Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi all, so, as some of you know from our previous thread, our big beautiful boy was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma and recently had his hind left leg amputated. We're one week post-op today, and I'll continue his story on this thread as we get him strong and get him through upcoming chemo.
For anyone that wants to get up to speed with the presentation of his symptoms, diagnosis and immediate post-op issues feel free to jump on the link below for the whole back story.
http://tripawds.....2/#p147236
Cheers for all the support so far....
Tony.
HUCKLEBERRY is proving "size and age"can't keep a good dog down!!
I replied to your original post. Just want to add :-):
HAPPY ONE WEEK AMPUVERSARY!!!!!! ! A big bowl of ice cream is in order!
Hugs to all!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
Thanks for starting a new topic here Tony. We look forward to following along with Huck's pawgress and his story will be SO inspawrational to big dog pawrents who come here looking for hope.
Yay Huckleberry!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Like Huckleberry, my Dane just had his leg amputated as well. His name is Chant and he will be turning 9 years old in July. Today Chant is 18 days post op. It was his front leg that was amputated due to OSA. I have watched him each day get stronger and stronger. There are rubber mats all over the house making paths for him to walk, and he is now running across them and leaping on the couch. Of course, with me running behind him, trying to get him to slow down. He, too, had what I thought was a seroma . I took him for his chemo last week, and discovered it was infected. He was not able to get his chemo and is now on more antibiotics. His oncologist called me this morning though and told me that the culture, so far, is growing bugs that are resistant to what they put him on, yet the size of the seroma is definitely responding to it.
Welcome to you and Chant, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
Please consider starting your own thread to introduce yourselves to member. Thanks for the support here!
Karen and The Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Wow, 9 years old Chant. Nice work, that's a great age for a Dane regardless of what's happening with him now. Hope they get on top of that seroma .
Huck had an awesome day yesterday. After snoozing almost all day he got a bit bored by the afternoon. He took a hop outside, then round the garden, then wanted to go down the side of the house, then outside the front gate to check the "outside" was still there! He came back in, then wandered out again. What an amazing difference a couple of days has made, he was so much stronger getting around.
That wore him out so he slept the rest of the evening away.
He woke up about 11pm restless and tossed and turned for a couple of hours, by 1am he started panting a lot and would not settle. I'm guessing he did a bit too much in the afternoon and made himself sore. I popped him a couple of Tramadol and a couple of Diazapam and he settled down after about 45 minutes into a deep sleep.
He seems fine today, but no matter how bored he is, we'll restrict what he wants to do.
His Fentynal patch would have worn out again by now and the only pain meds he's on is the single daily Feldene anti-inflammatory, I don't think that's enough for him at this stage so I think we'll give him a couple of Tramadol before bed each night for a few days, see if that helps him through the night a bit.
Milestone 1 tomorrow - back in the car and coming to work with me as we go for our first post-op check up in the afternoon and work is closer to the vet, I'll update what the vet says when I get chance.
Thanks all.
Tony.
Awww great day! I hope that tomorrow goes really great!
P.S. Quick tip on the pain meds: it's easier to control pain by staying ahead of it than reacting to it. I speak from my own experience as once I had a bad motorcycle wreck and was on pain meds for a few months. Find out a good low-dose you can keep him on so that if he overdoes things, the pain doesn't come on hard and fast and you won't need that extra Diazapam. Ask your vet if you're unsure how to find the schedule and dose that works.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for the tip on the pain meds jerry, that makes a lot of sense.
He wasn't initially prescribed anything at all for when the first patch wore off, which really surprised me when reading around on here.
The Tramadol was prescribed as a back-up if the second pain patch didn't take.
Tramadol has been prescribed as 3x100mg tablets twice a day.
When I'd read on here about the anxiety it has caused to other dogs, I figured we'd leave it until he needed it, but it makes a lot more sense to give him a continual, lower dose, especially now his second patch will have worn off.
We'll give him 2x100mg tonight and again in the morning and I'll bring it up with the surgeon tomorrow afternoon.
Thanks.
So, second night in a row with panting through the night. He was bored stiff yesterday, he had a wander round the garden then I popped him in the car as a test run before today's vet follow up. He loved it, but I think it was a bit much.
He came home and zonked on his bed for an hour then woke up really panting. It was a bit early for his Tramadol, but we gave it anyway. It took about an hour for him to calm down, then he slept sound again.
At midnight he woke up and did the same, panting and drooling. I sat with him for half an hour or so and he started to calm down, by about 1:30 he went sound asleep again and was pretty good all night from there, just stirred for the occasional groan.
Big day for him today, he's at work with me now and 3 more Tramadol in his belly, (along with a sausage from his cafe-owner mate over the road). We're not in the vet until late afternoon, so hopefully he'll sleep most of the day like he usually does at work and it won't be too much of an ordeal for him later.
Fingers crossed for a good nights sleep tonight.
A quick updated. Stitches out yesterday, vet very happy. OK to start chemo on Tuesday.
Had a good night last night, no panting or whining but some panting mid-morning today for some reason.
Currently on 300mg Tramol Morning & Night and a Feldene tablet mid-afternoon.
I need to look for some more shoes I think. The one he has is great, but he can't walk too well at all without it and with it his foot gets so hot as there's no vents in it, I'm worried about it being on all the time. He needs it on through the night in case he gets up, and when he's home and mooching about so his foot only get to breathe for an hour or two here and there. Any suggestions for good, all-day wearable traction boots?
Glad Huckleberry is getting the lroper lain meds now. Frustrating when Vets in this day and age don't properly address lain in dogs! Grrrrrr!
Yeah, I don t think the booties are meant to be kept on for long times at once. If y ou have hardwoods, do you have non slip scatter rugs or yoga mats over them? Can you take them off once he ks outside...can he get traction okay in the grass?
Is it possible to cut holes ifor ventilation in the booties you are currently using?
Check out the tripawds gear section and see if any booties there may work. Sorry I'm not much help. I was lucky in that my sweet Happy Hannah didn't need booties.
Keep up the good work! Huckleberry is getting better and better a d that's wonderful!!
Hugs to all!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
Huckleberry said
Any suggestions for good, all-day wearable traction boots?
If Huck is indoors most the time, have you considered Traction Socks?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
So, another sleepless night. He doesn't seem to be in any pain, he just wakes up every hour or so and pants for a while then goes back to sleep. He does it all through the day too. If I distract him he's fine, but once he's settled again he starts to get anxious and pants again. I expect it's some sort of opiat withdrawal?
Other than that, he's doing great. A little stronger again today, even had a little walk outside.
Our whole house is hard floors, there's just no way I can cover up all the required surfaces. Thanks for the traction sock link, I had no idea you could get such things. They'll be perfect. I'm going to order these ones now as they have grip all around so if they rotate it doesn't matter:-
http://waggle.c.....ocks-p1644
I'll also cut vent holes in his boot, see how that goes. He only needs the one on the back, so I've got 3 spare to play with 😉
"4 booties snd 3 to spare"...like that little twist on the tripawds "3 legs and a spare "!
The panting and restlessness is perplexing. Those signs generally seem to indicate pain...generallu, but not always.
Just wondering if the Tramadol could be given every six hours snd maybe in reduced dosage amounts. I'm no vet. Something you may discuss with the vet. Sometimes Tramadol can make dogs whacky too! It's a Catch 22"!
And YAAAAAAAAAY FOR GETTING THOSE STITCHES OUT!!!
Keep on getting your spsrkle back! We're cheering for you!
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
Hmmm. Pain is so hard to decipher in animals but generally panting means that something is making him uncomfortable or anxious. Is he still on the Tramadol?
Let us know if the socks work out, haven't seen those before.
Very cool his stitches are out! Congrats, you just crossed another big milestone!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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