Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Best wishes to Brenda, hope it all goes well for her.
Bruno has been up since 3am fidgeting and eventually got completely off of his bed but he doesn't seem to be in pain, I think that he just couldn't sleep any more as he has probably slept 40 of the past 48 hours.
He has just eaten and taken his morning meds and I tried to get him up to go outside for a potty attempt but was only able to have him standing for a bit with a towel sling to assist. He stood bearing almost all of his weight for maybe 30 seconds but would not make any hops even with my coaxing and taking up much of his weight with the towel.
It seems like others have had their tripawds up and hopping by this point post amp so I am a bit worried but will try again as the morning goes on.
It can take some of the larger dogs a bit more time. Is he peeing? If so, I wouldn't worry just yet about movement. And remember, most of our dogs stayed overnight at the vet, so our first day home was day 2 or 3, not day 1!
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.
TRY not to comlare your Bruno with other recoveries. Not only is every dog different and every recovery is different, but you are reading about dogs here who were maybe standing, or even hopping, but that was AFTER being jn the hospital for one or two nights. What you are seeing is perfectly "normal". Keep in mind, most Surgeons here keep the dogs for 24 to 48 hrs. When they pick the dogs up, the anesthesia has already stopped showing most of the "symptons" of withdrawal.
Even though my Hzrppy Hannah spent the first night at the hospital, she was whiny and restless and uncomfortable for the first several nights at home.
As Christine (Otis) noted, larger dogs generally take a bit longer to get their "sea legs". Happy Hannah would just freeze up when I tried to use a towel sling to help her.
You most likely will see some willingness to stand in a other 24'to 48 hrs. Some dogs just pee in the bed the first night or so as they are still pretty drugged up.
I KNOW this is hard to watch and it's reallu, really hard to be patient.
Right now you are seeing Bruno shake off the anesthesia
Many dogs don't eat at all the first two, three days. So Bruno is ahead of the curve there!
If you can, try and get him to drink some water. That may help with the pee. Poop may take a few days.
Mobiliw WILL happen! This is MAJOR surgery and he's pretty doped up and woozy right now.
STAY CONNECTED and continue to update when you catch your breath. Everything sounds very "normal" so far!
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 is drinking lots of water and eating very well but has not been to pee yet. He did have a big bowel movement and lots of pee right before the surgery just over 48 hours ago so by my calculations he must be due to pee quite soon which is why I was hoping to get him out on the balcony this morning before the sun is out in full swing so that he could have a change of scenery, enjoy the sea breeze and pee if he needed to but that 20 foot walk to the balcony seems so long right now.
Will keep trying to get him outside this morning. He keeps giving me that look like he wants to go out so I am sure that we will get mobile soon.
YAAAAAAAAAY FOR 
An YAAAAAAAAAY FOR EATING AND DRINKING!! 🙂 🙂
Okay now, he does need to pee!! I'm thinking you meant 24 hrs as opposed to 48?? Maybe? 24 hrs he still NEEDS to PEE!
There is actually a video on the site that will show you how to express his bladder. If you are unable to do it, I'm afraid it might mean a trip the Vet. Is it possible at all to carry him out to wherever his "usual" pee spot is? Maybe carry him on a blanket??
You are doing a really, really good job!! Bringing dogs home the same dsy of surgery and handling it as well as you are is quite exceptional!! Good job!!
Okay Bruno, we're waiting to do the happy pee dance! 🙂 🙂
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!
No I meant 48 hours. He actually had his last pee and poop 51 hours ago. It was a huge one so fortunately he started out completely empty as it were.
He normally goes out for potty in the morning and again in the evening. Since the oncologist put him on Tramadol 3 weeks ago he pees twice a day but only poops once a day and most recently once every day and a half.
That also coincides with me reducing his food intake by 25-35% in an attempt to get him to lose a bit of weight as he was gaining quite a bit due to eating the same as always but not getting his usual level of exercise due to his lameness from the CSA so I figured it was also a question of volume of food going in equals less to come out.
Unfortunately because we live in a penthouse condo his usual spots are down the lift and then down the 7 steps by the front door and into the neighborhood street around back of our building which definitely isn't practical right now. I tried to get him to start using the balcony grass patch in anticipation of the amputation but he never showed any interest.
He is sleeping and snoring away now after his breakfast and morning meds so I will wait until he is up again and then will try to get him to walk out on the balcony for a pee and if he still doesn't walk I guess that I can try removing all the yoga mats and sliding him on the blanket to the balcony door and then lifting him out. In the mean time I will look for that video in case I need to express his bladder.
I don't think that the lack of peeing is physiological, knowing him I think that he is just holding it like he does for days during rainy weather.
BTW this big boy is absolutely terrified by thunder and hates the rain because he knows it usually means thunder will follow so he regularly sits out the monsoon weather here for 2 days or more without going potty and never has indoor accidents during that time so his plumbing clearly has strong valves.
BOB! Here's the link to the thread that has the video in it!
http://tripawds.....eosarcoma/
I love learning more avout Brunp! Yes, he has quite a set of valves! 🙂
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!
First, I am amazed that he handles the wet by just holding it! I am wondering, however, if location is holding him back now. Do you think he might go if you put newspapers down on the patio? And is he a leg lifter? I let Otis lean on/pee on the house the first couple of times until he got his balance. Yes, that is even grosser if Bruno has to lean/pee on the patio wall, but the logistics might be holding him back. And f the weather is ok today, maybe move him and his bed out on the patio when he wakes up? And we did have a member in India who put his lab in a human wheelchair to go down the lift and to the outdoors pee spot. At 100 pounds, that would be a challenge, but maybe? If you can, you might want to call the vet too.
I wouldn't worry about poop. The meds do cause constipation for many dogs - if he has gone once already, you are ahead of the game.
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.
He has not peed or pooped at all post operative so I think he should at least pee by now.
I have just watched a bunch of youtube videos on expressing a dog's bladder and made 3 attempts without so much as a single drop so not sure if it is poor technique or his bladder just isn't full enough. He can't stand yet so I have to do it with him laying on his side and he has such a big belly that even two handed it is difficult to isolate the bladder which is barely discernible as it is not full at all. I don't know where all the water that he has been drinking has gone but it has not collected in his bladder so I guess that I will wait until this evening when the sun is no longer on the balcony and try again to get him out there and if I still cannot manage that then I will try to express again. Until then he keeps drinking every time I offer it.
In the mean time the other item on the agenda for today is changing his wound dressing for the first time and working with the active drain which so far has almost nothing in the tube so I don't know if that means that it is blocked or if there actually is no drainage from the wound. The surgeon said that I can try to push a small amount of air up the drain tube with the syringe to see if it is blocked and if not maybe gently massaging the area to move any fluid into the drain.
I will let both of us relax for a while after that last activity and maybe I can even manage to have a sandwich or something for lunch and will attack the dressing in a couple hours. Next post will most likely have pics of the incision so beware they may be gruesome but hopefully not.
Can you call the vet on the no pee issue? Some members have had to go in for lack of pee, and I cannot believe that he doesn't have to go, especially if he is drinking.
We didn't have a tube, so I am not sure if the no drainage is a problem, but I do seem to remember other members having to do something with the tube from time to time.
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.
It took 3 hours but I managed to change the wound dressing, sort out the drain and got him out of the balcony now.
Unwrapping the hospital's compression bandage was not easy and this is what was under it. In hindsight I should have just cut it off but I was not sure where the drain line was tucked away in there.
The drain had malfunctioned because the plunger had separated leaving no suction on the drain. I replaced it with the spare syringe that they gave me and pulled out 5ml of fluid and then created the suction again and left it while I did the bandage and there is another 5ml in there now. I will empty it tonight and leave it suctioning overnight again.
Here is the incision. It is definitely substantial but seems to be healing perfectly.
All cleaned up and with a new dressing now. Also managed to keep his chest off the ground using two cushions and wrapped a new compression bandage. Bruno was a rock star throughout the process but next time I change the dressing I most likely won't do the compression bandage again.
We just watched the sunset out on the terrace.
He did NOT walk out here. I had to slide him to the door on a blanket then help him up with the towel sling for him to take 3 steps outside and lay down.
I'm hoping by now sweet Bruno has been able to pee. If not a call to your vet is in order. Sometimes the bigger dogs do take a while to figure out mobility. It took our Max 3 days at home after we picked him up after overnight at the vet to figure it out and that was with the help of a harness we could use because he was a rear leg amp. Hang in there you are doing an exceptional job and are on top of everything! He looks really happy watching the sunset and getting some fresh air. Hoping you see a good day today!
Not inly is BRUNO A ROCK STAR, but his DAD IS A ROCK STAR!!
You've dealt with the drain and bandaging like a CHAMP!!! BOTH of you!!! Some Vets use compression bandaging and some don't. My Happy Hannah didn't have one. Bruno's incision looks really good a d the drain seems to be doing the trick, especially with ykur "adjustments".
Don't worry about the mobility. Three steps at a time! The pee though, that needs to be addressed!
PEE!!! THREE DAYS NOW??? You have your hands full, but you must get him to the Vet ASAP! I know Bruno is exceptional when it comes to holding his pee and I don't mean to be overreacting, but he needs to be checked out and make sure there are no underlying issues preventing him from peeing......other than all the "issues" you're dealing with as far as the patio, ot his normal pee spot, etc.
I love the picture of him bathed in the glow of the sunset. Lovely. Such a handsome boy!
Okay....we'll be waiting for a pee update!!!! 🙂 🙂
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!
When he would not pee on the patio I called the vet to come and put in a catheter but as toady is the beginning of the Thai New Year there was nobody at any of the clinics around here that could make a house call. Everybody I know has already left town earlier this evening so I had no way of getting him up and into the car to take him to the 24 hour clinic.
After 3 hours a neighbor who has 3 Rotties came home and was able to come help so we carried him downstairs in a blanket and headed off to the vet.
The ultrasound of his bladder showed it full and unobstructed so in went the catheter and out came a total of 2.2 liters of urine. No blockage, just Bruno holding it in probably because he can't stand up yet to pee and he absolutely will not pee inside the house.
Now we have a collection bag to monitor his flow and hopefully he will be walking around before the catheter has to be removed.
Actually we put him on the bed when we got back home and in the time it took me to run downstairs and put my car inside the garage, he had moved himself to sit and wait for me at the front door so he had to walk on his own to get there.
His drain is going crazy, I am emptying about 20ml from the syringe every hour. I don't know if this is normal but I am glad that he does have the drain. The exudate in the visible part of the drain tube is red and mostly clear with no bad odor. From what I have read pink and clear is the norm. Also the vet tonight pointed out that Bruno had some swelling on his left shoulder that was probably from him always laying on that side. It looks just like water retention so I will try to give him some massage to help with his circulation.
I AM SOOOOOOOO RELIEVED TO READ THIS!!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂
YAAAAAAAAAY FOR PEE!!!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 Even if it meant being done with a catheter!!! That Bruno is something else when it comes to holding his pee, you are right about that! 🙂 🙂
What a whirlwind recovery going on over there!!
Others wil have to address what to expect with the drain. My Happy Hannah didn't have one, but I know many others did.
And a gentle, gentle massage arpund the shoulder and leg that are swelling may help disperse the fluid and help his body reabsorb it.
And YAAAAAAAAAY FOR WAITING FOR YOU AT THE DOOR!!! 🙂 🙂 That is HUGE!!!
Now, just maybe, today is a bit of a turning point and you just may see Bruno be able to get up on his own a bit more! 🙂 🙂
This is the best news of the day!! 🙂 🙂 🙂 🙂 ROCK STAR BRUNO and ROCK STAR DAD...A ROCK STAR TEAM!!! 🙂
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!
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