Thanks everyone! 

Meg is home!! 

Of course she wants to be on her old bed rather than her new memory foam one which she'd manage a lot better . She was very excited coming home, had a few break away attempts at the couch but quickly learnt the cone of shame was going to stop her. She woofed down a small meal straight away after refusing food at the vets. 

Her main issue is the cone getting in the way, and not being able to itch with the leg that is gone. She seems to have intermittent phantom limb pain, but the vet didn't want to give any gaba-whateveritscalled.

She is on: Tramadol 20mg 0.5-1 every 8-12 hrs and Rimadyl 25mg 0.5 every 24 hours. And the patch. I thought it would be more, so I'm expecting to call the vets tomorrow complaining she is in pain! 

Oh and guess what! She pooped at the vet! I nearly cried with pride that she managed so early! 

Good morning guys! 

Thanks for all the well wishes and advice .

The first night home was a little long but mostly good. Transferred Meg into the bedroom about 11:00 and I fell asleep next to her bed so she'd settle (she normally sleeps on top of a full pulled out bed drawer, which is also a step onto the bed) so she was upset that she is a floor dog.

She woke up around 1:30 crying and getting up, ramming her cone into the bedroom door. When she had four legs she would've happily pee'd on a pee pad if it was that desperate, but nope, tripawd Meg has more dignity and had to go outside. 

She then took about half an hour to settle, lots of crying and some heavy breathing. Next dose of tramadol wasn't due until 4:00 at the earliest so we might have to move that to 6 hours if that trend continues. She probably woke up around three or four times after that, she seems fine when she is asleep but when she wakes up she starts shaking with gentle cries . At least she falls back to sleep quickly. 

When I woke up this morning she was on the floor next to her "large size" bed . I suppose the coolness coming from the hardwood floors is better for her. Took the cone off this morning and she seems a lot more comfortable. 

I've been thinking if there was a way to stagger the dose. They said she could have 0.5-1 pills, so I was wondering if it would be worth giving half and then the other half an hour later, but I was worried the initial kick wouldn't be enough. I don't know. The vet said we could give her a tramadol every 6 hours instead of 8, but we since then she has seemed to be coping with 8 hours, which has worked well with getting her through the night without it running out in a cruel AM hour. 

She has been good today - must still be kicking on the hospital meds. Slept right through the night, skipped her breakfast but I would too if I was offered dog food mixed with raw chicken, rather than just raw chicken like the last few days. I was worried she wouldn't eat at lunch, which she needs to for the rimadyl, so she got a cheeseburger meat for lunch . 

The sun has been out, so she has been sun baking on the balcony, and we even took her for a car ride to the (pretty empty) dog park and let her have a very supervised lay in the grass. We don't have a propper yard so it's the best we could do. She had a good roll and lay in the sun. 

This afternoon I took her out for a pee (still no poop since day 1), I was about to pick her up to go back up the stairs, but before I knew it she was doing them herself! 2 sets of at least 10 steps handled easily . Safe to say she'll only be doing them once a day or less depending how she pulls up. I'm certain she has done too much today (lots of hopping around the house), especially with the looming crash days coming up.

Forced bed rest for the rest of the afternoon Meg!