Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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We brought Toffee home about 7 last night and by 7:30 she wanted UP! Doing a lot of whining and panting. I don't think the wimpering and whining from our other two Grey babies helped the situation. She was still so groggy from the anesthetic/sedative that it made her so unstable and I was afraid that I would pull the stitches or push on her shoulder trying to help her. When we got her outside, she doesn't know how to squat to do her business, so I will probably need to buy new shoes.
Mark and I slept on the floor with her to make sure to catch her everytime she jumped up, and this happened every two hours until about 5 this morning. Even resting, her breathing is very heavy and heart is beating 100 mph. I'm assuming from what I've read here, the pain meds are causing this?
She is drinking and ate some rice and egg for breakfast, which is good, but she hasn't wanted or tried to get up now for about 5 hours, not sure if I should make her get up and move; will call the vet soon to see what he says.
My biggest concern at the moment is helping her move without hurting her...anybody have a suggestion to a better hold?
(Vet just called, had me take her temp because of the heavy breathing, and said not to push her today if she doesn't want to go out.)
Thanks for being here,
Laura
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The vet suggested we use a sling to help Trouble around when we brought her home. You can purchase them, but we used a long bath towel slipped under the chest to help give her some support. She only needed it for a couple of days and then she was good on her own. The first couple of days we didn't force her to go out, but then we knew from past experience she could easily go 10-12 hours between potty breaks if she had to. Trouble did a lot of panting while on the pain meds. You haven't described anything that is out of the ordinary, sounds like Greyt girl is doing Greyt.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Thanks for the support. Toffee finally went out and is moving sooo much better. She's still a little unsteady, but looks like she'll get the hang of this.
Thanks,
Laura
Chuy did the same thing when he came home the first night. Up and down all night, it was the pain meds. He also didn't poop for a few days and could hold his urine for hours on end. We also used a sling that they sent home with him from the vets. When he peed on it, I made one from a reusable grocery bag, just cut it down the sides and you have a sling!
If she's sleeping, let her sleep, she needs her rest too. While she's resting, get some rest yourself, you're going to need it!
Chuy, showing everyone that Tripawds do everything 3 times better than regular dogs!
Laura, that's great news that Toffee is home and doing better. As you can see, our Tripawd family here has a wealth of comforting experience! We second what everyone says; sounds like pretty normal stuff going on.
Remember, dogs aren't used to being doped up and zonked out, she is probably just going through that roller coaster ride of working the meds out of her system. As always, call your vet if you feel uncomfortable about her behavior; there's nothing like that kind of reassurance.
But otherwise, try not to worry so much. Dogs have such an nstinctual way of working through illness and recuperation, much different than humans, as you can see. Toffee will likely be moving about even better tomorrow, and you won't need to support her during potty breaks much longer. As far as appetite goes, she will eat when she is ready. Fasting during illness is a normal part of a dog's healing process. Humans think it's strange, but dogs know that it's really best to save all of their energy for healing, instead of digesting food.
Hang in there. Things will get better.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you so much for giving me this place to share my fears and for giving Toffee and I support. The day has just gotten better and better. She is eating and drinking, she's not panting and hasn't appeared to really be uncomfortable.
Her last "outing" she hardly needed help and almost beat Mark back in the door. A few minutes ago, she stood up with no effort whatsoever, and by the time I said "do you need to go out" she was GONE.....down the hall and in to the bedroom and had already laid down to go to bed. My friend just told me that Toffee was reminding me that she is still a Greyhound.....and that I won't be able to catch her on three legs any better than I could with four!
What a difference 24 hours can make! I hope for everyone here that the progress be this good.
Laura
Laura, I love your last update. That is just awesome. Trouble was very much the same. She really had an easy recovery compared to some. We are the truly lucky ones. Paws crossed that Toffee just does better and better.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Thanks for this greyt update! Panting and bothered behavior is most likely just adverse reaction to pain medication. Just take it one day at a time and keep us posted on how fast Toffee is healing.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Laura,
Would have suggested the sling but it sounds like you are beyond that point in the recovery. You should notice another marked improvement as you stop the chemicals. The pain killers, chemotherapy, and appetite stimulants were all hard on Cherry. They were necessary and did help some of the complications, but there was a huge improvement when all these chemicals were no longer in the system. We all have our paws crossed and look forward to many more great reports as you move down this journey.
Bob & Cherry
Hi all,
Wow, what a blur the last few days have been! Yesterday I was sure I would need to call the doc to make a housecall for sedation......for me! She has decided that things need to get back to normal whether I think its time or not. Mark has an office in our basement and most days Toffee follows him down. The last month or so she hasn't tried to go down, and now we know it was because her leg hurt too much. She saw him go down yesterday afternoon and she looked at me like "just try to stop me" and down she went! 12 stairs and there wasn't a thing I could do about it. She went straight to her bed and back to sleep like she's always done. Luckily we have a walk out, because there was no way I was letting her try to get back up. She was in heaven to be in the back yard with no one holding her. She took care of all her business with no help, took the few steps up our deck and was just pretty proud of herself. I have to tell you that until her stitches are out, and she's completely off pain meds, that basement door will remain closed.
She doesn't have much endurance yet, so she's really tired once she's been out, but she's showing us how relieved she is to not have that pain any longer. We go for a check up tomorrow, so I'll let you know what he says!
Laura
Sounds like Toffee is doing as well as can be expected. Thanks for the update! We found the Ruff Wear harness to be a huge help in assisting Jerry down stairs. With a missing front leg, coming up was no problem!
It won't be long before Toffee starts to regain her strength. Just don't let her over do it for now, and take things one day at a time.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
It is actually much easier for Trouble to go up the stairs than it is to come back down. She is really cautious about steps. She skidded down our bathroom steps (from the shower landing to the floor) and ended up in a heap on the floor. Now I cannot get her back in the shower. She slipped going down mom's front steps one afternoon, so now she goes in the front door as always, but now she goes out the back steps - they are carpeted and she has more traction .
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Toffee's check up went "greyt." Dr. Hecker agrees the basement door needs to remain shut, but was thrilled to hear her spirit is so good. If Mark wouldn't have held her back, she would have tried to jump in the back of the SUV. We agreed to cut her pain meds in half; we can always give her the other half if needed. She is healing better than expected! She goes back next week to have the stitches removed and we'll talk about chemo.
I have to admit I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, I feel all has gone too well.....but that's the mom in me. We will cherish every good day we have.
Thanks for the harness suggestion, I'll order as soon as the red is back in stock, she won't be able to wear it for awhile anyway.
I need to edit the name of the clinic that I posted earlier. Dan Hecker has opened Winding River Clinic in south Kansas City. He left Hecker's Animal Clinic awhile back and it was just force of habit to use that name. We can't thank him and the staff enough for the support they've given.
Thanks to everyone here for your support as well!
Laura and Toffee
Waiting for that shoe cannot hurt, but dreading it can. Prepare for the worst and hope for the best, I say! My bets are, the best will continue.
Just use the "edit" button to fix ytour previous post. Or if you don't see that, let me know and send a link to the post with correct details. We'll fix it for you.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
A week into all of this and we're up and down. Toffee was standing at the end of the bed crying at 1 this morning. She'd had her pain meds and nothing looked amiss but obviously she was uncomfortable. I sat with her, gave her a drink and fiinally she layed down.
We have a routine when I leave for work in the mornings; the girls always get a "cookie" before I leave. I have to soften one up for our old girl. Angel, and the minute they hear the water running, they come bounding into the kitchen. Toffee hasn't come in for the last week, but this morning there she was! She wanted her bone. I was elated!
I came home this evening and my husband said he thought her drainage looked different. When I touched the area around her sutures she whined. I called our vet and he said to bring her in.
Her stitches are healing and all looks okay, she doesn't have any infection, but the healing is stopping the draining. All of what should be draining was building up in her shoulder. He expressed the buildup (not a pretty site, Mark stayed in the waiting room) and went through step by step with me, hot packs, expression, clean up and another week of antibiotics.
She seems to feel better now. She ate her dinner and is resting for the night. I can't wait for these "two weeks of hell" to be over. It hurts so much to see her be in pain. I feel like we take two steps forward and one step back, but we're confident we'll get there.
Thanks for listening,
Laura and Toffee
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