Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello all. My baby (11 year old pittie) was just diagnosed with possible osteosarcoma with a mass on his scapula. They did a front leg amputation this past Friday. They think they got it all and lungs look clear. Anyways, it’s day 4 post op now.
He stayed overnight and Saturday and we picked him up on Sunday. He’s on Trazadone, acetaminophen with codeine, and Carprofen.
First day we got him back, he hopped around well. The vet said she was surprised how well he’s doing. Got him home and resting. He slept through the night well.
Monday, he walked around a little and did a few nibs on his toy. Went outside without harness for the first time and walked around to pee and poop. He ate ok but not great.
This morning, he woke up and went outside and ventured further than he had gone before and peed and pooped. He’d been laying around my home office with me all day just sleeping. He didn’t want to eat a whole lot and he didn’t want his treat either. He loves his nightly treats. He hopped around a little in the house following us around and then he laid down in the living room with us. Just seems like he can’t get comfortable and is panting. He finally gets still and stops panting and is asleep now. We don’t push it on movement. If he wants to get up and walk, we let him but if he wants to just lay around that’s ok by me too.
However, my wife and I are just feeling crappy like our boy is not the same. He doesn’t even really want to get up to do anything if we call him today. He doesn’t have much of an appetite and he just seems sad and not himself. His incision is healing well though I think. Could use your opinion on if it looks ok. My wife is always asking if we did the right thing. I just hate seeing him like this. He’s doing so well moving around and getting up on his own though. This evening just seemed worse than the other nights. I appreciate you all in advance!
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Hi Justin and pup. What's his name?
Sounds like you are managing his recovery very well! Good attitude, and not pushing him too hard is perfect. His medication might need some adjusting. Trazadone is not a pain reliever, just a sedative. Most dogs who are on it tend to get their sparkle back once Traz stops. Talk to your vet about taking him off it, since he may not need it at this point. Usually it's only helpful for more active dogs who need to chill out during recovery. Traz can make many dogs off-kilter and super out of it.
Is he not on Gabapentin? If not, he should be. Gabapentin calms angry nerves caused by amputation. A good dose of somewhere around 300 mg 3x daily is typical for a dog his size, and so helpful.
Appetite comes back when pain gets under control, and medication gets dialed in. He will get there! You'll start feeling better about the decision too once you see that happen.
Here's how adding images works.
Basically you need to:
- upload a photo somewhere like your own Tripawds blog, or a public image hosting site like Imgur.com
- then copy the image URL (or just tap the image and copy it if you're on a mobile device)
- return here, and paste the image into your forum post.
Hope that makes sense. Let us know if you'd like help!
We know how rough these first several days of recovery can be. Remember, he just had major surgery and is trying to adapt to his new gait on three. The panning Etc certainly seems to be pain signals . The Trazodone is a strong sedative and does nothing to manage the pain. Many doctors prefer Gabapentin over the codeine for pain management so you might ask the vet about adjusting the meds he's on and the dose and the frequency. All of the dtrong hospital meds are out of his system now so this is the time when tweaking the pain medicine becomes crucial.
It's not unusual at all to be questioning your decision right now. We call this part of the recovery the "what have I done to my dog" time. It may take another week or so, but soon you will be saying "you did this FOR your dog". Keep his activity level to a bare minimum and just for potty breaks and back into rest. Give, him any yummy foods he'll eat at this point. It's good that he is partying and that he is drinking and at least eating some. I think if you can get his pain better controlled you'll see an increase in his appetite.
How much does he weigh? How frequent is he given the codeine and what is the amount? Again, talk to the vet about giving him Gabapentin and maybe dropping the sedative but keeping the Carprofen
We know it's hard to be patient and we hate to see our dogs be so miserable. Again, keep in mind this is Major surgery. Humans would still be in the hospital and probably on a morphine drip. The fact that your boy is mobile already is a really good sign.
Here's a link for adding images . Give it a try and if you need any additional help just let us know. We'd be glad to post pictures for you
Update us when you get a chance and let us know if his pain is being managed better but maybe switching to gabapentin and dropping the trazodone.
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!
Hey Justin,
Just to add to what Sally and Rene have mentioned 4 days post-op means that most likely the long term pain relief that they give at the incision site (or sometimes fentanyl patch) will be pretty much gone, so the pain will definitely increase because of that. I agree with everyone saying he should be on gabapentin. the hardest days for me were days 4 through 8ish because you desperately want to see progress and them feeling better, but there's usually a dip instead and it's heart wrenching. Hang in there!
I feel you on missing the sparkle ad feeling like you made a horrible decision. Ellie is 2 months post-op and I still remember that feeling so vividly. I agree that if he's pretty mellow guy ditch the Trazadone, I gave Ellie one dose and she was a literal zombie just staring into the abyss for about 36 hours. It was so not needed.
Hey all,
Thank you for the kind words and encouragement. My baby’s name is Kota and he’s approximately 64lbs. Heres the incisions (if i did the picture loading right)
I talked with the doctor this morning. She said we could take him off Trazadone and Carprofen and leave him on the Tylenol. Maybe I should call my regular vet and see if they recommend gabapentin. He started panting just now about 30 minutes before it was time to take his pain med and is still panting. I imagine it’s from the pain. He seems to do better in the mornings.
Today is the first day he’s been off Trazadone (since this morning) and he had some times where he would shiver like he was cold. Maybe it’s cause he’s missing a lot of hair on his side and back now? I cover him and it seems to help. I can also watch him laying there or if he lays with his head up and you can literally see his heartbeat make his ears and body visibly moving in time with his heartbeat like it’s super strong or something. Not irregular or fast or anything.
Also, biopsy came back to confirm osteo. However, showed no signs that it had spread at all and was not in the lymph nodes and they thing they got all of it in surgery so I guess that’s a small win.
Oh yes, please get in touch with your Vet...or some Vet...and get him on Gabapentin asap!!! DEMAND IT!! The shivering, the panting. pounding heartbeat, ALL pain signs!!. The Tylenol is basically doing nothing for MAJOR surgery pain like this!!! The Carprofen at least was helping with inflammation and helped with pain a tiny, tiny bit. It's hard to believe that some Vets are still way behind the times when it comes to managing pain in dogs.
Okay..off the soap box now, but do let is know if you can get some Gabapentin tomorrow.!!!
Now, it is good news the lungs look good and the lymph nodes are clear. So be sure and celebrate that!👏
AND Kota's incision looks really, really good!
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! You guys are the best! I went to my local emergency vet (only place open) and pleaded my case and they wouldn’t give me any unless I brought him in. I even brought all his meds in to show them what was going on but no. So I’ve been doing some heat therapy and giving him belly rubs, ear massage and massaging the area around his amputation very very gently. It seems to make him relax and stop panting enough to fall asleep. I’m making sure I bring him water to drink periodically.
I tried to get up and go sit in my chair but he hops right up and tries to follow me over and up into the chair. I have to stop him before he jumps up and finally I just said “ok daddy is gonna just stay down with you” I made a futon in the living room where I’m sleeping every night until he is well enough to get back in bed with myself and the wife. He rested his paw on my leg and I scratched it until he went back to sleep. So here I lay with my baby and my rescue on my other side being a concerned brother:
Tomorrow morning first thing I’m calling the doctor on his case and asking for her to prescribe the gab for him. I’ll keep you guys posted! Thanks so much again. Your support is what’s keeping me going strong for Kota.
JUSTIN! that picture is so precious! It's easy to see how much Kota means to you and how much you mean to Kota, I love that you are able to comfort him at this time.
I wonder why your vets are being so staunch about the pain medications. My understanding is that Gabapentin is very standard to give in a lot of pain management scenarios, not only that but has very little risk and very few side effects (even long term). Ellie was on carprofen for a week (a hard stop on that because long term it can cause liver issues), but she stayed on the gabapentin for 6 weeks (slowly reducing the dosage/frequency) with a standing order from my vet that if she becomes uncomfortable again to start giving it again on a schedule. So I hope the call to the vet went well!!
In other news, his incision looks amazing, nice work! I don't know if you are already doing this, but I took pictures of Ellie's incision twice a day on my vets recommendation to be able to see gradual changes for better or worse. Thankfully Ellie didn't have anything remarkable to report, but I was thankful having them to go back to when my mind started playing tricks on me and convincing me it was getting worse.
Look forward to your update!
Awwww what a sweet photo, I'm so glad you figure out pictures! Kota is a lucky pup to have such a great advocate for a dad.
Many vets are understandably hesitant about pain control medication these days, but this is such a major surgery and it requires the strongest pain meds known to aid in pain control. Whitney is right, gabapentin is really standard to prescribe for amputation recovery. The shivering is a pain signal and it needs to be addressed. I hope your regular vet is willing to give you some.
Be sure to check out Dr. Downing's videos. She's one of the world's best pain management experts talking about pain control and advocating for your Tripawd. Keep us posted!
Hi all! We had a great day today! I called the surgeon and she was still not wanting to give him the gabapentin. I told her what all was going on with Kota and she told me it didn’t sound like it was pain related. She recommended I take him to my vet for an exam and they could prescribe it. So I called my vet and explained the whole situation. They said sure let’s put him on it and so I had him on his first pill in the morning.
The difference between yesterday and today have been night and day. He wasn’t shivering or panting in the afternoon and he ate very well. He is normally a picky eater and we have to change tactics regularly to add stuff to his food to eat. Not today. He ate all his kibble and some chicken breast I cooked for him! He’s also drinking lots of water.
I think he may have over exerted himself this afternoon once my wife got home. He follows me everywhere and was just up and down doing stuff and walking pretty fast. I gave him his second gabapentin pill this evening about an hour ago. He has spent the last hour panting but is now snoozing and resting.
I was wondering if someone could help me with a few questions (I’ll also ask my vet and see what he says). Should I still be giving him his Tylenol alongside the gabapentin? His gabapentin (400mg) is prescribed for 1 - 2 times daily and his Tylenol (60mg) he takes at 0800, 1600, 2200. I’ve also notice his incision keeps twitching (kinda like when their ears do when something is itching it) or like it’s jumping or he’s trying to move it? Not sure what’s going on there.
I may sound weird, but I tell him all the time all day that we are so proud of him and that he’s doing such a good job and such a strong boy. Sometimes I think he understands English lol. He’s way more of a daddy’s boy than he is momma.
Wow!! What a great recovery Kota seems to be having!! So happy to hear you got the gabapentin too. Kiki and I are Sending good vibes to Kota and your family (:
Good job of advocating for Kota and getting that pain under control!
So glad you and Kota are already seeing the results👍.
If I'm reading t this right, there is an " option" of giving the 400 mg Gaba either once or twice daily. Defi and go with the twice daily! You can try it spaced out every twelve hours, but can move it to every eight if he starts showing pain signs before the next dose due.
Cant really address the Tylenol as it wasnt in my "wheelhouse" for Happy Hannah. She was on the.Carprofen for, if I recall, at least even days. FWIW and only in my unprofessional opinion. I would stick with the Carprofen. and not bother with the Tylenol. Both are for inflammation but we generally see the Carprofen used more often in conjunction with Gaba. Again, not a Vet....just my opinion.
The incision twotching is "normal" at this point. You can try genrly massaging around the incision. Just still nerves adjusting to a leg no longer there.
You are among kindred spirits! I can assure you we all talk to our dogs too! And we are sure they undersdtand!!
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!
Sincerely, thank you so much. I truly appreciate you all taking time out of your day to be this involved and supportive. If it weren’t for you guys, we’d be so alone and stressed. I was really suffering emotional before I found this place. I hope when I’m through this with Kota, I will be able to do the same for others to come!
Oh yay on the improvement! And yay for your awesome vet! How did today go?
I am going to x2 on Sally's wise input. If you feel he is still in pain you can try alternating the meds to see if that helps. Each work differently to control pain. Do keep the NSAID as prescribed though, it helps bring down inflammation and works differently than both Gabapentin and Tylenol.
Yes, velcro dogs can definitely overdo it just walking around the house, mine does it all the time! Try to minimize that activity as best you can.
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