Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello, Calvin had his rear leg amputated this past Thursday, and has started having what appear to be muscle spasms on the side that the amputation was on. Anyone experience this? Considering calling the vet, but they are over an hour away so I thought I’d check here first. They aren’t overly frequent, but when they do happen it happens several times before he can seem to stop . Thanks in advance!
Kayla
Spasms and twitching are a common symptom of the nerve endings mending, and are not necessarily painful. These may or may not coincide with phantom pain , and there are various pain indicators to know of which many tend to overlook. Find many pain management articles, podcasts and videos in the Tripawds News blog .
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Are they right near the incision? Does he appear to be in pain?
I found with Tri-Pug Maggie, also a rear amp, that when her amp area would twitch that I could calm it by just gently cupping the area with my hand. At some point past the amp it stopped happening- I don't remember how long it took, but she didn't seem to be in any pain.
My current Tripawd Elly, a rear amp, is more than 3 years post amp (car accident). Every now and then she gets some twitching or spasms around her amp area. It doesn't seem to be painful and they seem to happen when she has been extra active- maybe too active. Elly does not like me to touch her amp area so I usually just do some light massage on her back and other hip.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
He has had two episodes now in the past three hours where it spasms (it is near the incision, it is the whole stump) uncontrollably and he will yelp a few times and jump up. I immediately pick him up and comfort him and it seems to pass quickly but it is disturbing to see. I am hoping it is just his nerves from surgery and not phantom limb pain. I called the vet and they said sounds normal, but it definitely hasn’t been this twitchy until tonight. Hopefully it passes soon, im considering starting heat and cold presses to see if that helps.
What pain meds is that cute Calvin on? If he is having some phantom limb pain, Gabapentin is the go to drug to help with that.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie!
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!
He is on tramadol, gabapentin, and rimadyl. I called the vet because throughout the night he was having spasms and yelping and they added on methocarbomal. Hasn’t helped yet but he’s only had one dose.
Are you giving him the gabapentin religiously? The gabapentin is the go to drug for phantom limb pain. There is a scale for use that your vet can give you guidance on. If you are giving it to him regularly and still having this issue please call your vet and see if they can adjust the dosage for you. They may still be open, I would check in with them so that you have a game plan for the possibility of them being closed over the holiday.
Good luck!
Hugs,
Jackie and Huck 
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
I’m doing one pill twice a day, I’ll see if i can up the dose, i hadn’t thought about that thank you! He’s been on it for over a month now since he was on it before surgery for his pain from the tumor so i hope he’s not getting acclimated to his current dose.
With him being so soon out of surgery it is really hard to say. This is major surgery and the pain break through may very well be because all those beautiful hospital meds are now totally out of his system and he is relying solely on the medications you are giving him. It is very common to have to tweak their meds some at this point in recovery. If his leg were just showing little spasms without discomfort and sudden yelping I would not be concerned, but this is very common and the gabapentin complimented by the other pain meds will come in handy. Most pets are on medications for several weeks after surgery. We did not start to wean Huck down until about a week post staple removal. Much of this depends on the individual pet.
Just to clarify, Huck along with many will twitch his little bump occasionally. This is very different from phantom pain . When he was fresh out of surgery and around where you are now it was different. He would stop whatever he was doing and start trying to groom that area frantically. You could tell he was uncomfortable. We had to tweak his medications, times of dosing, and all of that to get him comfortable and eventually it all worked out. He does not need the gabapentin now, and he does really well.
I hope some of this eases your stress. It can be a rollercoaster ride for sure, but there IS a light at the end of the tunnel. You will see it soon
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Can only add my best wishes for an uneventful Christmas. Hopefu6 some of Jackie's suggestions will help.
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!
I hope the methocarbomol is helping. It's the same drug our Wyatt Ray is on for muscle soreness, so hopefully it will work for Calvin too.
And yeah like Jackie said, twitching is usually quite different from phantom pain . We'll keep our paws crossed that's all it is!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you all for the suggestions! It is better today thankfully. So seems like it was the nerve block wearing off and just adjusting to the at home pain meds. Still plan to keep him on all his meds and not trying to wean him off any until maybe his two week recheck to have staples out? But he is doing better thankfully and seems pretty comfortable!
That's wonderful news! I'm so glad he's doing well, you are doing a great job! Sounds like you have a good plan going.
Way to go!
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry
Way to hang in there!!!! I know it's one thing to "hear" things will get better, but it's another thing to SEE rhings get better!!😀
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!
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