Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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So Scooby was doing pretty well and was getting up to greet people, had a healthy appetite and was getting by on 3 legs quite well. Today is a different matter.. He is struggling to get up, his back legs are shaking, he didn't want to eat his breakfast, he seems really down.
I've phoned the vets but they are yet to get back to me as they are skeleton staff due to it being Christmas break.
I don't know whether this is normal or what really?! Any reassurance or advice?
Oh Gosh, yes it is totally normal! It seems that most pups have a bit of a post-surgical crash once all the surgical drugs get out of their system. This is definitely the hardest time, post-amp. Each day can be different---up one day and down the next. It really yanks your emotions around! So unless you're seeing something really dramatic (vomiting etc), I would say try not to worry as you wait for a call back.
If he's shaking when trying to stand, he could either be just weak from the surgery or he could be feeling a little pain. What pain meds is he on? Of course you want to be able to control the pain, but sometimes the side effect is lack of appetite! So it is a fine edge to walk. Most folks suggest just throwing out the rule book and feeding them anything that they'll eat---chicken, hamburger, eggs, adding broth to his kibble etc.
And even so, if it is just one meal I wouldn't fret too much. As long as he eats something everyday. Our Ellie had a really rough time w/ eating post amp and even so the docs were much more concerned that she drank enough.
Denise, Bill and Angel Ellie.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
Yep, ditto everything Denise said!
The hospital pain meds are now completely out of his system, muscles that hadn't been used as much when he had four legs are probably feeling stiff and sore. It's quite often around day three or four that they seem to be "crashing". I'm no vet, so consult with yiur vet, but this is "normal" based on what we see around here.
Incision looking okay? No signs of infection?
It's really important to keep the pain meds given on a consistent basis. Being in pain, along with the meds themselves, can cause him not to want to eat. Avter speaking with your vet he may either up the dose or give it a bit more frequently. It is major surgery. .My Happy Hannah came home with Tramadol, Gabapentin, Rimadyl and an antibiotic.
As Denise said, throw out the rule book and feed him anything he'll eat...pizza, cheeseburger, french fries smothered in cheese, ice crea.! It is important that he drinks water though.
Update us when you can. Rest and potty breaks are all Scooby should be doi g for now. Scooby's sparkle will come back before you know it! It will!!
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 know the not eating feeling well! Nitro wouldn't eat for a whole week following surgery. We resorted to spooning yogurt down his throat to get his pills in him. I tried everything you can think of...chicken, hamburgers, scrambled eggs, chocolate chip pancakes, nothing appealed to him. Finally, about the 7th or 8th day, I offered him one of his favorite treats, chicken jerkey...HE ATE IT! I proceeded to give him piece after piece - I didn't care, he was eating!
As for being shaky on his back legs, ditto what Denise said; not really too concerning at this point. Do you have a harness for him? At one point, my husband pretty much carried Nitro like luggage with his harness when he was too weak to make it on his own. Give him a few days, little by little he'll get stronger. I know its not easy to be patient, but you can do it.
Paula and Nitro
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
Took Scooby to our vet surgeon who looked him over and said he was ok.. Of course Scooby was acting just fine at the vets, running around and even jumping up at the vet (he must like her!)
she thinks he might have an upset stomach due to the rimadyl (hence reduced appetite) so has reduced that to one a day and wants him to come off the tramadil by Tuesday (6 days post op?!) as he's not in pain around his incision site she said. She said he could be having phantom pains.
Today we had lots of family round and he loved all the attention although he did seem quite anxious. After a few hours he came to lie down in the living room by himself and he's been there ever since. He is exhausted.
This is so hard... How do you all get through it?!?!
You get through it by leaning on this great community! To be off pain meds in 6 days sounds a bit soon. Nitro was on them at least 2 weeks, hopefully others will chime in on their time-line as well. He was also on Gabapentin, which helps with nerve pain....maybe you could enquire about that. You really don't want take him off the pain meds too soon, it might set back his progress. It is a fine line to figure the right amount of meds; put yourself in his place...would you expect to be off pain meds in 6 days if you'd had your leg removed? It's hard seeing our furkids doped up, but they can't tell us when they hurt, so keep an eye open for signs like panting, restlessness, whining.
The first couple of weeks are definetely the hardest, hang in there. Check out the chat room or the helpline if you have time. Chatting with others who've been where you are helped me keep my sanity last summer, when I thought I couldn't possibly get through it.
Paula and Nitro
P.S. They always seem to act perfectly fine in front of the vets, don't they?
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
Yep, ditto, ditto & ditto! Lol
Murphy came home on Tramadol, Rimadyl & Gabapentin and was on them for about 2 weeks. He was weaned down during the 2nd week. Taking Scooby off after just 6 days is definitely too soon. I would think the shaking & lack of appetite can be a sign of pain, especially if the only thing he's on is tramadol.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Your first post sounds like many I have read here. It is very common for a drop off in energy and attitude a few days after surgery for the reasons stated above. Tripawds burn far more energy than quad dogs, and a new Tripawd seems to get sore and tired a few days after surgery. Also- you said Scooby was getting up to greet people the first couple days- are people still coming over?
Off all meds by day 6 seems really soon to me. Maggie was on pain meds for about 2 weeks with the last couple of days tapering. You might talk to the vet about reducing the tramadol and see how Scooby feels. It is really hard to manage pain when you let it get bad then start medicating again. That being said, tramadol can cause some side effects in some dogs but not all. All three of my pugs have been on tram for one thing or another, and Maggie was the only one who had issues with it. Some pups seem fine being off pain meds so early, but from my experience here most are on pain meds for at least 10 to 14 days.
And yes, this is really hard! One thing that might help you is to focus on the good things- you have already seen signs of Scooby's personality shining through the down times. As the days go by you will see more of that and less of the down Scooby.
Hang in there... it does get better. You made the right decision and soon you will know for sure!
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
Ditto everybody !
Give yourself a big hug...REALLY! You ARE getting through this! You're doing a great job of caring for Scooby! (((((((((((((HUGS))))))))))))
I'm glad Scooby showed so.e of his sparkle at the vet. I knkw it was good for both of you! Keep yoir energy strong and confident and upbeat and Scooby will benefit from that positive energy.
Phantom limb pain usually presents itself quickly with a dog yelping and jumping up as though he's trying to move away from the pain. It comes and goes very quickly. Gabapentin is the drug we see most vets use here effectively.
I have a little bit of a soap box when it comes to pain meds. Again, I'm no vet;, HOWEVER, six days is, in my unprofessional opinion, way to early to stop lain meds for this MAJOR surgery! From what youve described, it sounds as though Scooby is still hurting from the surgery and not necessarily exhibiting signs of phantom pain . If the vet thought that, it seems to me she should have put Scooby o. Gabapentin right away!
Again, this is soooo early in recovery! He should be resting and doing potty breaks and that's all. Humans would still be in the hospital and on a morphine drip!! Again, every dog is different, but most dogs here are on pain meds at least 10 - 14 days, some need them a bit longer. You know your dog best. If you feel Scooby needs pain meds longer, INSIST that you be given enough to carry you at least through the second week. It's always good to have a few extra on ha d shoukd there be any bump or injury while he's recovering.
Give yourself that big ((((((((((((((HUG))))))))))))))))) and try and get some rest! This is such an emotionally exhausting joirney getting to this point! It gets better!!
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!
Hi! My Barkley is on day 11 and I see parallel behaviors here. The first few days there was loads of energy and strength in his remaining rear leg, and then about day 4-5 he was a little more tired on his leg and got exhausted much quicker! It seemed he was sore from using different muscles and adrenaline and hospital meds wearing off as well. We actually have to give him anti anxiety pills during the day to keep him still. Massage and warm compresses help.
I'm so glad Scooby is going to be fine. It's so hard not to worry! Stay patient, aware and strong for you and Scooby.... This is what I've learned from this awesome group! Wishing him continued healing!
Linda you are so right, that happens a lot with many Tripawds. Great observation!
Another recommendation; keep a new Tripawd's mind occupied with interactive brain games , it's much more exhausting and safer to wear out their brains. It also works for 4-leggers too! See:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Day 6 post amp and still the same really... He's v lethargic, back legs shaking and not really that interested in food (which for a lab is quite worrying)
He's not making many whiny noises anymore but he isn't even looking up when we come in the room or anything.. He just doesn't seem interested in anything but he's not sleeping..he has his eyes open.
vet told us to start reducing his pain relief from today...not sure what to do. Bit confused as getting different advice on here from people who've been through it.
Just want my old doggy back. 
[Image Can Not Be Found]I know if we take him back to the vets though he'll be fine and running around etc.
maybe I just need to be more patient.
Update: just took Scooby out for 5 min walk on field next to our house. He loved it-lots of vigorous tail wagging. He did stop and have a rest a few times and he is now flaked out but at least he perked up for 5!
Hi There,
I can only speak from our own experience, but 6 days post-amp is so very early still in the recovery. At 6 days, we were still helping Ellie up and down the back steps (6 of them) with the sling and letting her lie on the back patio sleeping/watching as much as she wanted. She was barely able to hop a few steps w/o having her back leg crumple, it was so weak for the job it needed to do (holding her up when she squatted or walked). More than once she'd cry out in pain when we tried to help her get up (knife-in-heart). She could not really lay down easily by herself and seemed to want to stay down once she got down.
We also worried that she was depressed, but looking back I think she was just still dopey from the medications (esp Tramadol) and basically did not feel like moving much. It was probably a week after the stitches came out that we finally turned the corner and making solid progress every day, so that was like 3 weeks post-amp. Some dogs do seem to recover lightening quick. Not our Ellie! So from this distance, Scooby's recovery seems pretty typical.
The one issue we had was w/ eating. Whether it was the drugs or what, we'll never really know. But Ellie got extremely nauseous during those weeks. If you offered her food, the smell seemed to just turn her stomach. She'd start drooling and just turn her head away. She lost 10 lbs during those weeks. We tried everything to get her to eat! In the end, she went back to the vet for sub-cutaneous fluids and a dose of Cerenia (anti-nausea) and we followed up w/ 4 more days of Cerenia at home. She was so so much better after that. The doctor said that the fluids are really just supportive care, but just makes them feel better overall. It is something to perhaps consider if you are really worried about Scooby eating.
Denise, Bill and Angel Ellie.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
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