Remember to stay strong, upbeat and confident around Chisum. He'll like that kind of reassuring energy. 😎
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!
He has been sleeping and very quiet this afternoon and evening since his last gaba dose, we did skip the carprofen tonight and most likely will tomorrow morning and ask the vet lots of questions about it!
I do think the staples from the patch are bugging him today, I actually put some ice over it for about a minute to see if it helped and he leaned right into it the poor guy!
If y’all could have been a fly on the wall during those successful business trips today.. my goodness the celebrations we had for him. He even started head tilting and smiling ☺️
It does feel quite long, I got my days mixed up today at one point LOL we are getting back in the swing of things though
one question! Is it okay for him to lay on the surgery side? A couple separate time today he switched to laying on that side for a couple minutes and we weren’t sure if that was okay. He didn’t stay long, I think just giving the other leg a break.. maybe a little stuff from laying on that side constantly?
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