Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My almost 4 year old Great Pyrenees had his front left leg amputated Tuesday this last week. He is suspected to have histiocytic sarcoma or a soft tissue sarcoma.
We had been doing very well managing his pain up until Sunday late afternoon/night. He started panting more and trembling a bit more than what has been typical for him. He currently has a 75mcg fentanyl pain patch that was applied Saturday morning and is also on gabapentin 600mg 2-3 times a day along with 100mg galliprant. I’m also icing the incision a few times a day for 10-15 minutes at a time.
His vet recently prescribed a little bit of amantadine to try for a couple days to see if we notice any improvement. I’m also curious if maybe I should try a different nsaid?
I’m just curious if there’s anything else I can do or try to help alleviate the breakthrough pain?
thank you so much for any advice. This is my first time dealing with an amputation.
Hi and welcome Lindsey. Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away!
I know how worrisome this is, for most of us it was our first time dealing with amputation too. Pain control is such a tricky part of the recovery. It sounds like your vet is doing a great job exploring different pain management tactics. You don't want to switch to any new meds right now until you try different timing and dosages for what he's on now.
Some questions:
Are you staggering the amantadine and gabapentin? That will give consistent pain relief.
Was he anxious and panting before the Fentanyl? As a opioid it makes many dogs dysphoric. The good news is that it should start to wear off by the end of tomorrow.
Also, what is his activity level like? Sometimes even a potty walk we think is short is too much this early on.
Sorry for all the questions! Oh one more: what's his name?
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