Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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Hi All,
I'm just curious how long your dog was on pain meds after the surgery. I decided to not give Cora her tramadol tonight to see if that would help with her night time irritability. The problem is I took her to work with me for the afternoon so I can't tell if she's worn out or if it's making a difference.
Twice today she fell and it really hurt her so I hate to take away the pain med if it's helping her. The first time she fell it really scared me, I've never heard her scream like that.
My heart is aching for my new baby tonight. She's learning to really walk now and getting stronger, which is really good. I know I can't protect her completely.
By the way, I made a big long blog post about her visit with the animal behaviorist: http://blackdog.....haviorist/ if anyone is interested.
Topher
Vet Assistant (in school to be a licensed vet technician)
1.5 years Oncology department, moved to rehab & sportsmed December 2024
Tripawd Angel, Cora the Determined <3
Owwwie, poor baby!! I know exactly how you feel about hearing her cry in pain like that, as we are going through similar heartache with Cassie. I can't comment about going cold turkey on Tramadol, but we also reduced her dosage of Tram from 4 tablets every 8 hours on day 1 & 2 to 2.5 tablets every 12 hours as of today. She was very restless with lots of panting and loopy, unfocused look in her eyes when she was on higher dosage, but we saw a lot less of that today. Good luck with Cora and give her a hug for me.
Jackson, 58lbs, was on 50mg tramadol AM and PM for 1.5 weeks post-op. Then, we went off it. Cold turkey. I know some dogs seem to express depression once off tramadol (withdrawal?), but we went for it anyway. He did fine. And boy, his personality came back! It's a great med, but it does make our pups a little woozy or fuzzy.
Last night, playing a little with Jackson, his back leg buckled and he fell right onto his stump. He yelped, winced, screamed. He came right to me to 'fix it' with those sad, painful eyes. They are the worst! It's been one-day short of his 1 month, so these things can and still happen. I think it was genuine pain for him, and not some weird feeling. He's still healing in there! I comforted and then cupped my hand around his stump. That seems to help.
I guess be prepared for random shouts of pain. It's so hard!
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
Most dogs (including me) are generally on pain meds for about 10 days. Every dog is different, some need it much longer and some not quite 10 days.
When you're trying to manage pain, the thing to remember is you don't want to let the body's pain receptors "wind up", so you keep the body on constant, even doses of medication for a while. If the pain receptors get wound up because there isn't enough pain med in the body's system, it's actually harder, and takes longer, to get the pain under control. Does that make sense? I'm not a doctor so I'm not sure I said that properly.
Judging what a new Tripawd is capable of takes time but you'll figure it out.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I actually got on here tonight to ask a question about going off pain meds and saw this discussion which has been helpful. My Bailey had her last dose of pain meds today. She was prescribed 10 days of rimadyl once a day and tramadol twice a day. Tomorrow will be her first day off meds as prescribed by her doctor, so we will see how it goes. Luckily, I will be home with her all day so I can keep a close eye on her. I am wondering about the amputation site...how long does the stump remain sensitive to bumps and falls? I imagine falls on their stump, like the one fetchon3 mentioned, could hurt for a long while after surgery. Does that sight remain sensitive for a long time?
Hi all,
Thanks for all the replies. Cora is of the tramadol and doing well with that. However I'm still giving her metecam. She's finally become the typical active pup, but she's still wobbly so she's been falling and managing to bang her stump. I have another week's worth so I'll keep it up through the week and then take her off
Chris and Cora
Topher
Vet Assistant (in school to be a licensed vet technician)
1.5 years Oncology department, moved to rehab & sportsmed December 2024
Tripawd Angel, Cora the Determined <3
Good question, MyBailey. No idea. I was surprised Jackson yelped like he did the other day. But, we're only a month out and I guess it makes sense that his stump is still tender. I'll ask his onco about it Friday. Anyone else know - someone with a pup many months post-amp?
ACL tear in right hind leg 12/5/12 and scheduled ACL repair surgery 12/21/12. Pre-op xrays revealed osteosarcoma. Amputation 12/28/12. Chemo (carboplatin) started Jan 10, 2013 and ended on April 5, for a total of 5 doses. He handled carbo like a champ! No side effects. We started metronomic therapy at his third chemo and have been also doing some holistic treatments. He's a lively, playful 10 year old huskie-boarder collie and a very proud member of the Winter Warriors! Our love. Our funny little guy!
mybailey said
I am wondering about the amputation site...how long does the stump remain sensitive to bumps and falls?
I think that can vary from dog to dog but you'll be able to tell if it hurts by Bailey's behavior. In my experience it was rare that I really hurt my amp site, and as far as Tripawds Spokespup Wyatt Ray , well he bangs around his stump all the time without a whimper. We dogs are pretty tough, unlike humans..my Momma sez that when she got in a motorcycle accident and lost a huge bit of the muscle around her knee, it's been sensitive to bumps since then and that was over 10 years ago, so when you lose a leg it's definitely more sensitive around that area.
Unfortunately a lot of this experience is just a wait and see kind of thing. Try not to worry!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I can tell you it took almost 2 months for Sassy to lay on her amputated side. I knew it was sensitive and she would lay on it when she was ready. Some dogs take longer than others and their stumps remain more sensitive. I don't rush anything Sassy does. She fell a couple of times right after amputation so I think that is why she is more leary of doing a lot of things.
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
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