Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Sierra is home now after her right front amputation two days ago and looking very happy to be here. 
She is settling in just fine and learning her way as well as could be expected. She has some swelling which sounds like it is normal but one thing we are curious about is bruising. She has a rather large bruise (red area) on her belly. It extends well away from the incision area back towards her groin. The bruised area and the incision seem to have fluid there when she stands. It is not tight or seem to be sore to the touch so I assume this is somewhat normal. I suspect some of the redness is a result from her laying on it but am curious of others experiences.
In typical Sierra fashion, she did everything to tell the veterinarian she was ready to go home. After they decided to keep her the second night because she appeared to still be in pain (so they wanted to keep her on lower levels of iv pain meds), she managed to get around her cone and lick the glue off of the phetenol patch on her rear leg so they removed it. They sent us home with tramadol in place of the patch and told us to keep her on that for a couple of days.
I think the bruising is pretty normal for this kind of procedure. Cooper had some bruising for a few days, the vet pointed it out to us so we were aware of it right away. Thats great that Sierra is back home with you! It is just the longest time when they have to stay! The next couple of weeks may be trying on you , but it will get better soon! Keep us posted!
Coopsdad and Cooper
Coopsdad/ Kenneth Blackburn
http://cooper.t.....ipawds.com
the monkeydogs only THINK they have invaded the tripawd state
Welcome home Sierra!
I don't have any ideas on the surgery since I have a deformed 4th leg. Others will know here.
The couple of weeks are going to be a bit ruff. So, here's wishing you a speedy recovery!
Comet's mom
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
Post-op bruising and seromas are common after amputation surgery. And don't be surpised if Sierra has a little leakage, as long as it is not bright red and persistent. Here are a few existing topics you may find informative. More can be found by searching, or downloading the new Tripawds e-book.
Pictures of Denali's Post-op Bruising
Hope this helps, thanks for the update! Glad to hear Sierra is home.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Looks like Gus and Sierra could be littermates, so I think I have a pretty good idea of what your looking at, Gus had that same coloring in the same way and sure sounds like bruising. He was a left front amp, swelling was minimal I think but the bruising went away fairly quick. He didn't get along with Tramadol very well, we had to take him off after a couple days, he did have some phantom pain which started about 5 days post-op, lasted about 4 weeks, we used Gabapentin for that along with rimydal to control pain. Expect ups and downs but by the third week most show remarkable improvement. If you get a chance to catch some extra sleep, take it, it becomes precious at this time, but it's all worth it in the end. Paws up, Spirit Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
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