Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Starting a new thread on Orion and his recovery.
Surgery was last Monday, 3/10 - it was an unqualified success from a pure surgical standpoint. He had no issues with anesthesia. Lots of blood vessels snaking into mass, indicative of cancer, that took longer than normal but nothing concerning.
Today is Friday - he's slept more than we have, because he's restless at night. Hoping that's the Fentnyl patch. Only odd thing is he isn't drinking much water, but he likes to eat snow, so we're letting him eat as much as he wants unless it's yellow.
He's moving really pretty well for an arthritic, 12.5 year old, 3 legged 85lb Lab. I could hardly tell he was missing a leg this morning when we went out for our bathroom run. He tires easily, of course, but I expect that will improve - it's encouraging for only 5 days after amputation.
Expect results in another week on the histopath - expect it will be sarcoma, most likely osteo. We don't plan to do other treatments at this point, but then again, we said we wouldn't amputate either. 
Fingers crossed, but at this point, all things considered, it was the right decision. At 3am, 3:07am, 3:22am, 3:29am, 3:42 am when he kept waking up and whining to go out for no reason, we were wondering...
Ohhhhh boy! This sonds soooooo familiar.....even down to your "thought bubble"!!
And sounds like a verh "normal" recovery too!
My Happy Hannah was one of those wh oddly enough didn't want to drjnk water either. What I fond worked was putting a scoop of ice cream ...yeah..a scoop of oce cream....knto her water and stirred it up a bit. I would let her start licking the scoop first and then guide the spoon down to the water and ki da' back away.....she drank! She did get tired of vanilla though and I had to switch to chocolate!! In Happy Hannah's world during the recovery time, ice cream was in her pyramidof five best food groups!!
The other thing I did was makes sure there was plentyof liquid from the chicken boiled for her. I would shred the chicken pretty thinly so she would have to drink the liquid to get to the chicken.
Sorry, my tablet's freezingnup....but mist wanted to get that nfo. out to you quickly
Sending you lots of hugs and so glad she's doing well....she is' really!!
Hugs!
Sally and Happy Hannah
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!
That is a great recovery update! I know it's rough overall but it does sound very typical and I promise you it's not forever. He will get strong and have more stamina as the weeks go by.
Is he still on Fentanyl? Yes, that makes dog restless, so does Tramadol (usually).
As for water, yep, low-sodium chicken broth, gatorade, or even tuna water will put more liquids in him.
You're keeping great tabs on everything, nice work!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks -
Yes - still on Fentnyl until Sunday, then the patch comes off. Looking forward to that.
Tramadol may get ended at the same time, or reduced - he seems to be in zero discomfort right now.
The broth, etc. is a great idea. The doc told us that he probably wouldn't drink much for the first 2-3 days, so not worried yet - they get overloaded on fluids while they are there. Will do that as another trick if he doesn't start drinking more soon.
Tramadol can make them Whitney also.especially Labs. Sounds soooo familiar. Ty eats snow also. When he would not drink water ( probably a 2 week period) I would even go outside and fill his water bowl with snow. Since we had so much, it was quite convenient. Then it got pretty dirty looking and froze solid. I switched to crushed ice. Then put just a bit of water over it. This tricked him into drinking. Now he is finally drinking, saw him at the big bowl I keep filled for all 3 dogs just this AM. That was a first. Hang in there, it gets easier
TY GUY, Best Black Lab ever! Diagnosed and had amp in January, 2014. Kicked MRSA's butt. Earned his angel wings on April 16, 2014. Run Free my boy and don't forget a shoe. Ty is a proud member of the " April Angels". Ty sent us Daryl, a Tripawd rescue in Sept. of 2016. Daryl is 5 +or -. We are also Pawrents to Chandler, a Border Collie mix who is 15 and 1/2, Lucy, a Corgi who is 7, 2 minis, 2 horses, and a feisty cat named Zoe. Zoe had a non skeletal Osteosarcoma removed in July 2015. No Chemo, she was at least 16. She is going strong although she is now completely blind. She is now close to 20 and her hobbies are eating and sleeping in front of her personal heater.
Both those drugs made Shelby very whiny and she would pace a lot... the drugs make them a bit loco. I bet once the patch comes off, things will get better for you. Shelby was unusual and she was all her pain meds after 3 days (at home so I guess 5 total days). But each dog is different and you know your dog best.
I don't recall if Shelby drank once coming home but I think she did. She always ate so I assume she drank too. The more they sleep, rest, are calm, the better for their healing!!! Hang in there...
Hugs!
Alison and Shelby
Shelby Lynne; Jack Russell/Shiba Inu mix. Proud member of the April Angels of 2014.
October 15, 2000 to April 8, 2014
Our story: Broke rear leg in June 2013 - non-conclusive results for cancer so leg was plated and pinned. Enlarged spleen in September 2013 and had it removed and was diagnosed with Hemangiosarcoma and started chemotherapy. Became a Tripawd January 8th, 2014 and definitive Hemangiosarcoma diagnosis. Three major surgeries in 7 months and Shelby took them all like a champ only to lose her battle to cancer in her brain. We had 8 amazing extra months together and no regrets. #shelbystrong #loveofmylife
Wheeeee! That's some fabulous pain management , lucky dawg! Yes, you should definitely have more restful nights when it's over. Keep up the great 'tude!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I'm so glad to hear everyone say that Fentnyl makes the dogs restless and whiny. My guy had his surgery on Tuesday- is home and recovering well, but is restless. He sleeps well, and then cries, and moves from room to room. I thought he was milking some sympathy from me, since he knows I'm wrapped around his paws.
I'm glad I found this thread and blog.
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
Your guys name is Hyde, right? The meds can make our pups quite wacky! My Pug Mag did OK with the patch, but she got really agitated on Tramadol.
Please consider starting your own thread and share your story.
Karen and Spirit Maggie
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Hi,
Yes my guy is Hyde - Thank you for the information on medicine. I'm really glad to hear that so many dogs have similar reactions. I cannot wait for the patch to be removed (on Monday) so I can see him even more himself.
I will start my own thread soon, I'm waiting for more information from the doctor. We chose to amputate before biopsy due to how much pain he was in and how fast the tumor was growing. I started a blog- called Hyde Pod. I'll post his whole journey on that site too.
Thanks again.
Jordan
Glad to hear Hyde's doing well I agree with everyone, those pain meds make them so loopy! I had issues with my Jake drinking and i found that if I added a little bit of chicken baby food to his water and warmed it up, he slurped it down. (I opted for baby food because it had only one ingredient).
Mom to Tripawd Angels Jake (2001-2014) and Rosco (2012-2015) and Tripawd Tanner. “Whatever happens tomorrow, we had today; and I'll always remember it”
Thank you! So far, Hyde drinks water moderately. He'll drink when he comes inside, when he's excited and after eating. I have not put anything into his water to help with that yet, but will keep an eye on him. I just made his appointment for Monday, to get the Fentnyl patch removed and maybe his bandages fixed up. I'll be happy to see what his recovery looks like when that happens.
nordy said
He's moving really pretty well for an arthritic, 12.5 year old, 3 legged 85lb Lab. I could hardly tell he was missing a leg this morning when we went out for our bathroom run. He tires easily, of course, but I expect that will improve - it's encouraging for only 5 days after amputation.
This is so great! I feel similar - I can hardly tell a leg is missing. It's pretty amazing!
I'm curious- did you get your pup weighed after the surgery? I didn't get my Hyde weighed yet, but I wondered how much weight he would lose from removing the leg. My guy was only 57 before surgery, with 4 legs.
Jordan
Hi Jordan -
I didn't get him weighed after surgery - he's a big guy, so I' m guessing it's at least a couple of pounds down. Not enough to make it easy to carry him up a flight of stairs at bedtime, but I do it anyway because I value my sleep. He is much more calm up there.
Sounds like Orion is making great progress. Libby pretty much sailed through her recovery as well. She lost 5 lbs after her amp. We've been able to keep the weight off which isn't always easy with a lab.
Keep up the good work Orion!
Amy & Libby
Liberty (Libby) was diagnosed with OSA on 1-22-13. Right front amputation on 1-31-13. No IV Chemo. Metronomic Therapy started 2-19-13 along with supplements and some home cooking. Lungs clear until 1-06-14. She's still her happy, hoppy, bossy self. Living the dog life to the fullest and a proud Winter Warrior. :) RIP my Libby 4-21-03 to 3-19-14
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