UPDATE: Meeko had a successful amputation surgery today!! The surgeon finished up around 3pm. Surgery took about 3 hours and Meeko is doing fine. Meeko started walking right after surgery on 3 legs!!! The surgeon said he's "never seen anything like it before". Meeko got the hang of it so fast but they didn't want to let him walk around too much, just enough to get the idea of it engrained in his brain. He is resting at the vet hospital overnight and will be coming home tomorrow morning or afternoon. There is no bandage - since he is a rear amp it is hard to wrap them. He is on Rimadyl, Tramadol, and a Fentanyl patch for pain. I'll find out what antibiotics he's on when I pick him up tomorrow. I'll be sure to keep you all posted on his progress. THANK YOU all for your prayers and support!!!

jerry said
Well that sounds like a perfect homecoming if you ask me! I really do think that your calm, level-headed approach will really help all of you get through this without too much stress. Meeko sounds a lot like you!

The liquid is probably a seroma , which is leftover body fluid from his leg. The fluid likes to take the path of least resistance to get out. Generally nothing much to worry about but keep your vet updated. At worst they just need to be drained in the office, at best they get re-absorbed back into the body.

I hope you're getting some rest and things will go great tomorrow. He'll get the potty thing down as soon as he really needs to (some dogs take a few days!). Keep us posted!

Thanks for all of your support Jerry! Meeko and I are a lot alike I definitely think he has a seroma but it seems normal and I am keeping the vet updated. I'm wondering if it is normal for it to seep more after he has been up walking around a little bit? (I'm thinking gravity at play?) Meeko had his first post-surgery poop today!! In fact, he pooped again tonight so he went twice today and as everyone said I would be, I was elated!

hugapitbull said
Couldn't ask for a better update than that.  It is common for them to tire pretty fast the first few days.  Lots of naps will be in order. My rule of thumb with Trouble was to allow her to try whatever she wanted. She was up and hopping to see what I was doing her first day home, but she tired very easily.  There were things I didn't allow, like jumping on the bed.  She stayed on the floor for a couple of months.  We took our bed down and put the mattress on the floor to keep from temping her.

He's definitely napping a lot. I have the same rule with Meeko as you had with Trouble. I let him try whatever he wants within reason of course.

As a general update for everyone, Meeko has no appetite. He has only had 1 full normal meal since surgery on Monday. He's by no means starving or being malnurished but he isn't eating a full meal like he normally does. Monday night after surgery he had no dinner the vet said. Tuesday morning they got some canned food into him. Last night was his only normal meal in which he ate a typical serving of his dry kibble. Then this morning (Wednesday) he wouldn't eat breakfast. I tried mixing some peanut butter in with his kibble. That didn't work. I tried mixing chicken broth in with his kibble that didn't work. I finally tried boiled rice and chicken mixed in with his kibble. He ate the chunks of chicken but no rice or kibble. I gave him a decent amount of chicken so I guess it could technically count as a full meal. My fiance picked up a few cans of different flavored canned foods to see if canned food would entice him. Tonight for dinner we tried dry kibble just to see if he would eat it. We knew he would probably turn it down but was worth a shot of getting back on his regular food. So I gave him half a large can of venison canned food and he seemed to really like that. I again tried to get him to eat some dry kibble by placing scoops of the canned food on top of a scatter of dry kibbles, but a few bites in he realized the dry was there at the bottom as he stopped eating it. He also doesn't want to take his medicine, although I make sure it gets into him by placing the pills in his mouth and blowing on his nose while I gently hold his muzzle closed so he swallows. So we are struggling with appetite and meds but doing well otherwise...

He went poopy for the first time today since surgery! In fact he pooped this afternoon and tonight so he went twice today. He's really getting the hang of standing up on his own and walking within our living room where he is confined. He will walk to the front door when he needs to go out and he will walk over to his elevated water bowl when he is thirsty. We had a UPS delivery today to our front door and he stood up calmly and went over to the front door. He also stood up to greet me tonight when I returned home from work. I'm seeing more of his real self coming back.

My only complaint is that his freshly shaved back/side seems to be irritated. It has formed little bumps on the freshly shaven skin and they seem to be itchy for him. I called the vet and they told me not to put any lotion or ointments on it because it will make the skin moist and moisture will make the irritation worse and make it spread. They said to keep it dry and not to let him lick it or scratch it. They said I can put a cool compress on the affected skin but not to let the ice pack get his skin wet. Does anyone have any experience with this skin irritation?