Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hey all,
Murphy the kitty is doing slightly better. Not enough that I can get a full nights' sleep, but enough that I can get 4 hours instead of 0.
We asked the vet yesterday after much pestering and were given a stronger dose of buprenorphine. Before that, on Sunday night, we called a vet tech family member and were given instructions to use benadryl. That succeeded only in making him more dopey and unbalanced, not calm.
Last night he was calm being along for 3 hours after dosing. Then he commenced meowing and I ended up staying awake until 3:30 a.m. just trying to keep him from making his paws bleed. At 3 he got his dose, I slept, and Mom took over at six.
My mom is at work today, so it's just going to be me and the kitty for a couple of hours. That's scary.
I'm going to try to upload some pictures, so here.
Pre-surgery, post diagnosis:
Night before the surgery:
Day he came home:
Mom attempting to figure out how to pet the little fluff through his cone:
Sleeping and incision:
As usual, thank you. Stitches get taken out Friday! Maybe I will be able to sleep!
I'm glad you are getting more sleep. In my opinion your vet did not do a great job in the pain management . The pain will subside but in the meantime you, your mom and Murphy went through a difficult time. Pain meds are the least expense cost item of an amputation. You should have been given an antiinflammatory/pain med in addition. Most cats go home with at least two and sometimes three. What you and Murphy went through was totally unnecessary. Anyway the stitches will be out soon and Murphy will be so darn happy to get rid of that darn cone!!
Murphy is so beautiful. I think I mentioned I love Maine Coon cats. How old is he and how much does he weigh?
Kerren and Tripawd Mona
kazann said
I'm glad you are getting more sleep. In my opinion your vet did not do a great job in the pain management . The pain will subside but in the meantime you, your mom and Murphy went through a difficult time. Pain meds are the least expense cost item of an amputation. You should have been given an antiinflammatory/pain med in addition. Most cats go home with at least two and sometimes three. What you and Murphy went through was totally unnecessary. Anyway the stitches will be out soon and Murphy will be so darn happy to get rid of that darn cone!!Murphy is so beautiful. I think I mentioned I love Maine Coon cats. How old is he and how much does he weigh?
Kerren and Tripawd Mona
Kerren,
Murphy is around ten years old. We adopted him five years ago from a vet's office where he had been abandoned, if I remember correctly due to a divorce. The woman dropped him off with some bogus illness and never came back since she had other cats. How this cat could be any less wonderful than any other cat I don't know. They said he was about five back then and now they say he's about ten. He weighed 8.11 pounds before the amputation. I'm not sure how much he weighs now.
They gave us buprenorphine and onsior when he came home on Friday. When we went back yesterday we got a bigger dose of buprenorphine and more onsior since he was only on the onsior for 3 days. I'm a bit disappointed because we were told to call if there were any problems but when we were having major problems (the weekend) we were given an answering machine that said "we're not here, but if it's an emergency please drive an hour to this vet hospital that will charge you 150 dollars an hour, thanks!" and on Monday when we called in the morning they said "the vet will call you in five minutes" and didn't get back to us. Two hours later we called and then the vet said "Oh yeah! we'll give you a better medication!" when really he just upped Murph's dose of buprenorphine. He still struggles at night and my guess is that I'll be having another 3 am night tonight.
I am frustrated and I just want him to get better. He's the only cat I've ever had and the only cat I'll ever have until I'm on my own, which could be a while. I'm nineteen but rentals here are ridiculous and the job market is saturated.
He just woke up struggling again and flipped over. I was bitten twice today, something that he never does.
He's also not walking stable yet--he flops around a bit, especially when making an effort in the litter box.
One day at a time, Veronica... One day at a time.
Thanks,
Veronica and Murphy
Yep, one day at a time I deed! And remember to celebrate the tiny improvements, because during the recovery, they are HUGE improvements!
You and your mom are doing an excellent job of caring for Murphy! Excellent!
I'm glad you were able to get more pain meds. Recovery is a rough time. They hurt, they're confused, they're a bit loopy and woozy and dizzy. But they DO get past it!
The pictures are wonderful! He is a very handsome boy,and quite scholarly too! He has a great stack of reading materials to browse through during his leisure time!
Grab some chocolate and try and get some rest.
Sending hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
Ohhhhhh I love the photos, Murphy is such a sweetie! How is he doing today? Did you get any more sleep? Is the increased dosage helping?
It really stinks when you go through something like this and the vet you thought you would come through for you, doesn't. I know they're super busy but it's times like this when you really need them to be responsive, so I understand your feelings completely. Look at it like this, now you know what it's like to deal with a major medical condition in your animal and in the future you'll know the right questions to ask. We were pretty clueless when we started, it took a while before we got the hang of being a good advocate. So far, you're doing GREAT!
More pics!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
jerry said
Ohhhhhh I love the photos, Murphy is such a sweetie! How is he doing today? Did you get any more sleep? Is the increased dosage helping?It really stinks when you go through something like this and the vet you thought you would come through for you, doesn't. I know they're super busy but it's times like this when you really need them to be responsive, so I understand your feelings completely. Look at it like this, now you know what it's like to deal with a major medical condition in your animal and in the future you'll know the right questions to ask. We were pretty clueless when we started, it took a while before we got the hang of being a good advocate. So far, you're doing GREAT!
More pics!
Jerry,
What we've discovered is that if we ignore him when he's in the crate he settles down. I think before what he was doing was rattling around and being a nuisance so we would come in and reprimand/talk to him. In essence, we rewarded him. Now I pretend he doesn't exist in there and he's golden.
I think the dosage is helping at night for sure, but during the day he's pretty chilled out. Usually. Today he wanted so badly to jump up on to the blanket pile behind the pile of books shown up there ^^^, climb into the window to sunbathe, jump from couch to couch, etc. He is walking better, probably because he's off the meds in the day now. At night we give him a little dose to chill him out.
Last night I got sleep! I stayed up with him until 2 a.m., the earliest I've gone to bed since Friday night. I crawled into bed, put earphones in and slept until noon. It was heavenly.
I'm going to learn to be a bit more of an advocate/bad girl with future vets, being firm, unrelenting, all that. Sometimes nice doesn't work.
I'm caring for Murphy so much right now that Abbie, our sweet little chubby Corgi, thinks she's done something wrong. If only I could trust those two to be together! I would totally have the dog in the living room with myself and the cat! Unfortunately the only thing that would happen is the dog would get excited, try to lick the cat, and the cat would smack her across the nose or worse. Huurgh!
Wish me luck tomorrow, as my mother will be working for eleven hours. Hello, kitty!
Thanks,
Veronica (and Murphy) (and Abbie)
typogoddess said
I'm going to learn to be a bit more of an advocate/bad girl with future vets...
No need to be a bad girl, just learn how to talk vetspeak! 
Dr Nancy Kay actually has a book all about just that...
Tripawds Book Review:
Speaking for Spot: Be the Advocate Your Dog Needs to Live a Happy, Healthy, Longer Life
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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