Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Josie had her front left leg amputated last wednesday. She is hoping along okay, can go potty etc but she had a reaction to the tramadol prescribed to her, it seemed to get worse, and not knowing, I called the vet and explained her symptoms. The vet told me that I could double her doseage. This seemed to make her almost psychotic....she was scared of me and of the room we were in. The vet has since suggested that I dont give it to her anymore. She doesnt seem to be in any pain. And since stopping the Tramadol, the whining has stopped. She is still on Deramaxx once per day. But she does not sleep at night. We are up all night due to the fact that she will only lay someplace for 10 - 15 minutes and then has to move. Then we end up taking a 3 hour nap in the afternoon....the vicious cycle never ends, but nights seem to be bad for her.
I am scared that I made the wrong choice....thinking I should have let her have a few good weeks with 4 legs and then put her down. Please tell me this will get better...Has anyone else experienced this? ANY advice....
It WILL get better! I feel your pain tremendously right now for you if that's worth anything at all. Is the vet able to possibly give her something else for pain? Gabapentin possibly? That helped my Maggie TREMENDOUSLY when she was having bad pain attack before she was amputated...she was doing same thing..could only settle for what seemed like seconds and then she was up again....a LONG terrible night with her I'd much rather forget. But please, ask your vet about Gabapentin. Maggie was on that as well after her amputation(as well as Deramaxx). I have read others posting it helps with phantom pains.
BIG HUGS to you and Josie....stay strong for her....
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
well, i'm not an expert on much...but it seems i'm pretty good at beating myself up as well, when it comes to these kind of decisions. you have to know that you are making any and all decisions out of love. you are the only advocate for this little one, and you are doing great. the first few days for gayle were tough, and if i had a dime for everytime i thought i'd screwed up...it would be (in mel brooks' words) 'a sh@@ load of dimes'. take a breath and know you are doing the very best you can and just love that little one!!!
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
Oh my heart is breaking for you! Once you have the pain settled for her things should improve tremendously for you both. My Tehya was also on Gabapentin and had no problems so I would highly recommend talking to your vet about switching to see if will help.
Big hugs to you all,
Darlene (Angel Tehya's Mom)
Homeopathically speaking the remedy Aconite comes to mind for the pain and the fear. If the fear stems from the pain itself, then Belladonna is a good choice to try.....
Hugs to you and her.....
I know how hard it is at the start, and there is no way you'll know you made the right choice until the pain settles and she starts to enjoy things. Try not to second guess yourself. Tripawds do recover and go on to have many happy times, however short or long that time may be. You are giving Josie the very best chance at having her happy painfree life back.
But you need to work with your vet to get through the current obstacle. You say she does not seem to be in pain, yet she gets up every 10-15 min. So, that sounds as though she is in pain. Or, do you think that restlessness is carryover from the tramadol? I thought Tazzie was not in pain and weaned him from tramadol at about 6-7 days. But he became irritable so must have been in pain, so I put him back on. And the GP vet said, of course, his leg was amputated only 1 week ago - of course he is in pain.
If she might be in pain, how about trying Gabapentin as someone else mentioned? Many dogs seem to find that a useful drug at your stage of recovery. Not sure why she lies still for such a short time - many dogs lies still for excrutiatingly long times during that stage of recovery. I'd ask the vet about that (and ask about Gabapentin)
You did NOT make the wrong choice. You chose the option that has the best chance extending your dog's life, and you did it because you love her. That's doing right by your dog. Period.
And yes, there's going to be some pain. I wish I could tell you that this next part will be easy, but it won't. The first two weeks after an amputation are often hard. Even if Jose isn't in pain, she's getting weird signals from her body, and she's instinctively hardwired to think she has four legs. Her brain is telling her something that no longer matches with her body, and it's going to take time for the two to synch up again. When our Max had his amputation, he sometimes displayed similar symptoms (he lost his front left leg as well). Josie wants to lay down in ways that always worked before, but now don't because there's a leg missing.
Two things have to happen now. First, she needs to figure out that her leg is gone and learn to lie down in ways that don't make her surgical wound throb. And second, the nerve endings that lead to her amputated leg have to die off, because there's no need for them anymore. But rest assured, both of these things will happen. The major discomfort tends to last two or maybe three weeks (usually more like two). Then another two or three weeks before the nerves die off and Josie will start getting back to normal. You'll know you're doing well once she starts laying down on the amputation side. That's a sign that it's not bothering her anymore.
And let's not forget the other part of the recovery – you. We all wish we could be there to help you through this, because there's no doubt about it – this is tough. Never let your pain show in front of Josie. Keep a smile on your face and a happy tone in your voice around her, even if you're screaming inside. If you have to break down and lose it, go outside or into another room. Seeing you keeping your spirits up is a major part of her recovery, because dogs key in on their people's emotions. Never let her see the doubt you're feeling.
And most important of all, stop second-guessing yourself. The decision is made. The leg is gone. There's no turning back now. You won't find a single person here who thinks you did wrong; after all, the majority of people on this board wouldn't be here if they hadn't once made a similar decision themselves. It won't get better today, but it will soon. Hang in there until it does, and you'll soon see Josie running around having fun, not caring one bit that she's doing it on three legs.
I ditto what Maxidad said (and everybody else)!
You are going through through the roughest part. I think vet's tend to forget to tell us mom's and dad's, the healing process is hard.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
I have often wondered...do the vets really know how hard this recovery is from amputation? Cause it sure as heck seems like we all have had simiilar stories......
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
These are the two weeks of recovery hell. We have all been there, and some are worse than others. IT WILL GET BETTER. Once they are off the pain meds, it gets better quickly.
We are all here to help you stay sane during the two week recovery. You'll find yourself doing odd things, like sleeping on the floor with her and staying awake all hours watching her sleep. These are all NORMAL tripawd pawrent behavior.
Hugs to you. You'll be fine, and so will Josie.
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.
Just over a year ago, my black Lab, Paris had an amputation for osteosarcoma......i was in such distress over what to do with her I began a search on line and found Tripawds......our life was changed forever!! Paris was having horrible spells of crying out all day and night and also not sleeping. She was suffering. Paris was also on very large doses of Tramadol & Gabapentin. Needless to say, after consulting with my new friends & Dr Pam (ask a vet) at Tripawds we began to wean her off all meds......within days I had my sweet girl back with us.
Please, please please just hang in there, when we all say the first 2 weeks is tough....we sometimes mean the first 2 weeks can be hell !! But it will pass and you will be amazed at the way your Josie girl will do and what she will be capable of. Give her lots of love and pets and she will be okay.
No regrets....that is my mantra....we were blessed to have Paris one full year and 3 days and she did great until the very end.
Hang in there and reach out for support or whatever you need from your Tripawd family.
Ginny & Angel Paris
Grateful for every moment we had with Paris…..no regrets!
Honoring her life by opening our hearts & home to Addy!
I'm with you Tracy! Even when I had planned on getting Comet's leg amputated (but she got pneumonia for a couple of months), the only thing the vet said to me was..."you will be shocked at how she looks because it's going to be very bad looking.". That was it. Heck, I was suppose to get two extra toes amputated at the same time! She would have only had one leg that wasn't hurting!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Just over a year ago, my black Lab, Paris had an amputation for osteosarcoma……i was in such distress over what to do with her I began a search on line and found Tripawds……our life was changed forever!! Paris was having horrible spells of crying out all day and night and also not sleeping. She was suffering. Paris was also on very large doses of Tramadol & Gabapentin. Needless to say, after consulting with my new friends & Dr Pam (ask a vet) at Tripawds we began to wean her off all meds……within days I had my sweet girl back with us.
Please, please please just hang in there, when we all say the first 2 weeks is tough….we sometimes mean the first 2 weeks can be hell !! But it will pass and you will be amazed at the way your Josie girl will do and what she will be capable of. Give her lots of love and pets and she will be okay.
No regrets….that is my mantra….we were blessed to have Paris one full year and 3 days and she did great until the very end.
Hang in there and reach out for support or whatever you need from your Tripawd family.
Ginny & Angel Paris
Grateful for every moment we had with Paris…..no regrets!
Honoring her life by opening our hearts & home to Addy!
I would of appreciated a similar explanation like MaxiDad said!(are you a vet by chance?) I guess maybe it's a no brainer that nerves need to die off...but....
Instead, I felt like Maggie was the ONLY dog on the planet that was having such a son-on-a-%itch of a time recovering! Got comfort that she wasn't when I found Tripawds.com....2 months later...
Josie will pull thru!! Keep bugging the vet for help with her pain....at least that's what I think it is based on how Maggie was acting..very similar.
Tracy, Maggie's Mom
Maggie was amputated for soft tissue sarcoma 10-20-09
Maggie lost her battle with kidney disease on 8-24-13
Do we have a great community here or what? Welcome. We are glad to have you and hope that we can be a source of support for you as you and Josie walk this journey.
I agree with everything that's been said. Gabapentin for sure. We recently spoke with some canine rehabilitation specialists who said that Tramadol is one of the most over prescribed medications out there. And oftentimes Gabapentin is a better choice. Here is a video with Dr. Waldman and Dr. Kramer, you should check it out:
Canine Rehabilitation: Pain Meds and Supplement Tips from CARE
Meanwhile, yes, please please hang in there. It's regretable that people oftentimes don't get informed by their vets that amputation recovery can be very, very hard on the pawrent and the dog, but hey, that's why this awesome bunch of people is here. All of us have felt the guilt and regret, what you are feeling is normal. Just try to look at the bigger picture and know that this is very temporary.
Work with your vet to get the pain management protocol worked out, and you'll see that Josie will be able to handle this.
Keep us posted OK?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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