Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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I’m all so new to this. My 10 year old dog, Ed, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma two days ago on his left front wrist. His X-ray showed that the bone could break soon. Blood work is good and the chest X-ray came back clear. He is in surgery now and I’m suppose to pick him up tonight. I also have two young toddlers so I feel as though I’ve had no time to process everything but have to make decisions fast. Please keep Ed in your thoughts and any advice on recovery is helpful. Going to put a T-shirt on him and put down nonslip surfaces and we have a ramp for stairs to get outside.
Hello and welcome, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
What kind of dog is Ed? How big is he?
I'm sorry you are dealing with cancer and amputation but glad you found us. What a whirlwind!
First, I want you to be aware that bringing a pup home the day of surgery can be tough, it can be done but there are some extra challenges. Dogs coming off of the surgery meds can be very out of it and very vocal. Everything should be fine, people here have done it but you should make sure you have a phone number to call in case you get worried. Again- everything should be fine but having the phone number should give you some peace of mind.
Also be sure you know what pain meds he is coming home with and the dosing schedule.
As far as recovery, The Required Reading List has lots of links to info on what to expect with amputation and recovery. You are on the right track with traction for the floors!
Let us know how we can help when you get him home.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Thanks for your response. Ed is an italian spinone and weighs 80lbs. I’ll definitely find out what pain meds they are sending him home with, ask for a contact number and check out the resources you mentioned. I’m an emotional mess but hoping this surgery brings him more joy and less pain.
Jist want to add my support to help uou in a y way I can to navigate thru recovery. Karen has given yoj good input and some good reading to help you feel more reassured.
The first couple of weeks may make you think you did this TO your dog. As he moves through reco and his sparkle starts to come back yoj will soon say you did this FOR your dog!! He will definitely return to being a happy pain free dog with that bum leg gone!
As Karen said, coming home the day of surgery can be a bit stressful. Just remember this is MAJOR surgery, all while adjusting to three while on pain meds. Rest, short leashed potty breaks and back in for. more rest for two weeks. Slow and easy. Drin and peeing ate jmportant (even of he pees in his bed because of the pain meds), but eating g may be off a bit and he may not poop for a few days.
You may need a towel sling to help him get up or to go potty. Any yummy food he'll eat for now, give him.
STAY CONNECTED!!! YOU ARE NOT ALONE!!
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!
Thank you for the much needed support! Ed’s vet felt that he would be much happier at home- he hates the vet and couldn’t get out of there soon enough! However he said it would be a long night and whimpering is expected. It was a challenge to get him into the house but we made it. There was a lot of whimpering but once we got his bed into his crate and him in it, he slept through the night. No interest in food yet. We will see how he does when he wakes in the morning. I will definitely need to use a towel sling to help support him. Will keep you posted.
Devin & Ed
YAY he's home! I'm so happy to hear that, and just want to let you know that we are here for you and Ed. What kind of pain medications did he come home with? As you can see, we are big on making sure dogs have enough pain control after surgery.
How is he now? I hope he's good and mellow on some nice pain management ! Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Good job Ed sleeping through the first night!
If the towel sling is awkward you can make one out of a cloth shopping bag, the advantage is built in handles. Here are instructions.
Keep us posted.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Thank you all for your support! I made a sling out of a canvas bag and it was so helpful. Brilliant idea! Ed came home with gabapentin, tramadol, simplicef and previcox for inflammation. Is this most common?
Ed has eaten a good amount of food and the kids have been giving him Tuscan pizza flavored treats, perfect for an Italian! He drank a good amount of water once. He hasn’t peed or pooped yet. A little extra panting and whimpering when we get close to pain med time. Resting most of the day but was excited to get out of his crate and get fresh air and keep an eye out for squirrels. He’s starting to get the hang of his new hop but we have a little ways to go.
The kids wanted to wear matching T-shirts with Ed and they didn’t even want to play outside so we could stay close to him.
Well night 2 is not going nearly as well as night 1. Ed is whimpering quite a lot. I gave him tramadol 4hrs ago and gabapentin 40mins ago. His vet said he could take tramadol every 8hrs if needed but we are 4 hours away from that. I’m going to call the emergency vet. He did get outside for a poop and a pee and went across the yard to a favorite spot so Im not sure if he overdid it. I want to free him if this pain!
Oh poor guy! It sounds like the surgery meds are wearing off and the Tramadol isn't quite doing it for him. Many dogs have dysphoria/anxiousness when taking Tramadol so it's possible that your boy needs a lower dose or different pain control like Codeine.
The good news is that his bowel movements are a great sign! And his Gabapentin dose is spot-on for a dog his size. Has he eaten anything?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
There are some things to celebrate! The eating, pooping, peeing and drinking and hoppjng....all good!
The hospital meds are starting to wear off so tweaking his meds can take a vit of trial and error for a day or so.
You're doing a good job of moni6 when the pain seems to kick in as far as it happeni g before the next dose. Some it's a matter of making the doses more frequently.
So jowmoften is the Gaba given and amount? Same question about the Tramadol. It may be that yoj give the Tramadol and Gabapentin closer together.... maybe an hour apart as opposed to four hours apart.
I know my Hapoy Hannah was very whiny and restless for the first three nights. Finally I think she jist got so exhausted she slept pretty well on the fourth night.
Hang in there! Rec doesn't last furever!!
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!
I give him 1 300mg Gabapentin every 8 hours and 2 tabs of 50mg tramadol every 12 hours- vet said I could up this to every 8 hours if needed. It’s hard to know if he needs more throughout the day or if it doesn’t work well for him. I was going to give him more tramadol after 8hrs last night but he finally settled and has been snoozing peacefully for about 7hrs.
Sounds like you're on top of managing the pain with the program your vet has you on. So glad to hear he finally settled down and got some much-needed rest. Everything sounds normal for this part of the recovery. Good job
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!
Oh I'm glad he got some rest. I hope you did too! Did he need more tramadol today?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
He did great today! I didn’t see that he needed more tramadol. More eating, drinking, wanting fresh air and getting rest. He has a hard time when I go outside with the kids- howling and scratching at the crate because he wants to be with us. I’m wondering when I can give him more freedom but I worry about him falling if I can’t be right next to him. Taking it hour by hour. Trying to get as much of our slippery floors covered as possible, trimmed the fur around his pads and toes and placed an order for toe grips. He’s actually been sleeping more than me at night. Hoping tonight I’ll catch a few extra zzzs.
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