Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My 10 yr old German Shorthair Pointer 'Banner' had his left rear leg amputated on 6/2/15. Came home 6/3 pm and has done amazingly well. Pain seemed totally under control and he moved about like an old pro. I still kept him confined and limited his movement to just necessary pee and poop breaks, and am militant about the timing of his meds (Cephalexin, Rimadyl, Tramadol, Trazadone, and Gabapentin). His incision has looked great and he hasn't bothered it. His appetite has just been okay, with him sometimes declining to eat (not normal for him but not surprising considering). He has pooped about 3 times now with no problem. The last 2 days he seems weaker on his good leg, especially when he first gets up, which I'm thinking is a combination of him sleeping on it exclusively and it getting sore from overuse. While he doesn't have a stump exactly, he does have what I can only describe as a butt cheek that seems to be quite taut. He's not painful when I touch it and it's difficult to tell whether it is hot when the weather here is quite warm and I'm touching his bare skin. His temp this AM was 100.7 and this evening it is 102.8, again wondering if it's the warm weather. His incision still looks okay, but there is the expected bruising and red areas from a close shave, and he's seeming a little bothered by it today, here and there he will turn suddenly to look at it. I'm wondering if this could be phantom pain ? He did have his first acupuncture treatment on Friday and we'll be doing that weekly. He was diagnosed with bone cancer last Friday and had his surgery Tuesday. Waiting on the biopsy results and planning to start chemo in a few weeks. I'm lucky in that I work at a veterinary specialty center. So basically I'm wondering if it's normal to see this sort of slump after he started out seemingly oblivious to the fact that he had a major surgery and is now missing a limb? Thanks for your thoughts. Val
Hi, Val --
It seems to me the timing of this slump is normal. My Ollie had a front leg amputated on May 12 (osteosarcoma) and did well for several days, then on about day six there was a downturn. We attributed this to the removal of his fentanyl pain patch and the resulting need to adjust his oral meds with trial and error, so not your situation exactly, but the timing is similar. For us, days six through 12 were the hardest, then on day 13 Ollie started getting some spark back.
Our vet had told us to be wary of a temp higher than 102.5, so that's the only thing from your post that concerns me. 102.8 is very close to 102.5, so perhaps all is fine -- I just know 102.5 was the magic number we were given.
Gabapentin is supposed to work very well at managing phantom pain , so if he's on it, he should be OK. I had a panic attack on day six when I swore Ollie tweaked one of his rear legs and was moving about kind of awkwardly, almost like he was dragging a rear leg and not bending the knee. I too was terrified that one or more of his remaining legs was weakened -- but within a few days his walking normalized (as much as it could with three legs).
I wish I had more concrete advice to offer but basically just wanted to throw in my two cents that we also saw some backsliding just under a week post-op, and I know many others have had the same experience. Unfortunately, navigating the recovery period takes a lot of time and therefore patience -- it's hard. Keeping you and Banner in my thoughts.
-Karen
Six-year-old Ollie, a spunky, 55-lb. Australian cattle dog mix, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma May 1, 2015. Front right leg was amputated May 12. Did four rounds of carboplatin chemo treatment, ending Aug. 20. Lung x-rays still clear as of end of September. The rest of our story is still unfolding.
I didn't read the other comments but it's normal for them to come home doing awesome and then decline some. Make sure the pain is controlled. Sometimes the pain medicine makes them tired or loopy but having their pain controlled is most important at this point.
Jessica and Marshall the Miracle Dog an April Angel 6/11/2012-4/10/2015
Diagnosed OSA at 18 months in his right ulna. Amputation followed by homeopathic remedies and then some. He lived 15 months post amputation and 16 months post OSA symptoms. X-ray 2 months prior to his death showed a lung tumor but Hypertrophic Osteopathy secondary to his lung met is what sent him to the bridge.
Following this topic as we are on day 3 of our post-amp recovery. From what I can gather, it sounds like some peaks and valleys are normal (Jamie, Mac's mom, shared that with me as well). As Sally said on one of my blog posts, "recovery is no picnic" so it's helping me to keep that in mind. Hugs to you & Banner!!
Kirby & Molly
Hey Banner! Your avatar picture shows a very handsome boy! Can't wait to see more pictures!
Yeah, ditto what everyone else has said. When we talk about recovery being full of "ups snd downs and no picnic"..yep...welcome to the two week period of recovery! For my Happy Hannah it took about three weeks for full recovery to kick in and for her to regain her sparkle!
As Karen already mentioned, the only thing I would keep an eye on is the temperature. Phantom pain is generally more severe in outward symptoms than what you are describing. Its very sharp nerve pain, comes on instantly and usually the dog jumps up, ears pinned back, yelping, trying to "run away" from the lain. Fortunately, it lasts just for short burst and then subsides fairly quickly. The Gabapentin is the best med to help prevent that.
Around day three is when all the hospital meds are out of the system and the balancing act of managing pain with lain meds starts. One of THE most important things right now is just rest, potty breaks, eating, drinking...and getting lots of snuggles!
Before he gets up, try massaging his leg a d up and down his spine for several minites. He is using muscles and joints in ways he's never used them before. While recovery generally takes about two weeks /sometimes more, sometimes less), it takes at least one month for muscles and mobility issues to be worked out.
You're doing a great job monitoring Banner! Hang in there and please keep us posted! And poctures!!
Give Banner some cooked chicken, steak snf a scoop of ice cream! Grab yourself some chocolate, it works wonders!
Hugs and love!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle too!
PS. Of course I'm no vet, so please check with vet with any concerns.
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!
Val said
I'm wondering if this could be phantom pain ?
Quite possibly! Here are some tips for managing phantom limb pain in dogs. Dr. Pam's video discussing common complications provides more information about phantom pain and other issues.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm thinking he's just sore from having to over-use muscles he's not used to doing. Heck, I can barely move the 3rd day from working hard out in the yard, I can't imagine having to get used to a new gait.
What a sweet, sweet boy. You're doing great, just hang on to the roller coaster.
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
Hello!
This sounds a lot like our recovery with Mac (Amp surgery on 4/29/15). The first thing he did when we brought him home from the hospital was grab his new toy and leap onto the bed. We were SHOCKED! And I think because he seemed to be doing so well, we gave him a BIT too much leeway and I think that made him sore, and led to a slump. Especially after his fentanyl patch came off - he went outside and sat under a tree from 11a-7p WITHOUT MOVING! I thought, for sure he is depressed...but as someone here told me, he probably knew that he needed to rest. It took about a week and a half before Mac made a complete 360 and started becoming himself again.
For a dog who usually inhales his food in less than 15 seconds, Mac's appetite was up and down as well. I think this is related, among other things, to the pain meds (and it seems like your pup is on a good handful of them).
Remember, Banner is also learning how to regain his balance so you might see him rearranging his weight for a couple weeks before he finds the 'sweet spot.' I was panicked about Mac thinking he was limping on his other leg, but it was just a shift of weight.
I don't have much advice RE: temperature but if it concerns you, definitely give your vet a call.
Would love to see some more pics of your handsome fella! Hang in there - you are almost through the first couple weeks!
- Jamie and Mac
We adopted Mac in June 2014 from the GRCGLAR and he is our little baby boy, despite the fact that he is 11.5! Almost a year of bliss turned into complete devastation when he started limping on his front right leg and it was discovered on April 16, 2015 that he has bone cancer - specifically Osteosarcoma. We were luckily directed to Tripawds by our oncologist, Dr. Avenelle Turner, which changed our lives and guided us through the amputation process.
Read more about Mac's incredible story on his blog: http://teammac.tripawds.com/
We're on Day 5 over here and I think we're experiencing that same "slump." She is very groggy and we think it's probably a combo of the pain meds, difficult sleep patterns (she gets restless at night after sleeping all day), and allergies (pine pollen here is crazy!). She's on a pretty hefty regimen of rimadyl (75mg 2x per day), gaba (100mg every 8 hours), and tramadol (100mg every 8 hours - although we were verbally told to give this dosage 3x per day, so we've been doing it at breakfast, during our lunch break, and at dinner. We may try to lengthen the time bewteen pills so it's closer to that 8 hours). Anyway, my point is that both the tram and the gaba are sedatives so it makes sense that they'll slow down our pups. Hard to see them move so slowly and sleepily but at the same time, we are grateful that she's being forced to rest.
Hang in there!
Kirby & Molly
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