Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello all, would appreciate any trouble shooting help or ideas.
Our dog Moose is almost 8 months out from amputation. He had lung mets appear after 5 rounds of carboplatin, so he was switched to Palladia and Losartan about 3.5 weeks ago. A few days after the second dose, he woke up extremely fatigued, a little hesitant when moving and with very goopy eyes. The symptoms mostly resolved on their own, just a little occasional lingering fatigue and lingering redness on lid membrane under eyes. He's been on his regular med dosage for two more weeks with no additional issues and bloodwork last Friday (one week ago) looked great. Last weekend, he started showing tiredness again, less appetite, less happy mood, less interest in playing and some hesitancy to move around (unless we were going on a walk) - all unusual for him. His eyes were more red and goopy, so we took him in and the ophthalmology vet found both corneas were scratched (probably from playing in our yard, he loves running through the bushes and digging in the sand under the deck), so they thought that discomfort could be causing the other symptoms. His eyes look better after several days of antibiotic ointment, but the other symptoms continue. He seems like he can get comfortable when laying down and shifts around a lot, but also does not want to get up unless we really encourage him. He's not on any pain meds because he hasn't been having any pain previously, but we're wondering if he now has some kind of pain somewhere - legs/back/shoulder of intact leg, stomach, lungs? We can't pinpoint what's else is going on. It also seems like when he barks this week it causes some slight discomfort. It's strange because he was 100% himself - high energy, athletic, hungry, playful, loud, happy all the time - less than a week ago.
Our oncology vet is out of office until Monday, but we're wondering if we should ask them to try to get in touch with her anyway, and then what we should ask them to look into in terms of tests when we're there next week.
Thanks so much.
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Hey Moose & Family, welcome. Looks like you had some trouble joining as a member? I'm in the Tripawds Chat right now if you'd like help with that OK? Once you're a member, after your 1st post your future posts won't need to be approved so let us know if we can help.
I'm sorry Moose is feeling badly. Of course it happens when your vet is out. Ugh. I would definitely call your vet to let them know about these symptoms. Having to wait until Monday to talk to your oncologist is a total bummer. But hopefully if you call today, the team that is in the office can guide you on appropriate pain medications to see if that does the trick.
Is there any chance that he could have pulled a muscle last week? What kind of activity was he getting? And how often? Have you tried massaging him around his neck, shoulders, and low back to see if he responds negatively in any way? Even a look back might be a pain signal that's telling you something.
Low appetite can definitely accompany pain. Try feeding him super stinky meats like liverwurst, or get out the cheese wiz and see if he shows interest. Anything to see if he'll nosh down something that can keep his stomach happy with the pain meds going into his system.
It's a win that his eyes are doing better! His body is still able to fight off infection / insults so that's a great sign!
Call the clinic OK? Let us know what they say. And tell us how we can help with registration.
Hi Jerry,
Thanks so much for your reply. We went for a recheck of his corneas and they are healing well, which has correlated with more willingness/interest in going outside during the day when the sun is bright and also opening his more normally instead of laying around with them closed.
He also had an abscess that we found on his neck over the weekend and had treated at our primary vet today. It's unclear why it happened, but we wonder if it was causing some discomfort as he was eager to play when we got home for the first time in a week.
We talked to the oncologist yesterday and she thinks the issues are not obviously related to Palladia or the tumors (just lucky timing! :-p ) so we're going to watch energy and mood and appetite for another week and test out reducing the Palladia dose if needed.
His appetite is still lower than normal and he is still a bit more tired than normal, but we're hoping that he continues to improve over the next week as we get those two hidden issues treated. If not, we will keep looking for other causes including muscle strain and trying a dose or two of pain medicine to see if it helps.
Thank you again.
(Also - got the login in figured out! 🙂 )
Oh WHEW! That is a HUGE relief. I love that you were able to get multiple opinions (just sorry that he's had multiple issues).
The low appetite is a common issue with Palladia. Check out our Appetite Tips in the Tripawds Nutrition blog .
We hope he keeps getting better too! It's good that you have some pain control on hand. Remember that staying ahead of pain with consistent dosing is a good way to handle any discomfort. He may need at least a few days of pain medication based on what you're describing.
YAY you got the log-in figured out!
Keep us posted OK?
Just catching up on your sweet Moose. Glad you got some good input from Jerry, as well as what appears to be a pretty darn good report from the Vet check-up!.
Something to,celebrate ' Showed interest in going outside in the sun. YAY! That's good news!
Yeah, Palladia can definitely have side effects in some dogs, some more harsh than others. Glad your Onco is open to a reduced dose IF necessary. If I read this right, his tiredness, lack of appetite, etc did start shortly after his first dose of Palladia???
The eye issues, the neck "sore" could all interfere with Moose being his perky self may, indeed be the cause of those "symptoms " you described. Plus, as Jerry mentioned, he may have a pulled muscle somewhere. Just throwing thoughts out in the FWIW column. The fact that it seems to hurt him to bark may...may...mean he has stiffness in a neck or shoulder muscle. It may be a combination of all the above, including the Palladia.
Stay connected and update when you can.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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!
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