Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi everyone! My name is Alisha and my greyhound, Nicki, had her front right leg amputated on August 19. We’re almost one month post-amp! Nicki had a soft tissue tumor (my apologies for not knowing the exact type) and removing the tumor means she’s cancer free with little chance of it returning. Bloodwork and X-rays before her surgery were clean and besides her tumor, she had no other issues. Nicki turned 11 during the amputation recovery. She’s an older girl but she is still full of life and sass.
Before my question a little background: Nicki came home the night of her surgery and to say it was hard is an understatement. I slept on the couch next to her for a week. By about day 9 she was acting a little more herself. She was up and walking the first day! She had been hopping around on 3 legs prior to surgery and I think it was helpful for learning how to tripawd. She came home with great pain management : Nerve block, fentanyl patch, Carpro Chews, and gabapentin. We are lucky in that our vet specializes in greyhound care. 80% of her clients are greyhounds! We’re in Cincinnati and there are two large adoption groups in the area.
During Nicki’s initial recovery we did have a setback. At her 2 week appointment for stitches removal there was some infection and necrotic skin around the bottom area of her incision. The vet warned me that could happen and is a common complication in greyhounds. Their skin is much thinner than other dogs and is comparable to tissue paper with fur. We went the “easy” route of debridement. The vet cleaned the area up and restitched about 3 inches of skin. She also restitched a smaller 1 inch area because she didn’t like how it healed. We go tomorrow to get the second set of stitches removed!! Her incision looks great. Normal pink skin, no bruising, and no swelling. A night and day difference from her amputation incision!
Nicki is still taking 2 gabapentin a day. I’ve been able to wean her down to that amount over the last 2 weeks. Before her second procedure she was taking 6 a day! The infection was causing a lot of pain. I’ve tried twice to get Nicki down to 1 pill a day but she starts to show signs of pain. Restlessness, panting, wide-eyed, and she’ll yelp. My question is this: is this normal considering she had a second procedure for her to still be in pain? My gut is telling me her healing was delayed by 2 weeks which means her pain going away was more than likely delayed too. After a month of pain medication I’m feeling like Nicki will be on medication forever. It’s been a long 4 weeks. When we go tomorrow to get her stitches removed I plan on asking about her pain but wanted to run this by the tripawd experts.
Thank you!
Hi Alisha and Nicki, welcome! I'm sorry you had to join our club but so happy she is doing pretty well considering all that she's been through (and you too!).
It does sound like she is getting great care, and her pain control was good too. Please feel free to share your vet's info here in our Specialists Forum. We often get Greyhound folks here looking for help, and I'd love to be able to send them to a clinic like yours.
Meanwhile, it would not be unusual for pain signals to still occur considering that she's been through all this. And sometimes pain control is good indefinitely. There's nothing wrong or unusual with that. Tripawds move in ways their body wasn't intended to move and it can take a toll especially in the early days. NSAIDs on a regular basis are recommended by ortho vets, to reduce the impact, and a regular low dose of Gabapenin is often helpful too. There are other approaches as well, especially with rehab therapy modalities (see below).
I would absolutely mention her pain signals to your vet. There could be a stitch pulling the wrong way, which will be a non-issue once they're out (hopefully!). Or, it could be muscle strain from just the new way she's moving her body. I'm going to bet you'll have some good feedback from your vet tomorrow.
One thing I want to mention, is don't forget that Tripawds Foundation 's program, the Maggie Moo Rehab Reimbursement program, will pay for your first rehab visit . It's so important for all Tripawd parents to talk to a rehab specialist about their dog's capabilities and limitations, and even more important for senior dogs. Even one visit is so educational, so I hope you'll consider making an appointment. If your vet doesn't work with a rehabber just PM me your location and I'll help you find one.
Keep us posted on how things are going OK?
Hi Jerry, Thank you for the quick reply. I'm impatient and messaged my vet! She got back to me right away. We're going to stay on gabapentin awhile longer. The vet thinks she could still be in some pain but that she sees anxiety in greyhounds after amputation. I never considered anxiety since Nicki is generally a very laid back dog. Anxiety and pain mirror each other so it's hard to say what Nicki is suffering from. After more time on gabapentin we are going reassess and see how Nicki feels.
I am going to ask my vet about rehab and if she has any recommendations. I'll also add my vet's information to the link you provided.
It's totally OK to be impatient, I'm glad you asked. That sounds like a reasonable course of action. Let us know how tomorrow goes, that's a BIG day for you both!
Nicki had her stitches removed yesterday! She had been in some sort of stitches for 4 weeks and I'm so happy that is past us now.
The tumor on her elbow broke open in May and had been bleeding off and since until her amputation on 08/19/2024. Because of the open wound, she wore a shirt to keep from licking her "swellbow". Poor Nicki had been wearing a shirt all summer - since May. I was able to take her shirt off of her yesterday too! Since she's a greyhound she's already tall and slim but she looks extra tiny without the baggy shirt. She got a good brushing outside and loved getting all the flying fur off of her. She stretched her neck out and had a good shake once the brushing was over.
The vet tech that removed her stitches commented about how much stronger she looked compare to 2 weeks ago before her second surgery. I agree that Nicki is much stronger. This morning we had a good 15 minute walk - her longest since before surgery. Her walks were on the shorter side before surgery so 15 minutes is near normal for us. Her greyhound sister Maddie gets a second longer walk. She's 8 and has some energy to burn!
I am still giving Nicki two gabapentin a day to help her settle down. I am hopeful that normal-ish routines, no stitches, and no shirt will help her feel better.
You're both moving in the right direction. YAY!
After everything you've both been through, it's got to be so nice to see the light at the end of the tunnel. She is really doing well it sounds like, and I'm guessing that she's feeling relieved to be able to just be a dog again.
Don't worry about the lengths of the walks. Even a healthy, recovered Tripawd should do shorter walks of 10-15 minutes tops, so Nicki is right on track. Enjoy the new normal and soak up every second, there's good times coming at ya!
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