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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Hello,
I just read through this thread - so sorry to hear Howl has had such a difficult time healing. I love the photo - he sure is adorable, not to mention lucky to have someone as dedicated to his healing and aftercare! I am sorry you haven't been sleeping, but was glad to see your vet could take him for the day so you could rest. Hope that helped!
I do not have advice; my cat had a front right leg amp and some issues with recovery, but they were minor compared to this! Mine itched and ripped open his scabs, and it was thought to be phantom leg pain , but was actually an advanced infection at the incision site. I truly hope your vet gets to the bottom of this - it sounds terrifying for sure. I don't know what advice to offer you but I'm sending healthy vibes Howl's way!
Hattie
Hugs,
Hattie and Jerry Cat (right front leg and scapula amputation due to chondrosarcoma at age 14, lived 2 1/2 years post amputation, succumbed suddenly to suspected lymphoma at age 16)
10/2001 - 10/9/2017 R.I.P ~ Love you always
Just want to add to the healing energy and support we are sendw your way! This is just pure crazziness! I'm just so sorry you and Howl are dealing with this.
Have the Vets mentioned going back into the incisiw area and seeing if some sort of nerve endings are exposed or all jammed up in there??
As Karen mentioned have they ruled out seizures?
I do hope you can catch up on some rest. Exhaustion .makes everything look bleak!
Sending support and lots of higs
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 everyone!
So I dropped Howl off at the vet on Sunday and got a few hours of sleep. His episodes have gotten better, he now jumps and flinches several times throughout the day but he is not thrashing anymore. We have decreased his buprenorphine dosage and increased the gabapentin dosage. I asked about seizures, etc and the vet said they weren't like seizures.
His kitty brother, Ace, has been very worried about him. When Ace has an episode, he comes running to check on him and sniffs him. Now Ace isn't eating anything (even his favourite, delicious human food), so now I am about to head to the vet with him.
We appreciate everyone's concern and healing energy! I will let you guys know how we do!
Okay, arpund here any improvement is a HUGE improvement! So maybe it somehow is tied to the meds.
Hopefuw Ace will feel better once Howl comes home.
And hopefully you feel better after getting a little sleep!
Update when you can!
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!
Oh thank goodness it is starting to ease off. It really sounds like pain management is key here. Increasing the gaba? I understand the jumping and flinching. Huck still does that sometimes. The stress does a number on everyone, Ace is no different. Hopefully it is nothing but that and he will go back to eating well now that his new little bro is starting to feel better.
Jackie
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Hey there,
How are you all doing? I hope things are going well for you.
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Our house is finally getting back to normal.
After a very stressful week, it seems that the house is calming down. I am weaning Howl off of his meds and his stitches come out this Thursday. His actual incision recovery has gone so smoothly, I joke around and say that the surgeon must have superglued the incision and then stitched it because I have no idea how the stitches haven't been ripped out with his episodes at the beginning of recovery. His fur is slowly but surely growing back (It's going to take some time since he has long fur).
The best part of this whole thing is Howl's demeanor. Prior to the surgery, the second he heard someone at the door, he would run and hide. He was also sometimes nippy and grumpy and he played sometimes, but spent a lot of time laying around the house. Now, I have a hard time keeping him calm. When people come over, he no longer runs and hides. He LOVES playing and running around the house carrying his toys in his mouth. He has taken it upon himself to climb the Christmas tree, and to open almost every present that I had wrapped under the tree. Just in general, he seems so happy and like a different kitten than he was prior to the amputation surgery. He threw all of my pre-op fears out of the window; He gets around better than he ever did before. There was no adjustment period, the second he got home after his surgery, he was walking around like he had always had three paws. He uses the litter by himself no problem (I had gotten a shallow litter box and cut the one side really low so it was easy to get in, and he never even used it, he went straight to his regular litter box). He cleans himself. And finally, he is SO happy.
As for his brother, Ace. We have him on appetite stimulants and he's eating and getting back to his normal self. He is still a little off but I think he just needs a little more time to adjust.
Now here's a bunch of photos:
That is wonderful news, so glad things are finally calming down and getting into a normal routine! Good job! Howl is just beautiful!!! I'm glad Ace is eating, thank you for sharing!
💗💗
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Best Recovery Story EVER! That's wonderful to hear how much this has helped Howl be the happy kitty you always knew he could be. It's amazing what being out of pain can do for a critter! YAY! And no issues with the litterbox? He's a super Trikitty. Very cool.
That's good news about Ace too. What a relief for all of you. Super big congrats! Love the photos, they ooze adorable!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
CUTENESS ALERT!!! :-):-):-) THESE PICTURES....OMC....ABSOLUTELY ADORABLE!!!
LOOOOOOVE THIS UPDATE!!! The way ou described his "before" and "after" demeanor makes me light up knowing how happy he is now!! 🙂
I'm so glad Howl picked you as his human
Thanks so much for letting us know how he's doing! We just adore Howll! 🙂
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!
I'm soooo glad to hear things are settling down for Howl!
And those pictures are AWESOME! He is heading for such a wonderful life, I can't wait to follow as he grows.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Howl is so adorable. I took his photo to work and he brought a smile to everyone's face!! I'm getting to a busy time at work so I've put Howl's photos around my desk so I don't get grouchy.
He's got a lot of fans and is obviously very well loved.
Kerren and Tripawd Kitty Mona
![](https://tripawds.com/wp-content/plugins/avatars/avatars-files/images/default-avatar-96.png)
I read your story about Howl. He is so cute! I'm wondering how he is doing 2 years after this leg pain freaking out occurrence. I'm also curious how long did his episodes last after surgery and did they eventually go away completely?
Our 6 year old female domestic short hair cat, Harley is currently experiencing the very same thing. It was amazing to read your story and discover it is exactly the same expect Harley had a rear right leg amputation. Her flipping out (growing, howling, flipping, backing up, rolling over) episodes of pain appear out of nowhere for no reason, out of a dead sleep or not and while she's on her medication (Gabepentin, Onsior & Buprenex). They are very intense as you know and we feel helpless. It's been 7 days today and the episodes continue. She is doing great otherwise, walking, eating, drinking and using the litter box.
Was there anything you learned that would help us or do you think each situation is different? We don't really have any good advice from our Vet who is a expert surgeon in this field. Medication and time is the only thing we know at the moment. It's tough because she cannot be left alone in fear she will hurt herself, even though we have her in a large dog cage with plenty of room (wall padding and all). We let her out of her cage for a short period of time several times a day to stretch, eat, drink and use the litter.
Your response would be so appreciated. Hopefully, you are still active on this blog and you receive my note.
Thank you . . . desperate Tripawd Mommy and Daddy.
Hi Rosalie, welcome. I'm sorry that your kitty is having post-op issues. Please consider starting an all new topic so we can better help you, and our amazing three-legged cat community of caring people can chime in with ideas. I have a few of my own to start with:
One thing to keep in mind is that a vet can be a great surgeon, but not a pain management expert. We learned this from a pain expert, Dr. Petty, who in this video says:
“You may have the best surgeon in the world that has done a major procedure, an amputation, or whatever, but maybe doesn’t know how to deal with the post-operative pain at home. That doesn’t mean he’s a bad veterinarian, we just can’t all be good at everything,” says Dr. Mike Petty, DVM, CVPP, CVMA, CAAPM, CCRT.
Also, please see our article, "How to Help Amputee Cats Walking Backwards"
Don't lose hope, things can get better with the right treatment. Don't forget, start a new topic so we can help you specifically OK? I'll look for your post here.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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