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
We just passed two weeks with my greyhound Roxy's front leg amputation due to cancer. She is still doing the "scream of death" about 4 times a day, and has some bruising below the incision that isn't going away after a week. Should I be worried? -Jenna
Jenna- Sorry to hear that. Is Roxy's pain controlled. What is she on? Have you informed the vet?
Hi Jenna,
I would definitely ask your vet for additional pain management help. Greys are so sensitive, and it's not uncommon for them to have post-op pain even this far out, based on member experiences here. What kind of meds is she on now?
Check out this post about the latest pain management strategies and talk to your vet about finding a good mix to help her feel better. Massage therapy also helps.
We'd love to hear more about your pup and help you any way we can with the cancer journey so ask any questions you'd like.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Jenna,
sorry to hear about the screams. The bruising is normal. Johnnie's took a while to clear out. Our vet (well, Johnnie's) recommended "arnica montana" for the bruises. I bought it in the homeopathic drugstore.
hugs,
Daniela
Our awesome Golden Boy was diagnosed for OSA in April 2014 in the proximal humerus, front-leg amp on 05/20/2014. Finished chemo (Carbo6) on 07/10/2014. Ongoing treatment: acupuncture + K-9 Immunity Plus ( 3chews) and home-cooked no-grain diet. Stopped Apocaps because of liver issues. Liver issues: controlling altered enzymes with SAM-e and Milk Thistle. October 17: started having seizures. Taking fenobarbital for seizures. April 18: started prednisone.
Jenna,
Sorry to hear Roxy is still having a rough time. Like others have mentioned it sounds like she may need additional pain mgmt meds. Has she been on Gabapentin before? If not you may want to speak with the vet about starting her on this as it's geared more toward the "phantom limb pain" that amputees experience.
Keep us posted on how she's doing and what the vet says.
Sending you both hugs!
Sahana and her Angel Leland
November 17, 2009 - June 30, 2014
May you finally be healthy and running free at the Rainbow Bridge. Until we meet again my sweet boy!
Hi, I'm sure each dog is different but my Shadow is at 1 week + 2 days! First few days he yelped when I touched his stitches or picked him up "wrong" but the last few days he's been better, no yelping at all. (I still have to pick him up a lot, too...)
My vet told me I can give him arnica (which is amazing for bruising in humans btw--it comes in pellets or as a gel/cream)--1-2 pellets (shadow is 15lbs or so), crush between a folded piece of paper and put on a spoon, onto his tongue (try not to touch the pellets with your hand). Shadow is pretty picky but he didn't seem to mind the arnica powder. I gave it to Shadow after he got home about twice a day the first few days. Not sure if that was why, but he has no bruising at all. A little redness around some of his stitches still but I think it's better today. He also is on an herbal supplement that's supposed to help post surgeries.
I did try to cut back on the tramadol after he stopped yelping, and maybe it was too soon as he stopped trying to walk as much and didn't sleep well at night... (we were sent home with 1/2 pill, 8-12 hours apart). I do think tramadol may be causing him not to eat on his own so I'm trying 1/4 pill in the morning, and 1/2 pill at night... but if he was yelping still I would ask to try a different med. (BTW gabapentin did not agree with him before so we got tramadol... there are possible sideeffects to all meds I guess).
Good luck!
1 Guest(s)
