Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Percy is in the middle of his series of doxorubicin treatments (finished 3) and in the last week or so has started to have really bad gas. Has anyone else had this problem? If so, is this related to the chemo, or something different? He's never had a problem with gas before, but now the smell is just overpowering and fills a room and will not go away. He's always had diarrhea a few days after each chemo and, after the most recent chemo, the diarrhea never quite went away.
Also, I discovered what looks like a bed sore today on his good hip. The hair is thinned out over that area and the skin is red and looks like it's about to bleed. He lies more on his good side than on the side with his missing hind leg lately. Is there a cancer/chemo side effect that this could be or could this just be a bed sore? How do I treat bedsores? Should I encourage him to lie on both sides? Every few weeks, he seems to hurt on the side with his missing leg -- he would scream in pain if he lay funny on that side -- so I have not tried to encourage him to sleep on the amputation side. His pain seems to come and go.
oh no Percy
I would guess that the gas is a result of the chemo, but I don't have experience with it. The beneficial bacteria in the gut can be thrown out of whack pretty easily, so he might also have an intestinal infection if the diarrhea never let up so it's worth discussing it with your vet.
I would try to get Percy an orthopedic dog bed . If funds are tight you can find "egg crate" style foam mattress pads at Joann fabrics, and they have 40% off coupons all of the time, just google and print one out. Cut the foam to size and wrap in an old blanket and you have a decent dog bed. You might also want to put some sort of a salve/healing ointment on the bare/cracked patch of skin to help it heal up.
we agree, talk to your vet - maybe consider some probiotics to help his GI tract get back to it's regular balance. gayle is a front right amputee, we got a terrible raw spot on her remaining front elbow. i made a protective pad for her, there are directions in the tripawds downloads blog. for the back hip, that might not work, but definitely go get some of the egg crate foam at joann's and try that. we also found that the place gayle was 'knocking' her elbow most was trying to get under the table at meal time (in case i'd share...). we put a rug under the table and that helped with the hard knock... good luck, we remember this can be a rough time, but there is light at the end of the tunnel.
charon & gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
Sammy had diarrhea after chemo treatments, sometimes he still does because of his metronomics . My vet perscribed something for that, I can't remember what it is called but it helped within a day to get better. Ask Tazziedog in a PM what it is called. Sammy has the raw spot on his remaining leg, but it is more like a big callous now. I will have to check out Gayles protective pad idea 🙂
Elizabeth and Sammy
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
Has Percy's diet changed? Perhaps consider including some probiotics to control intestinal distress.
Regarding the "bedsore" be sure to have your vet confirm that's what it may be and if Neosporin is OK to use. Others have reported their vets suggested that for helping heal incision sites. Some dogs take up to a couple months to get comfortable on the amputation side.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I would ask your vet about probiotics or a holistic treatment like RX Clay to help with the diarrhea. This is most likely secondary to chemo.
You also might need a course of antibiotics for the pressure sore since chemo makes the body more prone to secondary infections.
Pam
Rio had pretty nasty gas with her first few chemo treatments. She also had pretty bad diarrhea. Her vet put her on Cerenia and metronidazole -- the first for nausea and the second for diarrhea. She takes these for the first 2-3 days after she has her chemo, and the gas has been much better.
I have a friend who swears by FortiFlora, and I've used K9 Medicinals Total-Biotics. Seems to work for Rio.
Rio's mom
 |
~ ~ Rio ~ ~ |
Thank you all for your replies! Our vet gave me some doggie probiotics, so we are going to try that. Looking back, I am wondering if the really bad gas might have been due to my giving Percy some whole milk yogurt. I was hoping the yogurt might help his diarrhea. We had gotten a prescription for metronidizole as well, but Percy has had so many chemicals put into his body these last two months, I was hoping to avoid additional medications as much as possible. I'd been giving him yogurt all week and he's never had problems with it before, but right before the really smelly evening I had given him a couple of tablespoons. I'm debating whether or not to give him some more to see if that was the culprit (it's too hot to open the windows here, so it could be a smelly experiment).
Thanks for the suggestion about eggcrate foam from Joann's. That's a great idea!
Pam, thanks for the pointer to the RX Clay. I'll ask our vet about that and and see if they carry it.
Elizabeth, Percy's always had callouses on his elbows and few years ago there was a period when they became bloody. I sewed some swimsuit bra pads onto the sleeves of a t-shirt and that helped a little. Unfortunately, I don't think I could get that to stay put on his hip!
Ohhhh yeah, it could definitely be the yogurt! Many dogs can't handle it, and since the chemo can really mess with the GI system, I'm betting that's what it is. The clay should definitely help, we found it works wonders for our Wyatt Ray. Good luck!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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