Hi folks,

Sully has his amputation 12/15. He got his sutures removed yesterday. He’s doing great for a nearly 11yo Old English Sheepdog! Especially since he’s a bit overweight. We’re working on that. 

My question is about pain medication. I can’t tell if I need to taper because he’s over-medicated, or if he’s not getting quite enough to control pain. 

Sully weighed 124lbs before surgery, hopefully less now with the leg removed and his current reduced diet. The amputation was for his front right leg.

He is currently on 100mg Novox 2x/day, 600mg Gabapentin 3x/day, and 200mg Amantadine 1x/day.

Before surgery (synovial sarcoma in his shoulder), and for the first week post-amputation, he had been getting 900mg of the Gaba for each dose (3x/day), plus an extra dose of the Amantadine. Novox was the same. We’ve backed both the Amantadine and Gaba off in the past couple of days to the doses listed in the previous paragraph. 

Generally, Sully is doing well. But he does still seem quite lethargic. He’s willing and able to get up and get around when he needs to go out, or to eat and drink. But not many other times. He also seems to get very winded very quickly. If we want him to get up and walk somewhere HE doesn’t want to go, we pretty much have to force him, or bribe him with a treat. 

Today, we tried a short 10 minute walk around the yard. First time doing anything besides short potty breaks. He was very excited to get up and get in his leash and harness! But needed to stop and rest a few times after the first 5 minutes or so. And has been panting on and off since coming inside. I did ice his incision after we came in, too. 

Further, he’s had a few accidents in the house, which is mostly unlike him. This morning he got up and went out and peed no problem, then came right back in willingly, but pooped while laying on the floor shortly after coming in. I didn’t see it happen, it could have been as he was trying to stand up. 

Finally, he does eat, but he doesn’t have a great appetite. We’re using canned food to entice him, but he doesn’t always want to eat it and sometimes needs to be hand-fed to be convinced to eat. He never had a big appetite, though, and is not a food-motivated dog. Though he does still get excited about treats!

Considering all of this, should I be asking my vet to up and extend his pain meds, or should I continue backing them off because perhaps he’s getting too much? I’ve read lots of similar posts, looked at the pain signal info, and it’s still unclear to me. I feel like it could go either way Anything else to consider?

Thanks for any helpful words and for all of your wisdom!