Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello, my precious dog Charlie had leg amputation surgery 10 days ago, and I am having trouble getting him to eat. He is currently taking Deramaxx and Amantadine for pain. I don’t think the Deramaxx is a problem, but the Amantadine might be. He was previously on Deramaxx and Gabapentin but I couldn’t get the Gabapentin in him no matter what I did, and I don’t think it was doing much for the pain anyway. Giving him the prescription Entyce seems to help. I guess I need to talk to the vet to see if this is something I can give him everyday. I was wondering if anyone has any thoughts on these issues.
Hello to you and Charlie. We look forward to hearing more about Charlie and answering any questions. Your post has been approved.
Guess I have to start off with some questions so we can help come up with a solution. What has his overall activity been like? What was the reason for the amputation? How is his attitude....is he engaged...alert? Has he been drinking water and pottying okay?
For now, he should just have SHORT leashed potty breaks and back in for resr.
The first thing that comes to mind for the lack of appetite may be a result of pain. This is very early out from a major surgery. While amanditine is a good pain med, it works best in conjunction with gabapentin. The Derramax is basically an anti-inflammatory and does very little for pain from surgery like this.
When he was on Deramaxx qnd Gaba how was his appetite??
Here is a link for pain signals
You mentioned you were having trouble giving him the gabapentin, we have a lot of great tips on how to pill a dog.
http://nutritio.....edication/
Whatever Charlie will eat for now.....cheeseburger, scrambled eggs with chesse. warm rotisserie chicken, stinky liverwurst, etc. Put all this on a human plate rather than hos food bowl. Make him think you are eating and and then put plate in front of him.
Update us when you can, okay?
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. Of course keep your Vet in the loop. The Vet can prescribe another appetite stimulant other than the Entyce called Mirtazapine
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!
Hi Sue and Charlie!
Lack of appetite is one pain indicator, so you definitely want to talk to your vet to get a handle on his pain management . Amantadine is very helpful when it is given with Gabapentin (not necessarily at the same time, but in the same day). But Amantadine is not shown to be as helpful when given alone without another type of pain control. So yes, he could definitely be in pain if this is the case. If you stopped the Gabapentin without letting your vet know, please try to get him back on the Gabapentin as prescribed and talk to them on Monday.
Gabapentin is not known to be bitter or make dogs not want to take it. But if you are putting it in his meals, that might be why he's not eating it. Also, if he is already in pain, the very idea of eating is not appetizing either. So here are some more tips to encourage him to eat:
https://nutriti...../appetite/
And tips pilling too:
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