Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi everyone,
im a first time poster having just joined and looking for support/advice. My 11 Year old yellow Labrador, Honey, underwent an amputation of her front right leg/shoulder on Friday 18th December following a diagnosis of a bone tumour. She went in for X-rays and a biopsy but had the amputation at the same time on the vets advice as the cancer had not spread into her chest. Honey came home the same day and the first two days were rough. Honey is taking Tramadol and Metacam, and has just completed a 7 day course of antibiotics. She's had a good appetite throughout and going to the bathroom fine.
Honey was doing really well so we reduced her Tramadol on the 24th from three times daily to twice daily. However by the end of the 25th she seemed to be in a lot of pain so we have gone back to three times daily of 100mg. Honey seems happier now we have increased her Meds. However she does pant a lot; could this be a side effect of the Tramadol? Could anyone tell me how long we should expect Honey to need pain killers for please? She gets restless quite a lot too could that be the Tramadol too?
Honey is going back to the vets on the 29th for her stitches removing. We should get biopsy results then too. What are people's thoughts on chemo if the vet suggests it please?
thanks guys,
Claire
Hi Claire! I'm in the Tripawds Chat Room right now for a bit if you want to hop on over.
Sorry to hear about Honey's diagnosis, you guys are handling it like champs though!
When it comes to pain killers, all dogs are different in how they respond. Just like people, not all pain meds affect them the same exact way. Tramadol often causes dogs to pant, but so does pain, so it's up to us to figure out which is which, which isn't easy! 😉 And, some dogs need pain meds longer than others, generally around 10 days is when most dogs start to get weaned off them but older dogs may need longer. I would call your vet and let them know what's going on, they will have ideas about how to adjust her dose so she's more comfortable.
If it's not the Tramadol that's causing her to pant, it could also be too much activity too soon. Older dogs need that extra recuperation time, and whether younger or older, getting around on 3 legs, especially for a larger dog, it a lot of work and it's exhausting at times. Keep her activity restricted to a bare minimum right now, she should only be going on leashed potty walks and very short ones.
Also, weight is another big issue, so if she's at all overweight even by a pound or two, that can also make it very tiring to get around.
Check out Jerry's Required Reading List and the Tripawds e-books library for more tips about how to help her have a great life on three legs, and stay tuned, our pawesome community will chime in shortly. Thanks for joining, your future posts won't require approval.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Jerry,
thanks for the reply. We're on day 9 today and I don't think Honey's ready to be weaned off her pain killers just yet. She's not doing too much were only leash walking her out to the garden for toilet breaks. Honey will be 12 in April so not so young and she weighs 27kg so although not over weight she's also not very svelte either so I guess it's hard work for her getting used to hobbling on 3 legs.
It's pretty scary doing this alone 🙁 so glad I've found this forum 🙂
You are not alone anymore, okay? Welcome to the family. Yeah, we're the family who puts the "fun" in dysfunctional!
Ditto everything Jerry said!
As mentioned, every dog is different a d every recovery is different.
On my recovery with my beloved Happy Hannah (a large Bull Mastiff 8 1/2 at the time of amp and considered starting seniorhood for that breed), needed to be on pain meds almost three weeks. She was on Tramadol, Gabapentin, Rimadyl and an antibiotic. And yes, she was restless and panted alot and seemed quite uncomfortable. For her, the best dosage schedule seemed to be not too far apart and given on a consistent basis. If the pain gets a head start, it's much harder to get under control.
It took .me about three weeks before I could say I did this FOR Happy Hannah as opposed TO her! And yeah, I am the inly human in the household and it was very, very scary, exhausting and overwhelming. I didn't join this community until day six. They through me a lifeline and kept me from drifting iut to sea! STAY CONNECTED! Hold onto the lifeline, we'll keep you and Honey safe!
As far as chemo, that is such a personal choice. Some dogs seem to get extended time with it, some do not. Some seem to get extended time without it, some do not. It really is a crap shoot.
For me, I elected to proceed with four rounds of Carboplatin and she sailed through the treatment. I didn't start it until around the three week mark as I felt like she needed more recovery time. Even if a dog has side effects, it usually amounts to a day or so of tiredness and perhaps some nausea. The vet will give you pills for that. Again, every dog is different. IF the side effects are too strong (which is rare, but it does happen), you can always stop the treatment.
Can't wait to see pictures of your sweet girl! Her sparkle will come back, slowly but surely, okay? The fact that she's eating and drinking and gping to potty...all great signs!! It is still very early in recovery from major surgery! You can ask your vet about Gabapentin, or just adjusting the dose times of her Tramadol. I'm no vet, but it seems too soon to be weaning her off right now!
Take lots and lots kf deep breaths....try and get some zzzz's when you can...AND EAT LOTS OF CHOCOLATE!!!!
Sending hugs and love!
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 glad you and Honey found us too because this is much too hard to do on your own. But even if we can't be there in person, we'll try to help all we can.
Not all dogs react the same, but from our experience the Tramadol can definitely make her pant. It sounds like she tolerates it well otherwise? Our Ellie got very noise sensitive and anxious on Tramadol so that can be another thing to watch for.
Honey is a senior gal so it might take her a bit longer to build up her strength. At this point, hopping around in the garden is probably about the right level of activity since she's only 10 days post-amp. Slow and steady progress is what we're looking for!
Denise, Bill and Angel Ellie.
Active 10+ Pyr mix suddenly came up lame with ACL tear in left rear leg. Scheduled for a TPLO but final pre-op x-rays indicated a small suspicious area, possibly OSA, which could have caused the ACL tear. Surgeon opened the knee for TPLO but found soft bone. Biopsy came back positive for OSA. Became a Tripawd 9/18/14. Carbo6 with Cerenia and Fluids. Pain free and living in the moment. Crossed the Bridge on 7/12/15 after probable spread of cancer to her cervical spine. A whole lifetime of memories squeezed into 10 months. Here's her story: Eloise
You are definitely not alone and it really sounds like you're doing everything right. Once she's off the Tramadol you'll see that she's feeling like her old self, it just takes time. We'll be here for you every step of the way!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi hunnybunny08----The first thing I want to say is that every single person on this website is FANTASTIC and I COULD NEVER HAVE DONE IT WITHOUT THEIR SUPPORT!!!
My Hannah (that the vet thinks is much younger than I thought she was----I rescued her and they told me she was 10, but the vet thinks she's more like 6 to 8 years old, and I've had her for 3 years!!) had a right front leg amputation on December 9th. She was in the hospital for 2 days/nights and I took her home on Friday, December 11th. I was a nervous wreck for about a week----she was stoned out of her mind from the gabapentin, which was probably not a bad thing, but when she started having problems walking with her back legs, I cut back the dosing from every 8 hours to every 12 hours, then to every 24 hours and then by the time she had her staples out, 2 weeks later, she was off of them. Hannah was only on gabapentin, carprofen and and antibiotic post operatively, and she did fantastic. She is not an "ideal" candidate for this type of surgery----she is obese (because of my 87 year old mother that thinks food is love----she doesn't see that she was killing the poor dog) and not an "athlete". But she has surpassed all of my highest expectations with this surgery. She is moving around now, so alert and happy. I have her on a M-A-J-O-R diet (cutting down kibbles and adding pumpkin to her food), limiting her treats to one per day and giving her baby carrots instead. She has lost 1 pound in 2 weeks!! I can see she is losing weight----the fat pad under her chest is much smaller and her belly isn't bloated anymore. I have her doing some "exercises"----which, to a beagle is walking around the backyard and sniffing every square inch!! She was over by the neighbor's yard today, at the edge of the fence in my backyard, checking out the perimeter. I am not going to run her around, just walk-----slow and steady wins the race.
Anyway----enough with my update.
Tramadol is an opioid, and opioids can cause severe nausea. So can anti-infllammatories and any other meds. I found that my Hannah would pant if she was ever nauseated. Maybe the dog won't vomit, but they can get extremely nauseous from pain meds, especially if they're given on an empty stomach. Tramadol is a pretty strong pain reliever for dogs, I think----and dogs differ in how they respond to the surgery. Hannah had no problem adjusting----the first night I brought her home she went down the back steps to pee in the backyard, and right back up to go to bed.
It's a H-U-G-E surgery. Of course it's going to hurt like hell. I am glad that Hannah slept through her immediate post op period with the gabapentin-----the rest is the best thing for a huge insult to the body like that. I'd ask the vet if your dog could take something for the nausea along with the pain pill-----you just might find that it's not pain at all, and that it is just nausea causing the restlessness.
(I say this because as a nurse I know how opioids affect the body---both canine and human. Opioids cause severe nausea and constipation.)
Hi all,
We've had a rough couple of days with Honey spending 2-3 hours at a time yelping, whining, being very restless, and pacing about before finally settling and sleeping for long periods with heavy breathing/panting in her sleep. I've come to the conclusion that this seems to follow taking her Tramadol meds and again around the time she's due to take them. It's now 12 days post amp and Honey's stitches are out and nicely healing.
from reading posts in these forums I'm wondering if it's the Tramadol rather than being in post amp pain, so giving it a shot at not giving her the Tramadol to see how it goes.
I think your guess is pretty good, our Wyatt reacts the same way to Tramadol. You may want to cut back gradually though and make sure she has an alternate med like a NSAID to help with any aches. I'm so glad she's doing well otherwise!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks Jerry; I will continue with the metacam. She last had Tramadol 18 hours ago now and has been much more settled for the last couple of hours so fingers crossed things are improving 🙂
Aww, sorry sweet Honey isn't quite feeling like pawtying yet. As you've noted, it could be that she is reacting to the Tramadol. It's such a Catch 22. Signs of pain sound very much like the symptoms y iu were describing. Side effects of Tramadol in some dogs sound exactly like the symptoms you are describing! Hopefully you've now find the right plan for Honey.
Sometimes just having the stitches out make a dog feel better. Her sparkle will come back. It will! It took my Happy Hannah about three weeks before I started seeing some of her sparkle start to come back on a fairly consistent basis.
Let us know how she's doing with reduced pain meds. Of course, consult with her vet about reducing the Tramadol.
I love Honey's avatar picture. She just oozes sweetness! Would love to see more pictures when you can!
Be sure and take care of yourself while caring for Ho ey!
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!
Welcome...sounds like you're doing a great job of adjusting with Honey. This journey is full of ups and downs, enjoy the ups, and be patient with the downs. This place pretty much saved my life last summer when we went through amp surgery with out then 8 1/2 year old Doberman. He is now 18 mos post surgery and doing well. Hang in there, and lean on us, we're hear for you.
Paula and Nitro
Nitro 11 1/2 yr old Doberman; right front amp June 2014. Had 6 doses carboplatin, followed by metronomic therapy. Rocked it on 3 legs for over 3 years! My Warrior beat cancer, but couldn't beat old age. He crossed the Bridge peacefully on July 25, 2017, with dignity and on his terms. Follow his blog entitled "Doberman's journey"
"Be good, mama loves you".....run free my beautiful Warrior
Howdy and welcome!!!
Honey looks absolutely adorable! Bless her heart that you both are having to go through this, but NOT ALONE!!! We are here!
I can't tell you how much this community meant to me when Harmony (a black Lab) had her amputation. I'm so glad you found Tripawds!
Can't wait to hear more about Honey and how she's doing.
pam
Harmony became a Tripawd on 10/21/14 (MCT). She left us way too soon on 11/1/14.
"We miss you so much; our love, our heart, our Harmony."
- Pam, Ron and Melody, Meesha, Doublestuff and Mariah Carey
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