Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Marley had right front leg amputation due to ostesarcoma, Thurs April 6. She is a healthy, spunky 13 yo Basset hound. She urinated when we got home yesterday, but not since. She is drinking she is eating in small bits. She is on Gabapentin 300mg every 8 hrs, Tylenol w Codein if necessary and has not had it today. All she wants to do is sleep. She refuses to try and stand with our help . We have a Coodeo vest which our Vet hospital loved. We are also doing cold compresses every 4 hrs per the vet. I am concerned she only wants to sleep and won't stand and has not urinated since yesterday. She also has Trazodone but her last dose was last night. She isn't whining or panting when she is awake. I don't want to push her to hard but also don't want her muscles to atrophy. Any experience/advice would be greatly apreciated.
Cheryl
Cheryl, welcome. I'm sorry about Marley's surgery and diagnosis. We are here to help make things easier!
So at this stage her sleepiness is not unusual. Recovery is a LOT of work and the body needs to rest rest rest. There's no need to push her right now, that time will come but this is the time to just take her outside on a leashed potty walk, very short, and that's it.
Sounds like she is getting good pain medication but for a dog her size 300 mg 3x daily might be a bit high. Don't do anything yet but ask your vet if they can give you 100 mg capsules so you can adjust as necessary, she might be extra sensitive to it. I would forget the Trazadone, which is only a sedative not a pain reliever. She's pretty sedate as it is.
As for the urinating, if she won't go w/in 12 hours it's time to help her. Here's an article with some tips:
How to Help a New Tripawd Urinate After Amputation
Sounds like she may get to the point where she'll have an accident inside, just because she's so tired. Don't panic if that happens, it's not too unusual. Just keep lots of towels around and clean up if she does. In time she will get her sea legs and be more mobile.
Everything else you described sounds pretty spot on, especially for a Basset. Stay strong, you can do this!
Thank you for the information. She refuses to stand so no leash walks yet. We are being very careful when we have to move her but she yelped a few times and I just started crying and left the room so she wouldn't see me. I know its only been 2 days but I expected her to be a little more herself. This is soooo hard but will be worth it once she starts to bounce back. I am so glad I found this site.
Online
Deep breaths B R EA T H E. You are in the roughest part of the recovery and it's a scary tie. We understand the fear and uncertainty this early on.
You have excellent input from Jerry, especially regarding meds and Trazodone. It doesn't sound like sweet Marley needs a sedative at all right now. So hold off on theTrazedone.
Need not worry about muscle atrophy at this point, okay? Rest is good right now.
How much does Marley weigh?
And good for you for leaving the roon when your emotions got the best of you. It is so important that Marley sees, and feels, a strong, co fident, upbeat energy from you. So important!
We know it's hard, but TRY not to worry. Marley just had MAJOR surgery, is shaking off the anesthesia and shaking off the strong hospital pain meds, A human would still be in the hospital on a morphine drop!
She'll figure out mobility. Dogs built like Marley who are ....er..."mature", need a little extra time to get their sea legs
It is good that she's drinking and even eating some. Yes, keep track of his peeing frequency. Pooping may take a few days, but peeing is important.
If you have hardwood floors you'll need scatter rugs for traction . It helps to have a firm bed rather than a squishy one as that makes ot harder to stand without slipping.
Try massaging Marley gently up and down his spine, back, shoulders are to help relax any tense muscles.
Let us know when she urinates again. As Jerry said, even of it's while laying down, that's okay.
Try and get some rest yourself. Getting to this point is exhausting for hoomans.....far moreso than for our pets.
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!
Sounds like you've gotten some really great advice, and Marley is in fantastic hands. I just wanted to share that the first few days after Ellie came home she did not want to get up to pee, she had several accidents while just laying down with no intention of getting up. I figured out it was the Trazodone...but it took a solid 36 hours for it to wear enough for her to be able to hold her bladder while inside..she still gets pretty sedated with just Gabapentin.
Just to share she was on 400mg gabapentin 3x a day and 150mg Trazodone as needed (up to 3 x a day) and she is 97 pounds. I only gave her one dose of the Trazodone.
Aww I'm sorry. Has she gone yet?
You will see her personality come back, really! But try to put yourself in her paws. How would you feel and behave if you had an amputation? As people, we are so not used to seeing our dogs wonky and out of it in recovery mode. It's hard! She WILL get there though!
Good move not to let her see you cry! I"m so proud of you!
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