benny55 said
Glad you got reassurance from the Vet.Yeah,seromas are not unusual.  The fluid will re-absorb  Actually the fact that Iggy is laying on his incision side indicates that the site itself is not too horribly painful.  Some dogs take a couple of weeks before they are comfortable enough to do that.

really bummed the vet isn’t up-to-date on pain management and wouldn’t prescribe the gabapentin. do you think it would be worth the effort to go to a second vet? If I recall, it seems the vet only gave you seven days worth of tramadol anyway. So maybe a second vet would not only give you the gabapentin but he would give you enough for two weeks. Anyway, just throwing that out there.

As far as poop, you might try some steamed squash with some chicken broth or some natural pumpkin (not the pie filling kind,  but the natural kind without additives)    I know it’s worrisome thinking he hasn’t had a poop in a couple of days.   He can only hold it but so long And he will let loose soon,will, promise!

Glad you’re getting some sleep and, hopefully, soon you’ll be back to your normal routine and so will Iggy.   You are doing such a good job of staying on top of things.

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

  

Hi everyone. Today was tough.

We took Iggy to get his shot and they changed his band as well. We took him to our garden (the smaller one next to the room where he is recovering) and we made him walk a little bit. I got a squeaky toy that he loves and he ran for a while trying to catch it (We are helping him with the use of a harness because he falls onto his stump when he lowers his head to sniff.). He didn't poop.

On our way back from the vet we took him to a park to see if that would help. Nothing. Finally, we took him to the backyard where he used to poop before his surgery. He went up the stairs, walked for a while. Nothing. I stopped by the market and got him pumpkin and he ate that along with some chicken. I also gave him some greek yogurt.

He was fine the rest of the afternoon, but didn't want to drink much water. Then at around 6:00 PM his band fell so we decided to clean the wound and put a new band. Whenever we do this he get scared and shakes for a bit. But this time it was like never before. I was very agitated like he had ran a marathon, and he was shaking uncontrollably. I gotta say that I'm usually calmer than my partner in stressful situations, but this time I got desperate and thought that he would die right there. I couldn't think. I called his doctor, and he told me to check his temperature, but he didn't have a fever. I didn't know if he was in pain but his eyes showed so much fear, like he was asking for help. It broke me.

We gave him some water, and he took it but he kept panting and shaking.

Finally, we decided to take him out for a walk to see if that would calm him down. He refused to get up but when he did he just ran outside and pooped. We held him the whole time so he would't lose his balance.

He is now sleeping like a baby. Now it's me who is left shaking.

benny55 said
First of all,

YAAAAAAAAY  FOR  HAPPY DANCE!

I know Iggy feels better, and so do you!

Im sorry he reacted so badly when you changed his band. He had a big day and seemingly had a lot of activity, relatively speaking.clearly he was in pain.  He may also have had an “anticipation of pain” because the Bet messed with it checking g it out, etc  

You mentioned he got a shot.  What was that for?

Did you advocate for Gabapentin again?  As Dr Downtimg said in the avocet article, you need to firmly state the Tramadol isn’t working and you want to use Gabapentin.  

you mentioned stump. Was an actual stump part of the leg left.?

How long did Iggy’s severe pain response last.   Check out links to phantom limb pain and see if his reaction was similar to that.  Again, Gabapentin would help with that

I know it was traumatic to see Iggy in pain and so fearful.  Is it possible you can pretty much leave the wound alone now!  He’s on antibiotics and the incision should’ve stitched properly and tight enough to recent any bacterial from entering  obviously iff the seroma is leaking you need to dap up a y fluid residue 

okay I’ve rambled enough.  Let of today and move forward…just like Iggy is doing!

Hugs

Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!

  

Hi! I was sure I had responded to this but now I can't find what I wrote. Maybe I forgot to hit the submit reply bottom. I need to sleep more!

The shot he got was antibiotics I think, but I didnt want to take him back and forth everyday so we are back to the pills (antibiotics and tramadol) twice a day after his meals. Aside from this I got him Bach rescue drops that I bought on the petshop today to see if that calms him down.

And yes, the stump is whats left from his leg. He likes to lay on it but we keep rolling him over to the other side. Today I did some research on phantom pain , I'm not sure if thats what he had. But every time I touch the wound he starts panting and shaking. The stump itself shakes. This is what scares me the most because he doesn't make any other sounds so I don't know if he's just scared or in pain. 

We decided to leave the wound alone and I just clean it in the morning and before bed, there is still fluid coming out but no blood. What else could I do to reduce phantom pains? will ice help? 

Thank you so much!

jerry said
You are trying so hard to advocate for him, I'm just really sorry your vet is not willing to change. When you are able to focus on other things, and if it's possible where you live, I would switch to another practice that does better pain control. Yes if you have Gabapentin, use it.

Laying on the amputation site usually isn't a bad thing, and usually means they are very comfortable. It doesn't sound like he has phantom pain , which is accompanied by sudden, sharp cries and what looks like sudden fear. It does sound like he has general soreness from the amputation site, and not having better pain medication to control his pain. You can try heat and ice therapy to bring down the swelling.

A stump will twitch, even many years after surgery. Don't let that freak you out too much, it happens with humans too. That's not necessarily a pain indicator, but just misfiring nerves. 

  

Hi Jerry, yes, I will probably go back change practice as soon as the doc takes out his stitches. Today is two weeks after Iggy surgery and up until saturday he was showing a lot if signs of improvement. He was sleeping better, walking a bit more, being able to pee and poop by himself, and even wanted to play with a ball. He was eating and drinking enough water.

However, yesterday was odd. He woke up and I could feel something was off. He insisted on laying down most of the time. And he started shaking a lot again (He stopped doing it or it only happened once or twice a day). But yesterday it happened around 4 times. I tried to get him to get up and he could barely walk. He fell many times and he just seemed like he has no balance whatsoever. It kinda looked like he couldn't hold his own weight so we helped him walk, pee and poop just like we had to the first days after the amputation. He barely drank water and refused to eat. Eventually he did eat but you could tell he did not want to. 

The only thing is that yesterday we gave him the antibiotics a little later than usual because I ran out. This time I got the generic kind. We also tried to cover the wound with a band in the morning and he hates it. He slept most of the day and trough the night. He just seemed exhausted. 

I'm very concerned, I'm waiting for it to be 9 am so I can phone his vet, but I just wanted to know if there are any thoughts on why he's behaving like this. Could it be the medication?

Thank you!