Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello,
Happy came home last Thursday, 4 days ago from having his front left leg amputated. When he first got home he seemed to be in pain, but he still got up a bit, came into the kitchen when we were making food, and was interested.
Yesterday and today he hasn't moved around much at all. When he does get up, he whimpers. His incision looks really good, barely red at the bottom. He's on tramodol and a sedatative to keep him from being active. He wags his tail, he's eating ok. I worry that he's not drinking enough. He goes outside to pee and poop with lots of encouragement.
Even right now he's laying next to me and he whines every once in a while. So, I'm just wondering why he's barely moving around now, and why he whines a lot. He's been on tramodol before without any issues. I'm wondering if we should try a different med?
How many days of pain meds should he be on? The vet gave us 10 days of pills.
I can't figure out how to upload a pic. It says there is an attachment button. Anybody know where that is?
Thanks,
Happysmom
happysmom said
He's on tramodol and a sedatative to keep him from being active.
No wonder he's not getting up and around so much! And, he really shouldn't be anyway. Only short leashed leashed potty time is recommended. All Happy needs right now is lots of rest and confinement. The whimpering is a common side effect of Tramadol, and sudden outburst may indicate phantom pain . Don't miss the Tripawds News blog posts about how to tell if your dog is in pain. Or, search all blogs here for many more helpful pain management posts and podcasts!
How many days of pain meds should he be on? The vet gave us 10 days of pills.
Every dog is different. Please follow your vet's prescribed dosage in your discharge instructions. Most members report vast improvement once weened of pain meds at 10-14 days.
I can't figure out how to upload a pic....
Here are detailed instructions for adding photos to forum posts . If you don't already share pictures online somewhere, you can start a free blog anytime and upload them there. Need more help? Post in the Tech Support forum or send a PM so we can schedule a time to meet in the Live Chat and help.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
How much and what kind of sedative? Seems to me that sedative plus pain med would make for a pretty lethargic puppy.
Did Happy come home with a pain patch?
Managing pain and pain meds can be tricky as the symptoms of too much and not enough pain meds can be similar. Since Happy was on Tram before the surgery then he may be having some pain. I would talk with your vet about maybe adjusting the dose or adding another med. Maggie came home with a pain patch plus tramadol, which is what my quad-pug Obie came home with after each of his knee surgeries.
Maggie was on pain meds for about 2 weeks, but we were tapering the last couple days.
Overall it sounds like Happy is doing OK- eating, and eliminating. You might try adding tuna water or low sodium broth to his water if he really isn't drinking enough. Or had water or broth to his food.
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
Sounds like maybe Happy isn't getting quite enough pain relief, although like Karen said, managing pain & pain meds can be tricky. The symptoms of over-medication and not enough medication are pretty similar.
Murphy came home on Tramadol, Rimadyl & Gabapentin. He took them for about 2 weeks, with us weaning during the 2nd week. You can also use an ice pack to the incision a couple times a day for about 10 minutes at a time, and massage around the area to help re-absorb the extra fluids.
For pictures, the 'attachment' button is at the top of the box where you are typing and has a picture of mountains on it. It says "insert/edit image."
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
Hi Happysmom!
We're almost 5 months post op for the same leg! The left front! (And we actually just FINISHED chemo yesterday!!!)
Anyways, I think all of happy's symptoms sound normal and just like my Zeus. He would whimper every now and then and I had to time his tramadol so that the level stayed constant. I didn't let him go too long without it. I tried to wean him off of it and I noticed that he wasn't happy, wasn't wagging his tail, and had no interest in anything. So, I put him back on Tramadol and he was a happy dog again...he was just not ready to be off of pain meds. If I remember correctly, I think he was on pain meds for about 10 days to 2 weeks.
Also, we alternated ice and dry heat. For the ice pack, I used one from Target that was $2 and it was the absolute greatest. It was a sheet of 4 columns of ice cubes and you could fold it in half and it could wrap around his incision perfectly! I think it was this one :
http://www.targ.....e+ice+pack
Zeus didn't like heat, but the doctors told us to put rice into a long thick tube sock and microwave it until warm and then put it on him. I only did this a few times.
Does happy have any fluid accumulation? Zeus had a lot, it was bruised and painful and was about the size of a breast hanging from the base of his incision. We had some of it drained and the rest absorbed into his body over time.
Things DO GET BETTER from here!! I promise it gets easier!
Heather
Heather
Pit Bull Mama to Zeus (10 year old Tripawd :-) & Pennie (5 year old)
Zeus became a Tripawd on 07-28-2015 and surgery was done at the University of Florida. He had a sarcoma in his left elbow joint and amputation was done of the entire arm and shoulder blade. Diagnosed with Osteosarcoma 08-12-2015. Secondary cancer - Adenocarcinoma - in anal gland diagnosed and removed in October 2015. Finished 6 rounds of Carboplatin on 12-21-2015!!! Woohoo!!!!
Here are photos of the ice pack and heat. You can see it folded in half too!
Heather
Pit Bull Mama to Zeus (10 year old Tripawd :-) & Pennie (5 year old)
Zeus became a Tripawd on 07-28-2015 and surgery was done at the University of Florida. He had a sarcoma in his left elbow joint and amputation was done of the entire arm and shoulder blade. Diagnosed with Osteosarcoma 08-12-2015. Secondary cancer - Adenocarcinoma - in anal gland diagnosed and removed in October 2015. Finished 6 rounds of Carboplatin on 12-21-2015!!! Woohoo!!!!
I love those pictures! Thanks for posting.
We talked to the vet, and we cut his Acepromazine (sp?) in half. He's a lot more perky, but he's also a lot more anxious. He sits and whimpers quite a bit, but it doesn't seem like a pain whimper as much as it seems like an 'I want something' whimper.
The vet said he sounded like he was behaving normally for a doggie who just had surgery a week ago. His incision looks really good, but I haven't looked at it while he's standing up to see if it's got a lot of fluid build up. We have him in a tshirt all the time.
I've been icing on and off, he doesn't seem to mind it at all. I'm afraid to touch the area. How is the best way to massage it?
Thanks,
Debi
Glad you were able to consult with the vet.
Here are some massage tips to take a look at:
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Oh my gosh, Happy looks adorable. It almost sounds like he's just being a Lab. Our Harmony was quite vocal and our Meesha moans and groans all the time and that's when she's happy (no pun there). Maybe it's just you and him both getting adjusted to your new normal?
pam
Harmony became a Tripawd on 10/21/14 (MCT). She left us way too soon on 11/1/14.
"We miss you so much; our love, our heart, our Harmony."
- Pam, Ron and Melody, Meesha, Doublestuff and Mariah Carey
Hope things are going better. Callie had a front limb amputation as well (right leg) and was on Tramadol for about two weeks. Increased her drooling and she panted a lot also made her a bit nauseous so we had her on anti-nausea med as well. She is now 3 months post amputation and had 2 more chemo sessions to go (6 sessions total). She is now running/hopping, rolling in the snow and is no longer in pain. We take each day and live in the moment. She is a 7 year old Great Pyrenees, I adopted her from a GP Rescue at age 5 so she has only been with me for two years.
cbart123 said
Callie had a front limb amputation as well...
Welcome and best wishes for Callie!
Please consider starting a new topic or blog to share youe story and be sure to bookmark Jerry's Required Reading List for lots of helpful links or start here for help using the Tripawds network. Your future forum posts will not require moderation.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Wow reading all these comments about pain med our Leo wasn't given anything bless him..
I am sure you both are just adjusting to the whole 3 legged things as if your anything like me I was panicking every noise that was different and all sorts lol!
Day 6 is a good day I think when you get to day 10 its considered here as the chance infection is dramatically reduced and the wound should start to look better!
Good luck keep us posted!
Me and Leo!
Proud Mummy to Leo the Trio
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