Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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Hi there
Brilliant advice, thank you
Vet has removed some extra lumps that we knew were there as Daisy had had a previous low grade Mast cell .
Good question re ramp .. I was thinking further down “ her journey”” re walks and going in car . We have a small van…
Just think we’ll play it by ear .. but fortunately our house is virtually on one level, husband has got two stair gates sorted .. and she will be able to get out to the garden .. for the necessary !!!
Was wondering about these all in one onesies ! Post op to protect the site ? but not sure .. vet not suggesting anything except a collar post op and pain meds .
PS …you’re right .. feeling weary tonight on this emotional roller coster !
Get well soon Daisy! Glad to hear you made it through surgery. And now, on to healing!
Recovery shirts are great. If Daisy will accept the recovery cone then yay, it's really a the best way to protect an incision as long as she can't reach it to scratch with a back leg. That's where recovery suits come in, they can be quite handy by covering up incisions while allowing air flow. They also help a dog stay a little warmer where their fur is missing.
What pain meds is she coming home with?
Brilliant advice thank you
I have ordered one but not convinced size will be right . Got a blow up collar to try !
No idea re meds yet
Hello all
So Day 1 post op for our brave girl Daisy
We brought her home this morning, quite alert but not moved ..
Meds wise , had Metacam injection before leaving vet but she’s had issues with that in past so not happy to try that again. The only other med scribed is Pardale - half a tablet , three times a day . Vet Practice say she can’t have anything else in additional till review on Friday, so we will see how she goes . Apparently pooped before we brought her home , eaten well there , not interested in drinking or peeing at the moment .. hopefully later .
Did cry out when lifting her into house .. have got a supportive sling which allows her to weight bear but has twins so we can support incase she toppled over.
We can access physio ? 2 weeks ? but again see what Vet says on Friday..
Just relieved she’s got thru it and home again
PS haven’t mastered how to upload a photo sadly x
PPS.. might be a daft question! but Daisy is alert but not moved since we brought her home about 4 hours ago .. do we just wait till she gets a bit restless to help her try and maybe pee ? Thank you
Hi Julie,
I'm so glad she's home with you, that's great. She is likely really exhausted and wants to rest. Let her. Vut I would not let her go more than 12 hours without urinating. Don't worry about 
, that will happen in time. Do what you can to encourage her to go outside to wee, even if you have to bribe her with a really tasty food.
The Meloxicam injection is a good thing. You want that inflammation to come down. Giving it to her short term shouldn't cause any issues.
But I'm concerned about the Pardale they prescribed. I'm not a vet so take this for what it's worth. I'd never heard of it and learned it's dispensed in the UK as a pain reliever, but when I looked it up, I don't like what I saw. It sounds like a pretty weak medication for this level of surgical pain, the equivalent of Tramadol, a medication once commonly given out but not so much anymore because evidence shows it's not enough for amputation post-op pain. I get the sense that Pardale is in the same category of old-school, ineffective medications:
Evidence shows that the codeine in Pardale-V is unlikely to have an analgesic effect in dogs because of poor bioavailability. Furthermore,
Did she get a 72 hour pain reliever called Nocita? It's an injection given during the surgery, and lasts 3 days. Check your invoice. I'm hoping she got it. Because if all she came home with is a Meloxicam injection and Pardale, it sounds like she has a very low level of pain control that may not be enough for her.
Watch for signs of anxiety, restlessness, panting. If she shows any pain signals like these, please don't wait. Call your vet and request a stronger pain reliever. Gabapentin is commonly given to help with nerve pain. And something like Tylenol with Codeine is commonly given in the UK too.
Please keep us posted.
Took awhile to get through the posts under your Daisy but here I am at posting....LOL..... First and foremost this is a great place to share and get advice. The one very big thing I took away from the moderators here is "every dog is different". With that said you can get alot of hope from that statement. I always pray Lacey will beat the odds.... How can I think otherwise....
Let me tell you what I think about your immediate position post surgery. I took two weeks off and slept next to my Lacey. My wife had the meds set out and I did my very best to take care of her(a few tears while I write this). THIS WAS THE HARDEST part of the journey for me. Was it hard to find out she had cancer, uh yeah. Is it hard to think she could relapse, uh yeah...... Giving Lacey meds to make her a droopy mess was hard but I did it..... Looking at her scars was tough too......... BUT....... a few weeks later she started doing her thing...... Today with a missing front left leg I see absolutely NO difference from before the surgery and after. She flies through the air to catch balls, she complains as usual that we don't feed her enough, she sits on my lap etc......
That's our story in a nutshell. She is a beast and rules the house where we have another lab and a Bichon. She is the alpha....female....
I am sorry you have to go through this and there will be some decisions to make on treatment but what you did was the RIGHT thing.... You will see....
Good luck and reach out if I can answer any questions... Again, "Lacey's story is Lacey's story", yours will be different.
Thank you so much for your support. Have actually spoken to our vet about Daisy’s pain relief as she hasn’t moved since 1030 this morning and it’s now 1920 ! he’s upped her Pardale v for the night with a view to adding something tomorrow if necessary which I kind of think it will be …
Never heard her yelp like earlier which hope to get under control.. I understand it’s very early days ..
I hope everything is going well for Lacey now, your wife and other dogs …
Thank you again
PS off to find your story now
Hi Jerry ( don’t think that’s your name so apologies)
I’m actually a registered nurse and I do agree with all your guidance about Daisy’s pain relief .. he’s upped the Pardale to 1 tablet three times a day .. one before bed tonight … with advice to us to ring in tomorrow morning if we still think pain relief needs sorting which I think she will need .
Lovely vet and Practice . I understand now , I need to think more like a dog , but all dogs are different.
Thank you for your great advice
PS still have sorted how to upload photo ,will look again next week
Hope all is going well with you and yours .
PS sorry yes she did get some sort of injection, hopefully to last for 3 days
Hi again
Will chat to vet tomorrow as Daisy seems comfy at the moment. Tylenol with codeine you mention , seems similar to Pardale v , but can’t see used locally.
Thank you again
Just want to pop in and ditto everything Jerry said about pain management . Don hope the Vet has other options like Gabapentin to propose. If she had a Nocita injection, when that wears off soon she definitely needs better pain management .
Anyway, would love to see pics of Daisy and more than Happy to post some for you. I'm going to PM (private message) you my email and you can send me some that way.
And yes. LACEY is a great example of how well a dog does after recovery 👍
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS....Jerry's human name is Rene......Jerry is that name of their GSD who started the site and raised awareness around the world h0w well a dog can do on three! Be sure and read his story
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!
Thank you Sally,
Rene’s book should arrive from Amazon tomorrow… got a feeling I / we will be doing a lot of reading alongside Daisy gazing !
Julie
Ger ready to want to snuggle with this cutie-pa-tootie right through the screen. Daisy is an ADORAVBLE four legger, but she is going to add another layer of "adorableness" as a tripawd👍
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!
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