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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Hello. We are new to the site and thank each and everyone of you for your stories. Reba is a 5 year old mastiff who had her left hind leg amputated 13 days ago. While the initial biopsy suggested it was a chondrosarcoma the biopsy of the amputated tumor came back 2 days ago as an osteosarcoma. The last 13 days have been rough but her progress considering is better than I expected. While on hydromorphone and gabapentin she would not sleep, she would pace the room, breath heavily, pant, and walk herself into corners. Finally the doctor had us take her off all meds on day 6 and she slept soundly and moved around moderately the next few days. Yesterday, she was much more like herself she greeted us at the door, looked for her friend the chipmunk and two nights ago was the first night she slept through the night. However, last night she whimpered and cried for quite some time. She was willing to eat and drink but I felt like the crying was in pain. I also think that she was breathing heavier than normal. But I could just be noticing it more now. So my question to you guys is "is it normal for phantom leg pain to appear two weeks after surgery?" and is the heavy breathing a sign she is in pain? Thanks again for all your help!
Phantom pain is a possibility and you could re-start the gabapentin. It was most likely the hydromorphone causing the panting before. My Mastiff Tazzie weighs 185# and I think that we gave 900 mg twice a day for a week then gradually tapered over the next few weeks. Does her incision look okay?
If she is still painful then I would ask your vet about Tramadol. This is a much weaker narcotic than hydromorphone and less likaly to cause side effects. Your vet might also prescribe an NSAID like Deramaxx or Metacam.
Welcome to the group!
Pam and Tazzie
Cosmo started out on Tramadol, which made him extremely hyper. He would just pace and couldn't lay down or relax. We switched him to garbapentin, which worked well on him. He does take Metacam once a day for pain. Cosmo still has bouts of panting. I give him crushed ice which seems to clam him down and stops the panting. He had his LR leg amputated 7/24/09.
Good luck!
Joyce and Cosmo
Hi Rebasue, thanks for joining us here. We know the heartbreak of a cancer diagnosis, and you've got a lot of people here who've also been there, and can offer you some excellent advice. By the way, Tazziedog is our official Tripawds vet here, so she really knows what she's talking about.
What we can offer is; not a lot of time has passed since the surgery. You'll find that the recovery can have it's ups and downs, and include things like panting or crying. Most of the time it's just normal, and related to all of the meds running through our systems. After two weeks usually, the symptoms dissipate. But we caution you' if your instinct says to call your doctor, then do it. It's worth the peace of mind.
Good luck, and please keep us posted OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
First, we are very sorry to hear of your diagnosis and welcome to this wonderful discussion group. I want to echo all that has been said to this point. Every dog responds slightly differently to the chemicals and surgery so it is not really possible to say definitively what is causing the conditions you are seeing. Cherry did not respond well to any of the chemicals. While I realize that the pain killers, appetite stimulants, anti-nausea, andchemotherapy chemicals all had a very positive effect upon Cherry's recovery, all also had troubling side effects. As an example, the Tramadol that has helped so many caused uncontrolled convulsions in Cherry. Once we removed the Tramadol, the convulsions stopped.
Jerry said it best that in time most of these symptoms dissipate (as does the chemicals), but you instincts will guide you best and I too made a number of trips to my local vet to deal with the conditions of the moment. The results for many of these trips were very positive, but on others they just helped to make me (Dad) feel better. You will need time but do not pass on a vet consultation if you think that it can help. How's that for an unambiguous "Maybe". What we really are trying to say is you know Reba best and you should trust that your decisions will be the best for Reba. You have already demonstrated a closeness and an awareness that many owners do not have. (Except for those here on this site!!)
Paws crossed and all the Pawsitive Thoughts Possible,
Bob & Cherry
Thank you all. This group has been very comforting already. The last three nights Reba has cried at midnight (like clockwork) but she hasn't cried during the day. As she is used to sleeping upstairs with the rest of the family, part of the crying may be loneliness. We've learned that if we get her outside and resituate her on the couch and sit with her until she falls to sleep that she seems to sleep until breakfast. This has been reassuring for us. two weeks post amp and she's only getting up once and crying minimally...I really can't complain. She goes to get her stitches removed today which will be the first time in the car since coming home. She hasn't done any steps yet but we have a ramp into our car that we're hoping she'll be able to do. She's sleeping comfortably now and thanks to all of you - mom, dad and her Mastiff sister Erma are sleeping more comfortably too.
Thank you,
Reba and Heather
Glad to hear Reba is more comfortable! Thanks for the update.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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