Update: Brooklynn is out of surgery and we are waiting for her to be ready to be picked up. She did have a ruptured bladder, most likely caused by the vet trying to express her. However, the amount of pressure the vet put should not have been enough to rupture - during the the surgery to repair it they found some irregularities on her bladder and that her kidney numbers/value are irregular. Basically her kidneys are not working right, which is most likely what caused her to not be able to go pee.

Once we pick her up, we need to take her to a 24 hours facility where they will do a kidney flush and keep her overnight, hoping her levels become regular and she can start going to the bathroom normally. They are also sending some of her bladder (which they removed during this latest surgery) off for a biopsy to try and see why it’s looking irregular.

The strange thing is, her kidney numbers/values were fine prior to her amputation. So it seems like the kidney issues may be a side affect of the amputation..? I think that would be best case scenario at this point: bladder biopsy comes back clean and kidneys start working post-flush and she can pre again. And that the kidney issues are somehow side affects from amputation..?

Anyone have any experience with kidneys/bladder being affected by either amputation or osteosarcoma in general? Thank you!!!

Thank you Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie!!! Your words and support mean the world to us. Thank you.

Thanks, Jerry. Feeling such a full heart having support from you all. It’s awesome.

Good news to report: we just got a call from the overnight vet and her kidney numbers have stabilized at normal values. Yay! It seems likely, according to this vet, that the rupturing of her bladder is what actually caused the irregularities in those numbers. That said, to address Jerry’s comment about the bladder rupturing, from what we’ve been told, it sounds like in normal circumstances that really should not happen - I don’t want to unnecessarily cause anyone any unreasonable fear when it comes to expressing. Hopefully we will have a fuller picture of everything at some point.

In any event, mystery of kidney irregularities is seemingly solved - apparently numbers went up due to the vet rupturing her bladder when trying to express her. But again, it’s our understanding that under normal circumstances that shouldn’t have happened. Still unclear on why the bladder looked irregular - we will get a biopsy back on that in a few days. All that said, she needs to show that she can go to the bathroom on her own before she gets released, otherwise we’ll be right back where we were yesterday.

In my non professional mind, here’s the way I’m seeing it (feel free to correct anything I’m missing!):
1. Something serious wrong with bladder, in which case that is still probably the case and she still won’t be able to pee
2. Something was wrong with bladder, that somehow the rupture and subsequent surgery fixed and she’ll now be able to go pee
3. There is some side effect of her amputation that has and may continue to make it so she can’t pee
4. Getting used to three legs mixed with her general pickyness when it comes to peeing is making it so she can’t pee (from what we’ve read, this seems unlikely/expressing should have been a solution)

As always, if anyone has any thoughts, corrections, experience, etc., please don’t hesitate to share! 🙂

Thanks for the pee dances! As far as another update, I guess we either misheard or were miscommunicated the plan when we spoke to a vet this morning prior to my last post. We had thought catheter was coming out this morning, and then they would see if she could pee on her own, which she apparently needs to do before coming home with us. It turns out that they actually want to keep the catheter in until either tonight or even tomorrow as it will better support her recovery from the bladder surgery. So, we'll have to wait longer than we thought and unfortunately be away from her for that whole time. That said, sounds like this will give her the best chance to start peeing regularly again.

Will report back once we have another update. You all are awesome. 🙂

I am so thrilled to be able to share a PAWSITIVE update with you all!!

We got a call from the overnight vet early this morning confirming they had removed the catheter, and would monitor her throughout the day to see if she could pee on her own. They said a vet would call us in the afternoon with an update. Of course, by 1pm, we couldn't help ourselves, so we called and the person at the front desk checked and confirmed that she had gone pee!! We were ecstatic. Maybe 20 minutes later the vet called us and said we could come pick her up.

Luckily, this episode of the story gets even better. After she was brought out to us (lots of smiles on both sides), we decided to take her for a short walk before going home. She is really starting to become much more steady and mobile, which is super exciting! Within literally 45 seconds she went pee! And then, a few minutes later, she went poop! I was close to tears I was so happy.

So, now we are happily resting at home. We still don't know what caused pee issues, and we are still waiting on the bladder biopsy results, which could shed some light, but for now we are so happy that Brooklynn is home and seems to be able to go to the bathroom normally. Feeling really in touch with how I just need to appreciate this moment. So excited to continue down the path of amputation recovery. Thank you all for your support these past few days. It was incredibly meaningful. Jerry - thanks for the offer to chat, sorry to have missed you. I'll be sure to continue sharing updates moving forward, and hopefully this thread can be a resource to others in the future.