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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Max is an 11 year old golden/shep/rottie mix, who was diagnosed with synovial cell sarcoma in his right rear stifle (knee joint). After having his chest xrays and ultrasound to ensure no signs of the cancer elsewhere, he had his leg amputated on 2/15. Today will be one week since the amputation. He has always been a very active boy, and seemed to bounce back pretty well right after we picked him up last Thursday. Today is the first day he has really seemed depressed and kind of restless/unhappy. I am hoping this is only temporary, and perhaps due to the staples from the incistion becoming uncomfortable? We had stopped the tramadol since he had not seemed to be in too much pain, does anyone have advice on how long they gave tramadol after an amputation? He is still getting the anti-inflammatory (Rimidyl). Hoping he gets happier next week when the staples come out, but today we were pretty sad.
Welcome Jane, thanks for joining! Sorry to hear about Max...
Most members report weening their dogs off pain meds after about 12-14 days. Max's behavior could be common withdrawal symptoms associated with cutting his Tramadol, and is most likely temporary indeed. Once he's off all the medication and gets his staples out, he should certainly start feeling like his old self again. Keep an eye open for any signs of intestinal discomfort too, which could be caused by long term NSAID use.
Best wishes for Max's quick, complete recovery! Please keep us posted. You'll find many more recovery and care tips in Jerry's Required Reading List, and for immediate answers to the most common dog amputation questions consider downloading the new Tripawds e-book Three Legs and A Spare.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome Max!
Daisy earned her wings on Oct 22, 2011 at 14 years old
She is now the official greeter at the rainbow bridge
Everyone is guaranteed a welcome sniff and Dalmatian smile
Hi Jane and Max! Sorry you had to join our club, but we're always happy to meet new friends.
Trouble was taken off the Tramadol about a week after her surgery, but it was a bit soon. Put her back on it for about another week and all was well after that. They all seem to react a little differently to the Tramadol. Trouble has little reaction to it other than panting. Some, unfortunately, see pink elephants.
Keep us posted on his progress. Can't wait until we hear he is running three legged circles around you!
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Welcome to Tripawds Jane and Max. Never a club you thought you would have to join!
For many of us the first two weeks were full of ups and downs. I think I kept Mag on the pain meds for a full two weeks after her surgery. Mag did not tolerate tramadol all that well (I figured out later), on the other hand, my quad pug Obie was on the same dose of tramadol for two weeks for a serious eye injury and never had any issues, and showed no withdrawal symptoms either.
Be sure Max doesn't over do it- for an active pup it is easy to do, especially if he doesn't self regulate very well. His muscles need time to adapt to the new movements and stresses on them. You need to build up his strength and stamina slowly. I didn't have that problem with Maggie, she was quite a slug the first few weeks.
Also remember to stay positive and upbeat around Max even when he (or you) don't feel to up, our pups take their leads from us.
And it does seem that stitch or staple removal day is a big turning point- it only gets better from there!!
How about a picture of Max?
Karen and the pugapalooza
Welcome to the Tripawd Club! Did you get the information on the secret paw shake? No? We'll fill you in later!
Sorry to hear about Max. It sounds like you guys did great thru the worst part. I didn't go thru an amputation (deformed front leg from birth) so I can't help you on the symptoms he has today.
But I did want to welcome you to the club. Please post a pic or upload a profile/avatar pic!
Best wishes!
Angel Comet's mom
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Welcome Max and people!
Sounds like you're experiencing that post-op crash that lots of us do. It's funny, we come home all hopped up on the dope from the surgery and then a few days later slow down like molasses. It's pretty normal and a sign that we are healing.
I was on Tramadol for about 10 days I think, then on Metacam permanently after that. I would talk to your vet about managing the pain meds, sometimes it's just a matter of fine tuning the dosage to ensure that you get what you need to stay comfortable. One week post amp isn't much time, most of us take anywhere from two to four weeks before we even start getting enthusiastic about stuff again.
Rest up, I'm sure you'll be bouncing off the walls again in no time!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome to the family,They all say it so well, don't they. You are about to learn how resilient and determined these guys are, it's us humans that have all the anxiety and drama. Sounds like everything is normal so far, including the ups and downs, your in the suckey part of recovery right now, believe us, it DOES get better, and you will see a point where it seems like all of a sudden progress happens in leap and bounds, Paws up, Spirit Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
Thanks for all the support and responses. Max says we lowered the Tramadol dosage to quickly (and so does the vet, who I called today), so we have upped it back to either 2 or 3 a day (1 every 8 hours is the most he can have). Hoping that will do the trick. We are very excited and looking forward to getting the staples out, and are also waiting for our Ruff Wear vest to arrive.
Will try to figure out how to post a picture soon
janerisch said:
Will try to figure out how to post a picture soon
If you share photos anywhere online (snapfish, flickr, etc), follow these instructions for embedding photos in forum posts. Otherwise, consider starting a free Tripawds Blog and you can upload them to your Media Library.
Thanks for the update!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Don't be surprised or discouraged by Max's occasional off days. They're going to happen no matter how careful you are, so just try to grin and bear it. The first two weeks after the amputation are the worst, then it will slowly improve over the next two. Remember, this kind of discomfort can't go away immediately - all the nerve endings that used to go to his leg are still there, and still raw where they were severed. They'll die off over the next couple of weeks, and then Max will be comfortable again. You'll know he's properly healed when he lays down on the amputation side again - which is also a source of his psychological discomfort right now. He's used to being able to flop down any way he pleases, and he can't figure out why it suddenly hurts on the right side. Being able to do that again will make a big difference to him. It took our dog (also named Max) about four weeks to do that, and he was very hesitant about it. My wife and I were lucky enough to be watching when he finally did it, and it made us want to cheer. Max was completely back to normal in about five weeks. So don't get discouraged - you're not done yet, but you're making your way through the worst of it.
Hi and welcome to the tripawd pack. I think we all can relate to the ups and downs of recovery. So you're in the right spot, there is lots of support here.
Our Rudy (similar to your Max) is 11 years old and a lab/shepard/rottie who knows what else mix! And our boys also had the same leg and knee joint area that was affected. We are now in our 5th week after Roo's surgery and during those few initial weeks it was hard to see our Rudy not be himself. It hasn't been easy and we're still learning.
Now we have a happy tripawd Rudyroo dog:)
Thanks for all the support and replies. Max is still feeling pretty shaky, even with the tramadol back up to 2 a day. I will just try to continue to be patient, but it is sad without his usual fun loving personality. He did actually lay down on the amputated side for the first time today, and slept on it for about an hour, so I guess that is a good sign.
I posted some pictures on flickr, and then tried to follow the instructions to insert the image, but it did not work.
Poor Max! Hang in there, it won't be forever. Things will get better.
What's your Flicker URL? I'll go there and grab some pics for you and put them here. You'll get the hang of it soon!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hang in there Jane. I know it's hard when our pups don't feel good. The meds are sometimes a necessary evil.
Maggie really took her time to adapt- she was definitely not one who bounced right back. She had her amp before Tripawds was established so we went down this road alone at the beginning. I spent a lot of time those first few weeks wondering if I had done the right thing. But looking back- Maggie was always a stubborn, obstinate pug who did not deal well with changes to her routine. It made all the sense in the world that she took her time to adapt. But she did!! She got back to her playful- mischievous self- she just did it at her own pace.
I bet once the stitches or sutures come out, and you can leave the pain meds behind Max will get back to his old self.
Karen and the pugapalooza
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