Well, our Indy is having her surgery on Thursday but I can tell you what happened with her broken leg -- from what I've read, a lot of the meds are the same. The only difference really seems to be that with the broken leg, we were supposed to keep her horizontal as opposed to the amputation where our vet says we should let her try and stand whenever she wants.

Anyways, when we picked her up, she was on morphine, a fentynal patch, tramadol and rimadyl. She'd been on rimadyl and tramadol for her arthritis, so the main things were the fentynal and morphine. Well, the morphine wore off about six hours after we picked her up, but the fentynal was not working with her the first day. She was both restless and lethargic, and our vet said it just doesn't agree with some dogs as the transdermal nature of it transmits too much. The second day, the fentynal didn't seem to bother her.

The first two days, she didn't eat anything at all. She peed in her sleep (we put diaper pads underneath her butt) and would be in and out of consciousness. She consciously wanted to pee, though, and she wanted to get up to do it...we had to get her back down and just wait for her to dribble it out onto the pad. Because she was restless (for whatever reason...looking back, I think it's because she wanted to pee since she'd drink a lot of water but it might have been pain), the vet told us to give her an acepromazine as needed. That helped her stay down on the first week but one of the side effects of it is that it can constipate the stomach. So when she started eating solid food again (third day), and it was ready for the poop to come out, she really struggled and it came out in a really weird shape.

I'm not sure if this helps but hopefully you'll see the similarities. I think what you're experiencing is somewhat normal based on the meds you've got. The exhaustion is really the meds making him feel out of it. I'm guessing the second and third days will be better than the first.

jerry said:

Hi Christina, you don't have to apologize for asking anything here, promise. We'll try to help however we can. We're so sorry you're coping iwth all this.

Christina, Stas, and family,

We would like to express how sorry we are to hear of Stas's diagnosis, but he sounds like he was very luck to join your family.  Each dog can respond respond very differently so attempting to establish a "new" normal is not easy.  I realize that the pain-killers have a very important function, but Cherry had many complications with any of the chemicals used in her treatments.  All they want to do is feel and act normal and until all the chemicals are gone, you will be faced with issues.  As suggested by all, continue to talk to the vets and consider all your options.  With time the pain-killers will no longer be necessary and Stas will feel more like himself.  As far as the toilet issues, I cannot count the number of times we hear of "poop" celebrations.  I am not trying to make lite of your concerns, but rather tell you that these are normal concerns to a normal surgery problem.  Hang in there, make sure that Stas eats and drinks, and add small amounts of fiber rich food.  From what you said, I got the impression that Stas diet is currently different to help stimulate his eating.  That alone can cause loose stools or constipation in certain dogs.

Historically, I would have to say that these are the toughest of days.  You will see a gradual improvement but there will also be ups and downs.  I usually post a number of suggestions for new TriPawd pawrents and I believe that the third may be most helpful here.  Consider keeping a journal.  I kept a journal and posted it on-line.  It allowed me to go back days/weeks/months and make a good comparison.  This really helped to make honest assessments of Cherry's progress during the ups and downs of recovery.  Our oncologist actually used these journal postings to keep up to speed on Cherry's condition.

Cherry is also a left front amputee and started her chemotherapy started just hours after her surgery.  There were many ups and downs, but she is now just a little over two weeks from celebrating her one year ampuversary.  I would have to say that she has never been better than she is right now since the initial diagnosis.  So that is Stas's incentive!!

Paws Crossed and Sending Pawsitive Thoughts,

Bob & Cherry

Cristina and Stas,

I would echo Dawn's question about the Acepromazine.  The effect of Ace can vary greatly from dog to dog. We have 25 mg Ace tablets that we have used with Codie Rae and Smokey.  One half (12.5 mg) of one of these tablets will take the edge off of Codie Rae. She will still be reasonably active and alert.  We have used it to calm her down on a few occasions.  Smokey has gotten it a couple of times when he was stressed with stomach problems as a way to settle him down and help him relax.  When Smokey suffers Ace has become a standard part of his treatment because it does help him get through it.  The same 12.5 mg dose that slows CR down will make it difficult for Smokey to stand up.  His back end starts quivering and he can barely control himself.  But it does get him to lie down and relax. Both dogs are the same weight.  Your story sounds very similar to what so many others have gone through after surgery.  Just as Ace can effect different dogs in different ways, I would assume the same is true of all the pain meds that get used.  You might want to ask the vet about the Ace.  We have used as little as 1/4 of a 25 mg tablet and noticed an effect so if it is needed it could also be a dosing issue.  Good luck to you.

Ralph

Hooray for the POOP!! That's funny how happy that makes us, good boy Stas! 🙂

For Raven the best thing was when I weaned down the painkillers. Some dogs just can't deal with the pink elephants and are happier dealing with a bit of pain and having their senses clearer.

Glad to hear the good report.

Dawn