Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi guys,
Doris had her surgery today to amputate her front right leg. The surgeon called me after surgery and again this evening to give me updates. Everything went well! She said there were no problems or complications and that Doris did really well! As of 5:30 this evening she was awake, bright, alert and looking around. She said they would try to get her up and moving a little bit around 8pm and see if she would eat a little and take her heart meds. The overnight staff will call me if anything happens tonight and the surgeon will call me again in the morning to schedule pick up assuming everything goes well tonight. She was pleased with the way surgery went and said it went perfectly. She's very hopeful for a smooth recovery and wants to send her home early afternoon tomorrow. I am beyond relieved to have heard this news!! We've been building up to this day for almost 6 weeks. Lots of anxiety. So to hear that she did so well is just the very best news! Just wanted to share with you all. Hope everyone is having a nice day!
YAAAAAAY FOR DORIS!!!!! SURGERY IS DONE AND THAT BUM LEG IS GONE!!!
Sou ds loke she's in great hands and being watched over very well. Try and get some rest yourself tonight. Your sweet Doris is on some good paun meds right now and happily seeing pink elephants 😎
Let us know when she gets home. Don't even bother to look at her incision or draw attention to it. She just wants to see your smiling face telling her she's going home!
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!
Well this is GREAT news! I'm so glad surgery went well. How's she doing today? Did the vet call with a pupdate?
May she get out of the hospital asap and get home to heal with her favorite people.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
SHE'S HOME!!! We just got home and she's doing well! Resting on her new orthopedic bed . Her incision looks good. I'm going to be taking a series of photos of it so I can track the progress of it. They put a stretchy white fabric on her to act as a shirt to keep the incision clean. She has eaten a few treats with us and they said she ate this am and got her meds. She'll be on deramaxx and gabapentin for a while. We go back in 13 days to get her sutures out. They said she did well last night and was up walking a little earlier today. They carried her out to us because they said she was being stubborn and not wanting to walk. Typical beagle fashion. Haha! They gave us a sling to use to help her support herself when using the bathroom. Strict bed rest, short leash to use bathroom, constant supervision, cold compress for a couple days then warm compress for a few days after that. She's doing good so far, fingers crossed that it stays that way. She's a strong lady so I have every confidence in her!
Oh that is terrific! So glad she made it to her happy place.
Sounds like you got some great instruction from the clinic and I LOVE your attitude! Pawsitivity will take you very far on this journey. Please let us know how we can help OK? And keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
WELCOME HOME DORIS!! GREAT NEWS! And she's eating treats YAY!!!! It's impossible not to spoil a trpawd!!
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!
Thanks guys! We've had quite the night. She ate dinner, drank water a few times, took her meds. I put a cold pack on her for about 10-15 mins like instructed. She was kinda restless the last hour before she was due for her next gabapentin dose. She's on 100mg of gabapentin every 8-12 hrs which makes her kinda zombie like once it kicks in, very tired, not willing to do much of anything. She hasn't peed since she's been home. We have taken her out 4 times and she just doesn't want to. So my last resort, I put a doggy diaper on her. She's snoring in her bed just a couple of feet from my bed so we'll hear her is she moves around. Hopefully she gets some good sleep! So my question to you veterans... Can she lay on the side her incision is on?
As all the strong hospital pajn meed get out of her system, she may have a little bit of a crash in the next day or so. She clearly came home feeling quite spunky for a dog who just had MAJOR surgery while try to adjust to three!
Yeah, even though the Gaba can make her sleepy, that's a good thing right now. Rest, rest, rest. Good job of noting when the pain may have kicked in a little bit an before her next dose. If that was going towards the 12 hr mark, then you definitely have leeway to move it up to the 8 hr mark, or even sooner with Vet approval. It's harder to control pain if it gets a head start.
Yes, if she wants to lay on her incision she certainly can. She wouldn't do it if it was uncomfortable. Many dogs don't lay on their incision right away because it causes discomfort. That said, some do! My Happy Hannah took several weeks before she laid on the amp side, but most dogs don't take that long. Just depends. Every dog is different.
You're going a great job! Can't wait to see pictures of Soris! I just love her name😊
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!
I need some advice. Doris jumped off the couch a little while ago. Her surgery was Monday, this is her 2nd day home. She was sleeping and I got up to grab something from the next room. I had eyes on her, turned my back for a few seconds, heard a noise and she was standing on the couch. She's unsteady and tipped too far and lost her balance. She started to fall and instead jumped off the couch. She landed on her feet though, thank goodness. Her body never touched the ground, she caught herself very nicely. I am worried sick and feeling so so guilty about this. I left her, I shouldn't have. She is not in pain from it or uncomfortable. Her incision looks fine, no change to it, no popped sutures. I am worried about her internal sutures, I doubt there was any damage done though. As I said there was no impact, she landed on her feet. Has anyone had this or something similar happen before? What should I be looking for to keep an eye out for damage to internal sutures? My anxiety has been really bad throughout this cancer/surgery journey and this really really freaked me out. I feel horrible and so guilty. I would really appreciate any tips or insight. Thank you in advance!
Hey Doris & people, I'm in the Tripawds Chat right now if you want to talk. Back in a sec with some thoughts...
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
That Doris is quite the couch surfer! Silly daredevil doggie!
Honestly I wouldn't worry about it if she's acting normally. We haven't heard of any members injuring themselves this way. Usually incision sutures break or come out because the dog or cat wasn't wearing a cone of shame . Keep an eye on the incision for any redness or excessive bruising, or if she suddenly starts licking the area.
Did she finally get the hang of urinating? I hope so by now.
Try not to beat yourself up, it's a learning curve for everyone. We all do things that make us feel terrible during recovery, but trust me, Doris just wants to get on with life and feel better so she needs you to be as strong and pawsitive as possible. You can do it!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Many of our tripawds did things we did not expect. The day after surgery my cat Mona jumped onto a window sill to an open window with a screen and climbed up between the screen and window. Yup, a cat with a scapula and leg can flatten it's body. The pain meds can make them a little goofy.
Mona would lie on her incisions on the cold tile. I would clean her site with a cool, damp cloth and like you would put on ice packs on her. It must feel good to be on the surgical site otherwise they wouldn't do it.
Our tripawds learn that it hurts their body when they do certain things and they learn quickly how to adapt. Doris sounds like she's doing very well and you are taking great care of her.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
Yep, ditto Jerry and Kerren. Stuff like this happens and there is no harm....except giving the hoomans a panic attack!
You'll get more and more relaxed as recovery moves forward. The new normal becomes very normal
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 all so much! I did make a call to the vet hospital just to get some info as to what I should be looking out for. Its just the usual stuff, swelling, redness, fluid weeping, etc. They basically said the same thing you guys did. I just felt so bad about it. She's been acting normal since then, that was 4 hours ago. She's stopped eating her dry food (Fromm) today but will willingly eat basically everything else. She has been peeing and drinking fine. It seems as though sometimes she just doesn't want to pee or the gabapentin makes her a little goofy and she doesn't want to use the bathroom and she'll just sit down. So we don't push it, I always have the diapers just in case. She does have some redness around parts of her incision but it doesn't look alarming, just a little darker than yesterday. I hope that's normal. No unusual swelling or bruising. Thank you all for your kind words, they really mean so much in such a stressful time!
You're doing a great job, okay? It IS a very stressful time getting to this point, but it does get easier. Rem to get some rest yourself. If you're like the rest of us, we've had no sleep for days and have worried non stop avout anything!
We learned very quickly though, that we must take care of ourselves so we can stay strong for our pups. They can pick up on oir energy and it must always be confident and calm and reassuring.
The incision sounds really good. Some redness, some color changes are to be expected in the next couple of days, so no worries.
Keep in mind that Doris just had MAJOR surgery. So to not want to get up to pee or to not feel like eating like a chow hound is not surprising at all. Just give her anything she'll eat at this point. And wait for her to get a little restless, or a little anxious, so you know she's ready to go to pre, rather than randomly taking her out for potty. And yeah, the pain meds can make her a little "goofy" and not very aware of her peeing ritual.
Try not to hover over her too much...jist be as normal as poss. She'll figure things out. And yes, a face plant ot butt plant will happen every now snd them while first adjusting to three.
Hang in there! Recovery doesn't last furever!
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!
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