Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I believe we're trying to bring up her platelet levels....she's on it until we recheck her blood tests on monday.
Ohhh, OK. Didn't realize that pred can do that. Paws crossed it works!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Wooohooo platelets are up 🙂 going to do the prednisone every other day now instead of everyday and just do one gabapentin a day instead of two for the next week or two. We go back on the 21st for another blood test to make sure it's still good. Then we'll talk about rehab after that.
Winnie is her still her normal self and it feels great!
WHEEEE!!! Best way to start the week, this is such great news! It sounds like an excellent plan.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
YAAAAAAAY!!!!!👏👏👏👏👏😁😁😁😁😁
So her mobility is returning to normal too? No signs of pain???
Good job!!!!!!
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!
Her mobility is back 100%, she is a bouncy eight year old puppy haha, she's much happier too 🙂
YESSSSS!!!!!!! What a great turn of events. I'm so happy for you and Winnie!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Another blood test today came back awesome! Only going to take Prednisone twice a week now and still on Gabapentin once a day and back to the vet on the 4th to check blood again....She's been breathing faster than normal but vet said that was probably due to the steroids. Harness came in the mail today but she wouldn't move once i put it on haha! we'll keep working on that 🙂
Can dogs be on Gabapentin long term? Vet said she'll give a referral if next blood tests come back good.
WONDERFUL! Oh my gosh we are doing the hoppy dance again, this is super cool to read about. Winnie is kicking some serious butt now!
Yes, steroids can cause rapid breathing.
Here are some harness introduction tips that can help you introduce any kind of harness.
How to Make a Good Introduction to the Ruff Wear Webmaster Harness
As for Gabapentin, yes, dogs can stay on it long term. It's very benign to the system and as long as you stay current on occasional labs she should do fine. Our Wyatt Ray was on it for at least 4 years and I know others like Spree have gone longer. Here's a good interview about it:
How Gabapentin Works in Tripawds for Acute and Chronic Pain
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
YAAAAAY. WINNIE!!!! So glad the Pred did the trrick, as well as some good home care from you!!!
While the Pred did whatever it did to improve blood work, if there was also a back issue, it would have automatically taken care of that to.
Bottom line, WINNIE IS WINNIE AGAIN!
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!
We were on day 3 of no Prednisone (trying to only give twice a week) and then she went back to hardly walking and shaking so I gave her one and she bounced back 🙂 today is now going on to day two without it and this morning she is super slow moving so I gave her one. I'll call the vet monday to see if it's ok to keep doing it like that. She still breathes fast, yesterday wasn't as much, but how long can she keep breathing fast like that, it can't be good on their system. Is there anything more I could do? She's still eating and drinking normal too.
Prednisone can certainly have side effects; however, it can also be a miracle pill too. And in this case, it seems to be leaning g towards the miracle side. Of course check with your Vet, but it sounds like she made a daily dose or every other day for now.for now.
One of my puppers had some type of immune thing going on and ended up being on a daily basis, or ,maybe every other, for a long time.
Cant address the rapid breathing per se. Just curious if some pain could be involved...maybe??? Possibly the weaning off was a little too much at once....maybe??? You can ask your Vet if the rapid breathing still indicate some pain or just the side effect of the Pred?
One thing I'm really curious about and would love to hear your Vet's feedback. I know we were "guessing" some type of spine...disc...muscle...type thing going on in the beginning. The Bet said it had to do with the platelet count, right? I just never could connect the dots to the not walking and appearing in pain to the bloodwork. The Pred certainly would help amy separate back issue as far as taking care of inflammation. Anyway, just curious.
How much does Winnie weigh?. What was the starting dose amount and what is the dose now?
Good for you for readjusting the weaning so you could get her comfortable again.
Let us k ow what the Vet says. And give that sweet girl extra treats and smooches!
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!
Yeah I'm with Sally, I think this might be a combo of the Pred side effects (minor really considering how much it's helped her) and possibly some pain, especially since the Gabapentin is only once daily. With all her energy she could possibly getting too much activity in right now. What's her day like? How much activity/walking is she getting?
When you check with the vet, ask about the possibility of giving Gabapentin in smaller doses more frequently, like 2 or 3x daily. That may help better address any potential pain she is having.
I hope today goes smoothly! Let us know how she's doing.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Winnie is about 60-65lbs now. She is getting half a Prednisone (started with it every day for a week/ then down to every other day for a week and then went to twice a week and that's when she started having trouble). its says 50mg on the bottle and the vet broke them in halves so i'm not sure if a whole pill is 50 or the half?? The Gabapentin right now is 400mg once a day but just got a new prescription filled and they are 300mg.
We go back to the vet on the 4th but I was going to call in the morning to see if i could keep her on the Prednisone every other day until we go back to her.
We really don't take her on walks now, she'll just follow us around the yard, it's pretty chill and low key. I took our other dog for a walk the other morning and she wanted to come so bad and it killed me to leave her behind!
This is such a rollercoaster, and not a fun one 🙂
OK let us know what the vet says about the medication changes. Pred is such a powerful drug, I wouldn't know where to start with mods, it's a vet convo to have. With the new Gabapentin, if they are tablets, see if you can cut the 300s in half and give them to her 2x daily.
As for the walks, yeah I know that's hard when another dog wants to walk. Consider checking out dog strollers , they are so awesome for Tripawds! A dog can walk a little, stroll a little, without wearing themselves out. The best part is they get to go along for the ride.
Keep us posted!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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