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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It was good talking to you today in the Chat. I'll be there tomorrow morning too, Pacific time.
If the Gabapentin is given 3x daily then it should be every 8 hours. If you've already started doing that, you should see a difference and reduction of pain signals (panting) by tomorrow.
The infection can be anywhere and honestly it's not that unusual. Additional antibiotics can make her feel crappy and not want to eat. Just keep her hydrated. Tuna water, gatorade, anything to spike her water dish may help.
Did you get a chance to try the cheezy pill trick yet?
It might be good to post about the situation in our Ask a Vet Forum and hopefully our fairy vet mother Dr. Pam will be able to answer soon:
https://tripawd...../ask-a-vet
update!! nutty happily ate ground beef we cooked her out of my hand today and took all her meds and is no longer panting (knock on wood). She also drank like two full bowls of water. She still wont eat her other food but I'll take the victory. Our building super loves nutty and visa versa so he stopped by to say hi and she got out of her bed on her own and walked over tail wagging to greet him and we (surprise surprise) wept with joy. I don't know if we're out of the woods yet but at this moment we're doing good. Thank you over and over and over again for all the support, it's really carried us these last few days
WOOOHOOO!!!! Oh my gosh this is really, really great you guys! I'm so happy for you! Extra smooches to Nutty and hugs to you both.
Thank you for the great news. Please keep us posted.
Thrilled to read this update!! We can "hear" the excitement and relief in your "voice"! And we are right here with you celebrating ao many victories today- Keep 'em coming!!!
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!
Just a quick update on Nutty... our new problem is that we can't slow her down!!!! Something has clicked, she's sort of figured out her center of gravity and is feeling so much better. When we take her out for elimination walks she zooms ahead of us to the point where we have to physically restrain her so she doesn't overdo it, she tries to drag us to the dog run every night (will we ever be allowed to acquiesce?), waggily greets every stranger that passes and brightens their day and tries with all her might to stop us from pulling her back inside so quickly. I hope we don't have to be party poopers forever, we have her first rehab therapy appointment on monday so we can do this safely but we so desperately want to let her have some fun. Tomorrow morning is her followup appointment with the surgeon (to have sutures removed etc) and the oncologist, eek. will update again after we learn more from them. Thank you all so much again and again for your support.
love love love
Genevieve Stefan and Nutty
WHEEEEEE! Yipeeeee for Nutty!!!!! GO GIRL!
You guys this is so fantastic, I'm thrilled she's getting over those hurdles from the first week. You sound good too!
I hope the vet appointment goes well, please let us know what they said.
Love u back! Smooches to Nutty!
Update: We're still waiting on the results of Nutty's leg biopsy, so we didn't start chemo as initially planned. We did, however, have our first in-person rehab therapy appointment today. It wasn't an actual therapy session, just an initial exam (we're very excited to actually start!).
But we felt a little down leaving the appointment, because the doctor told us that we have to use the Help Em Up harness and lift using the rear-end handle on all walks—potentially forever?—because she's bending her remaining back leg too much. This was alarming, because Nutty seemed like she was doing so well. We feel really deflated by the notion that she'd need assistance on every single walk from here on out. The doc even said that Nutty's in great post-op shape and in great shape in general, so we really feel confused and daunted by the idea of her not having outdoor independence to look forward to. That seems awful. The doctor said this so casually that I wonder if we misunderstood to some degree, I don't know.
Anyway, we just tried that harness on the last walk—and, granted, I think the rear part is too big and we don't have the anti-rotation attachment—but it was kind of a nightmare. I had to unhook the butt clips halfway through and just use it as a stomach sling because it just felt completely untenable. We just now got back from that walk and when we got inside, I took off the whole harness and she was suddenly wobbling around like night 1 back from the hospital. And I don't know why! UGH. Prior to this walk, we've been using the Ruffwear harness we got here for the past 4 days and we really liked that one!
Any insight on this stuff would be great.
What I'm about to share was merely my experience only. While I didn't have much "success" with that harness, certainly others have. So take everything I'm about to say with a grain of salt.
FWIW, that harness was also recommended by the Rehab Specialist for Frankie while recovering from TPLO surgery on one of his rear leg. He's a front leg amp. For me, I found it almost impossible to get on by myself and then to navigate his walking by myself while he was recovering.
I'm certainly not in any way, shape or form second guessing a Rehab Specialist with certifications and training. Part of the purpose pf Rehab is to assess the gait, recognize areas that need improvement and then develop the exercises, therapies, etc needed. The goal is good core strength, proper gait and balance to ,maintain fitness and keep joints strong and healthy.
Additionally, unless there is some underlying reason the Rehab Specialist discovered, I'm thinking ,maybe you misunderstood about having to use this harness always and furever.
When you have a chance, ,aybe you could post a video here of er walking. He really, again FWIE, it takes at least a month after amputation and recovery for muscles, joints, etc to adjust to three
Again, take all of thos with a grain of salt and just sharing my have experience. Maybe a seond opinion with another Rehab would be helpful.
We'll see what others (ie Jerry) have to say😎
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS Nutty may be sore from her Rehab session so that may be one reason her rear leg is acting wobbly, especially if trying to adjust to that 'other" harness.
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!
Hey Genevieve & Stefan, thanks for the update. Makes sense to wait on the treatment so you know what you're dealing with.
As for the rehab and harness ... sometimes vet professionals can say things casually like that, and it's hard for us not to hang onto every nuance and think the worst. Try not to do that. Yes, her leg might be a little wonky now but that doesn't mean it's forever. This is still VERY early in recovery. Her body strength hasn't caught up with her mind yet, but it will! By taking her to therapy you are giving her every shot in the world at building strength and stamina so that she can have her independence back.
Now as for the harness, there's a reason why we don't carry it and you just found out why. It's a good one for therapy sessions but in the real world it doesn't work on Tripawds as well as we would like. Not even close really. So the Ruffwear harnesses are what we use and recommend for at home and getting around. They work best in the real world. Using either the Flagline or the Webmaster along with a dog stroller combo to get her out and about is our #1 recommendation, especially in an urban environment.
Nutty is making progress, and quickly it seems like from my point of view. I know you're not seeing it as much but remember that you are with her all the time and dealing with the realities of helping her navigate the world. But based on what you are telling us, I can't see any reason why she still can't have a good quality of life just being Nutty.
When is your next therapy appointment?
aaaaaah i wrote a reply to these instantly and didn't realize i never hit submit! sorry!
The wobbliness went away after 24 hours so I definitely think you're right that she was a little tired and sore from rehab. One other thing we forgot to factor in re wobbliness was that it was humid and rainy. For years (prior to becoming a tripawd) rain and humidity have made her temporarily achy and slow in the same way it makes my asthma act up. I keep forgetting to factor in normal problems unrelated to her new physique because I'm so hyper-focused on it. I have been taking diligent progress videos of her gait and pictures of the sight since day one home from surgery with the intention of making a blog here, i'm just a bit of a luddite so I haven't gotten around to actually posting them yet...I will I promise!
She doesn't need any help getting around the apartment, we're only using harnesses and slings on leash walks. I guess the reason they're so hell bent on the help em up is because, once she gets tired and her back leg starts to bend, she over compensates with the front right shoulder a ton so they want us to keep her posture aligned by straightening the leg and only lifting the back end but, again, they saw her on a day she was predisposed to bad posture so hopefully that isn't the norm. It tends to start bending at the end of walks when she's tired now rather than all the time. We got a smaller size butt end of the harness and I jerry rigged it with caribiners to keep it in place but we're using both harnesses back and forth. She had her first official rehab therapy session this week but we were exiled to the waiting room and didn't get to see the dr and talk more about this. The great news is that we got approved for full financial aid at AMC for rehab so she's getting the deluxe treatment plan with acupuncture and massage in addition to exercise stuff and we are SO JEALOUS of her. I do hope we get to be more involved in the process though so we can continue the work at home as well (and document it!).
I forgot to mention that, when we went for her suture removal appointment, we talked the surgeon's ear off about tripawds.com and he is now officially adding it to all his future amputation surgery discharge instructions for other patients
WE LOVE YOU GUYS!!!!!
Th9s is chock full of good news! Thank you so much for taking the time to update and fill in so e details. You are very tuned in to Nutty and able recognize her "normal nature" before the surgery, ie, slowing down on rainy days , etc.
And jeryy can address this better than I. But not letting you kn for the Rehab jist doesnt sound right st all! One of the benefits of observing is so you can properly do some exercises safely at home.
She had her first official rehab therapy session this week but we were exiled to the waiting room and didn't get to see the dr and talk more about this.
Every else was great and so Happy she is doi g so well. Good job!
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!
WHEEEEE! This is the best way to kick off the weekend, thank you for sharing Nutty's progress. It really does sound like things are going great.
Isn't it funny how when we are coping with something big like recovery, we get hyper focused on what seems like a new problem, when actually it was always kind of there before you got whiplashed by the diagnosis? Good job recalling her humidity related mobility issues.
I'm sorry they didn't let you in for the therapy session. It's not unheard of. Sometimes when the therapy room is really crowded they won't let pet parents in back. Or, when they think a dog won't be 100% focused on the PT because the pet parent is there, the team won't allow parents to go in the room. I personally wasn't allowed back to watch Wyatt do his PT because he was so protective and focused on me and @admin guy.
There should be a point though when they take you and Nutty into an exam room to show you the exercises, and make sure you do them correctly. So be sure to ask about that.
For now that is super cool about the financial aid at AMC! She is getting quite the treatment and will make such progress as the weeks go on. I love that they do this for clients. Lucky Nutty!
We love you guys back! I'm thrilled your vet knows about this community now, thank you for sharing what we do here.
Now go have fun ya hear? We will always be around to help when you want to get that blog started, just keep us posted.
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