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.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
My baby Sage is 9 days post amp (front left leg / osteosarcoma ) and ever since day 3 post op Sage has been having what my oncology surgeon and regular vet are telling me is phantom pains. My regular vet checked her out yesterday and of course she is fine there. Eating and drinking great, incision great, walking great. But at home when she is resting for more than 15 minutes or so when she gets up she tenses up and then cries out or screams. She tenses up so bad I hold her cause I don’t want her to fall over. She is 85 pounds. She is on gabapentin 600 mg every 8 hours, hydrocodone 10 mg every 6-8 hours, Galliprant once a day and her surgeon just added Amantadine 200mg every 12 hours which we started tonight. She said at this point she is maxed out on all pain meds and to just give her time. I hope the Amantadine helps. She seems less agitated today and is finally resting more. She was whinning and wimpering a lot so I would say we are better today than yesterday for that. We do ice packs for 15-20 minutes every couple hours as it seems to really settle things down. Has anyone else had these episodes every single time their pups wake up from rest? Does it get better? Is this what her life is going to be like from now on ?
Hi Michelle, welcome. Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away.
I'm sorry Sage is having these issues. Phantom pain is not uncommon in pets or people amputees, so I'm glad you talked to your vet team about it. Her medication sounds good and the Amantadine should help. Yes, her medication dosages and frequencies (and type) are pretty much the standard for treating phantom pain . Most people report that Amantadine makes a huge difference.
Another thing to try if Amantadine doesn't help within a few days, is to ask your vet about Pregabalin. See this post, which explains why.
Pregabalin for Tripawd Amputation Pain is Worth Discussing when Gabapentin Isn’t Working
Occasionally a pain management specialist needs to be added in to the treatment, to break the pain cycle with stronger in-clinic medications. But for now, don't panic. Most times this type of pain will resolve within a few weeks. A rehab therapist can also help a lot with acupuncture sessions to calm the nerves.
We also recommend seeing a rehab therapist because it's very educational to have your dog evaluated by one, so you can learn her capabilities, limitations, and safe exercises to do with her. Tripawds Foundation can even pay for your first rehab visit ! So book that session now (ask your vet for a referral or let us know where you are located and we can help find you one).
No, her life won't be like this forever! Things really do get better. Remember this is a huge surgery and the body is figuring things out, even those nerves, which need time and attention with medication and therapy to treat the pain.
Something else you can do is to de-sensitize the nerves around the site. See:
Understanding and Treating Nerve Pain After Amputation for Dogs: Tripawd Talk Radio #124
I hope this helps! Keep us posted.
Alrighty Sage, you've got this, okay??? This hurdle doesn't last furever and recovery doesnt last furever......it just feels like it right now!
Can only say ditto to everything Jerry posted. Hopefully the addition of Amantadiine will make a difference. As Jerry mentioned, you still have other options if needed.
My dogs have not reacted very well to icing....good for Sage for being tolerant of that. She's such a good girl. You can also massage GENTLY around the incision area....around it, not on it.
You can also genttly massage up and down her spine, neck and shoulder area to relax her before she stands.
Keep us posted ......and remember to breathe!!!
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!
Thank you both for your super helpful knowledge. We had a better night last night. I have looked up and found some pain management
specialists somewhat close to us. I am going to give her thru the weekend, we will be at 2 weeks post op on Monday and if she isnt showing any improvement pain wise I will definitely schedule an appointment with them. Its just so hard seeing your baby in pain and your trying to advocate for them and your not getting anywhere. I will check with my regular vet if he has any recommendations of physical therapists in the area. Or if you all know any near Norco, California that would be super helpful. I also ordered one of the Farabloc
blankets for her! Thank you both for what you do here. I would be so lost if it were not for your page. I am so grateful 
We had a better night last night.
Okay, celebrate that. Any "little" improvement is a big improvement this early on in recovery..
Yeah, if you dont see the pain reducing, even if slowly but surely, getting that pain specialist appt is a good idea. Hopefully the meds you are us9ng now will be effective.
Let is know how the farabloc works, okay? When does she get her stitches out? Odd that her pain seems to be related with her getting up. Wouldn't it be great if somehow this was related to a stitch pull? Most likely not....just a thought.
Yoi are doing such a good job of advocating for Sage and doing everything ppssible to get her over this hurdle. Sometimes it takes a tweak and and there with the pain meds combined with extra healing time.
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!
Ohhh I'm so glad she is improving! I hope today was even better for you both. Paws crossed she finds relief from the Farabloc blanket, thanks for ordering with us. It's helped many dogs and cats and people too.
So as for rehab therapy, I'm pretty familiar with SoCal. There is a credentialed center in Upland (https://therapaws.pet/) and a couple of options in Orange County depending on how far you want to drive. I believe one is in Tustin/Irvine. Let me know if you want that info.
1 Guest(s)
