It could be that she isn't on ENOUGH pain meds, too. I'm not normally a huge med pusher, and generally think (for both dogs and people) frequently more is given when less willl work...but sometimes, as they say on the AT&T commercials, more really is more.

We found that Rimadyl didn't do much for Sam's arthritis pre-surgery, let alone any other pain he might have either form the cancer/amp or the increased use of his three remaining limbs. We switched to Prioxicam (we did not do chemo either) and Tramadol, and eventually to prednisone and Tramadol (I WANTED to stay with the piroxicam for the anti-tumor properties, but his stomach just wouldn't handle it).

Sam is pretty used to being hand-pilled, since he's been on thyroid meds for years, but the tramadols he would TOTALLY foam up and spit out. The solution we found was to wrap them in a slice of lunch meat (buddig, in particular), and he swallows them down without chewing. I can't hide them in anything else...but that seems  to work fine.

He is on 100mg/tramadol 2x a day, and 10mg/pred 1x a day--both of which are lower doses for a dog of his size (or, his former size, I guess...we keep shrinking :p). They seem to be enough right now, but I am thinking soon we will need to up them a bit, and I am fine with it, as, like I said, they are relatively low doses.

At about 3-4 weeks, we started doing PT (which included laser therapy), which I think helped Sam gain a bit of mobility and activity, and helped keep him mentally sharp as well. Just like humans, sometimes if we sit in recovery instead of having an active recovery we tend to sink further into inactivity and lethargy. Tough love, a bit.

Also, three weeks ago, we started acupuncture, and I can say Sam is perkier than he has been in a long time. He may not have the physicality to do all that he wants, but his attitude, desire, and appetite are solid. (Spirit is willing...flesh is a bit weak ) So, if you do not want to add more meds, you might want to look into the acupuncture/alternative healing route.

You should also consider her activity levels before she got sick--if she pretty much just laid around then, that's probably what she'll do now. Sam is good for about 800 meters max these days--and even before, he wasn't going much further than a mile IF we were lucky. Mostly he just...sits in the yard. But that's what he LIKES, so I'm not overly concerned at this point. You really have to judge it based on Emma--not on what everyone else is doing, though. Not much help, I know, but...

I know I said it once, but I'll echo Katy...acupuncture and pt can go a long way. If he (sam) were a person, I might say placebo affect plays a role, but dogs don't do placebo. It either works or doesn't.

I guess I also assumed that Emma was still on meds for related issues...as in arthritis, dysplasia, etc. if that's NOT the case, then yes, I'd wonder what else it could be, for sure and def. investigate with my vet. I'm a big believer in treating the underlying issues I possible, rather than just fixing manifestations of it, if that makes sense.

Hi Jill and Emma

Congrats on your first ampuversary Emma ... and hopefully many more to come!

I thought I would contribute my 2 cents as a pawrent of a senior tripawd. I certainly echo a lot of the comments above.

Peda was 9.5 years old when she had surgery last July.  After surgery, I think I spent a lot of time trying to work out whether she was 'back to her old self'. In hindsight, that wasn't useful for me or her (in our particular situation I hasten to add). I've seen great stories here of dogs who recover very quickly and are up and about and back to their old selves within weeks.

Peda was a quiet old girl before surgery - but was quite fit and active when she wanted to be. She would also be intensely happy to sit in the backyard and sniff the wind. Oh - and she slept ... a lot!

Surgery came along and turned her world upside down - so to speak. Once we got her pain meds to a good dose / mix for her, she spent a few weeks building up mobility. During this time her activity levels varied. She spent a lot of time sleeping (but she did do a lot of that before - I just didn't realise!). And she spent a lot of time learning to get around ... which was exhausting (she didn't have any lameness prior to surgery and so wasn't compensating so her right side really had to be built up). From memory, she was on pain relief for at least a month (of vary levels and types) - tramal cut out at about 2 weeks (maybe less) but gabapentin stopped around 6 weeks I think? (She had it added in for neuralgic pain and it was great).

So her actual activity levels post surgery remained quite low. That's not to say that she didn't get back to 'similar' activity levels etc ... but always trying to work out if she was 'like before' was stressful and at times disappointing as I felt that she wasn't as doing as well as before. In reality, things were very physically different for her and it did take time to get to a stage where she was doing well mobility wise. In reality, one month is not that long - particularly for older doggy.

Peda had no obvious signs of arthritis at time of surgery, but by 5 months post surgery she had quite significant arthritis discovered in both back legs. In reality, she probably had some very mild arthritis prior to surgery, and it just ramped up once a tripawd. Not all dogs have issues with arthritis, but Peda certainly did. Once we worked that out, we got her back on decent pain meds and she has stayed on them since (gabapentin has been great for her, along with an injection called 'pentosan' (in Australia) but it slips my mind if it is available OS and what its name is).

Every dog here is different - but from my perspective, it has been helpful for me to stop stressing on Peda's activity levels and focus on how 'happy' she is. At times I was a bit sad that we couldn't do all the same things we could before, but then I slapped myself a little and realised I still had my awesome munchkin with me and she could still give me happy kisses, and snore and hop around the house and chase the kitten and get in to trouble .... I adjusted some of our outings and increased car trips. When going to the beach, I would park near the foreshore and we would hop along in the grassed park area and on footpath as that was much easier for her than the actual beach. We did get her stamina up again to a reasonable distance, but once the arthritis kicked in - I just stopped trying to push her. We still go for walks - but with lots of little hops, heaps of sniffing and lots of sitting. Really we don't walk very far at all - but she has a great time. We also spend lots of time outside when it is nice and sunny (it is just the start of winter here) - and we even go out in the rain if she wants. (Me ... sometimes I stay under shelter and watch her sit in the (drizzle) rain and sniff!). She has lung mets now so her stamina is really really low - but again I've just adjusted what we do to keep her happy and comfortable. It is a bit of a juggling act sometimes ... but just have to get inventive! I did have to restrict some things she tried to do - to protect her remaining legs with arthritis - she got a bit annoyed with some limits but we got around that with extra special other things we started doing.

I don't treat her like an 'invalid' - its about sorting out what she needs (physically) to allow her to do the things she wants to do. I know a few other pawrents have used carts - I thought about it but the expense to get one shipped to Oz was prohibitive at the time with her other expenses. It was a shame - but I just improvised and switched what we did. Some months post-surgery I became more aware she was doing more - and that in reality she was probably getting back to where she was before surgery - although in Peda's case, she hasn't gotten back to pre-surgery activity levels because of arthritis etc. But that's ok ... just took me a little while to be ok about it

Peda attends a pain clinic and the vet hospital where she had surgery and has 'physio' / massage / acupuncture on an as needed basis. It is awesome and we were there today. I think there was a fair bit of headnodding around the room today that having this sort of integrated care really helps. Some (not all) older tripawds just need that bit of extra TLC because they have different challenges to younger tripawds.

I certainly wish we had had access to proper PT program post-surgery but there actually weren't any I could locate in the area we live (the hospital had shut their rehab clinic ) so we just did what could at home - which wasn't great as often helpful to have other pairs of hands. I would certainly encourage you to link in with any PT type activities and also seek assistance with pain meds etc if needed. Don't be afraid to chat to your treating vet / oncologist / surgeon about how she is doing.

I think the telling comment in your post (and as Jerry has just pointed out) is that you say 'She is ten years old and was mostly just lying around even before surgery'.  I think with more senior tripawds we need to look at other indicators than just physical activity to see how our munchkins are doing. As Sally mentioned, how is her attitude, appetite (other bodily things etc? (I am sure our pooches are mortified we write blog posts about their first poops! )  Go with what she is telling you she wants to do. Plan lots of nice things for you guys to do together that you know she gets a kick out of. Just think about how you can do some things a bit differently to make it easier for her.

Again - my heartfelt congrats on getting to one month. That first month is really tough work and it does get better! It's also great you are linked in here to this amazing resource as there are wonderful supportive people here who understand (best they can) what it is like. Sorry this turned in to a bit (understatement!) of a lengthy post.

Kirsty and Peda

Sally - thanks for your kind words - I will try to do update post on Peda later. I hope you and Hannah are both doing well!

Apologies for such a long post above ... I really need to work on that
Jerry - maybe we need a character count limit per post?!?!

Jill - I just wanted to reiterate something in case it was a bit lost in my ramble ... and something raised by those way more wise than me ...! Never hesitate to talk to / nag / hassle the vets. As I've been told a number of times, we are the ones that know our pups the best ... so listen to the gut instinct and don't be afraid to get things checked and reviewed. Whether it be pain meds to be tweaked or some other issue ... and it is not always cancer that is causing the problem ... so deep breathing is good too (us, not them so much) (Peda has a lot of muscle and back ache (quite debilitating) from having to hop along ... so frequent massages have helped etc). I know quite a few other senior tripawds have had injuries post-surgery (Zeus) that slowed recover too.

Make sure you keep us updated!!

Kirsty & Peda

18jellybean said
Thanks so much to all of you for your great comments and information!  I guess I just needed to be sat down and talked to.

So here's what:  I'm going to look into physical therapy again.  She did do a trial on an underwater treadmill.  That would help build up strength in her remaining front leg.  I didn't take an opportunity to speak with the pt vet about what other therapy they might have available, but I'll definitely do that.  I think I'll keep her on her current meds for now and in about two more weeks take her to the regular vet for some x-rays to look for arthritis, etc.  And of course, we're still going to spend lots of time in the yard.  We can't have fences in the association where I live, so I go and sit with her whenever she wants out.  She's supposed to be on leash when outside, but I've been letting her off since I'm right with her and she doesn't venture more than a few feet from me.  That is, until today!  She spotted a cat and took off like a bullet, just to the edge of the yard.  I think she forgot she is missing a leg!  It took a lot out of her though and she has been resting since.

Thanks for letting me know how your own pets are doing.  I'm always interested in hearing how things are going.  Makes me feel hopeful.

Jill

Hi Jill...

we've posted often about our experiences and regimen at PT--and how it may be different for us seniors (well, Sam's the senior, not me...not YET anyway ). Feel free to check out our blog or search on our posts. For us, the strength was needed not in the FRONT leg, but the rear, as they are pretty weak--and now being forced to actually do something.