Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My dog Jelllie, a 9 year old female shepherd just had a rear leg amputatin 10 days ago. First few days home after surgery she seemed like her spirit was there..The last 4 days she just lies on her bed all day and has no energy. her mobility is pretty good. Not knowing what to expect, I don't know if this is to be expected. We are going for short walks (5 minutes) and she is being weaned off pain meds. any thoughts from experienced folks out there?
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Jellie is likely just exhausted from being on pain medication for the past few weeks. It is also still pretty early to be going on any sort of walks. Confinement is key to a safe complete recovery. She should get here spark back once off the meds. Please keep us posted. What has your vet said?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
The vet said to start building her up little by little so pehaps I am doing too much? We can back off for sure. She has no problems peeing or pooping on her own and uses a ramp up the house with no problem. Perhaps since her mobility has been so remarkable I am doing too much with her.
Welcome to tripawds.
Does the incision look OK? Any leaking or redness? When ever you are really concerned you should call your vet.
Many pups here have experienced ups and downs during the first couple of weeks after surgery. I have read about a couple of pups here who hit the ground running, or hopping, and never looked back- but I think most took some time to recover.
My pug Maggie was a left rear amp- our surgeon only wanted supervised potty breaks outside, and limited walking inside until the stitches came out- which was between 10 and 14 days post amp- I don't remember. I did not have to limit her as she was quite a slug on her own during recovery.
The pain meds can mess with their energy and mind- and some seem to have some trouble when weened off of them. Maggie was on tramadol and did not tolerate it too well. On the other hand my quad pug Obie was on the same dose for two weeks due to a serious eye injury and was fine on it- and no withdrawal symptoms.
And it will take Jellie time to build up strength and endurance. It takes much more energy to get around on three.
Did Jellie lose her leg to cancer?
You might want to read through Jerry's Required Reading List- it is a compilation of info from this site on what to expect from amputation, recovery, and treatment.
Karen and the pugapalooza
We didnt see our dog's "Budness" and personality start to return until the the 3rd week of recovery!
Hang in there!
We diddn"t start short walks until after the staples were out and the vet told us to let him go back to bein a dog!
Tate was up and then he was down, then he was up, then he was down. For about three weeks. It was hard of figure out why. So Jellie will need a little more time. (Jellie - what a cute name!)
http://tate.tripawds.com/
August 16, 2006 to November 28, 2011
TATE ~ Forever in our hearts.
It sounds like she is doing fine. They seem to have an initial spurt of energy when they first come home, and then a little of a let down. I was so worried at first that Cooper needed to be up and walking right away - and everyone finally got me to see what a major deal he had just been through and that he needed rest. He was confined to an area about 3 feet x 6 feet and believe me , when he wanted to exercise he did! Usually at 2:00 a.m... Jellie should be fine though just let her get rest and heal and she will let you known when she's ready.
Coopsdad
Coopsdad/ Kenneth Blackburn
http://cooper.t.....ipawds.com
the monkeydogs only THINK they have invaded the tripawd state
Like many others who've posted, I'm confident that Jellie'll get her spark back after a bit more of a rest. Sylvia's vet also recommended what Maggie's did - out only for supervised potty breaks, and keep using the sling - especially on stairs and such. We weren't dealing with a "slug-dog", and found out even two months post-amputation that while the dog's spirit is more than willing to dash about, you will have to find that balance between reveling in the renewal of energy and not overdoing. We'll be cheering on Jellie in her recovery!
- Karen and Sweet Sylvie 
Sweet Silly Sylvie, the Old English Sheepdog
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma 11/04/2010 at almost 7 years of age * Left hind leg amputated 11/09/2010 * Chemo on 12/10, 12/17, 01/10, 01/31
Sweet Sylvie's earthly journey ended on Nov. 3, 2011, one day short of a year since her diagnosis and 6 days short of her one-year ampuversary. Her family celebrates her life as a sheepdog – ever the puppy, ever silly, ever sweet – and are grateful for our 7 years together.
All these replies were very helpful. And after reading many stories I see that Jellie is doing well in so many respects and I am so lucky with that. She is a smart dog and knows how to take care of herself. Today I was less worried and guess what, she was a tinier bit perkier. She saw the vet Friday (He said her incision was fine and seems all her stitches are internal so nothing to come out) and also had first chemo treatment (of course I know that can knock them for a loop and had her lethargy not started before the chemo I would have just assumed that's what it was). How dumb am I? but so far no other side effects from chemo. One gets fooled by their euphoria after surgery, happy to be home, etc. and then I guess the inevitable crash. I am backing off a little on the walking and just going out to do business and minute or two more.
Thanks all. I never thought I would want to join one of these but glad I did. If I can figure out how to post a picture of Jellie I will. She has that name because when we adopted her she was quite chubby but slimmed her down over the years and glad of that. yes, she did lose her leg due to osteo sarcoma.
dellarose said:
Today I was less worried and guess what, she was a tinier bit perkier.
You wouldn't believe how much this matters. The hardest recoveries we hear about are with dogs who's people worry and fret, and run to assist their dog every time he or she whimpers. Dogs will pick up on the pack leader's emotions so be sure to keep those spirits up! Thanks for the update.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
The best advice that I can give you is to listen to Jellie. She will tell you exactly what she needs, and all you have to do is listen. Of course I realize how hard this is, but trust me when I tell you that it's a lesson well-learned..
Nikki had some serious ups and downs (I couldn't believe how well she was doing 3 days after the surgery, and how bad it seemed she was doing 2 months after) but she got through it (much better than I did if you want to know the truth)
Good luck!
Just want to join the party and say sounsd normal so far, Same for Gus, looked good when he came home, then crashed a few days after, the beginning of the roller coaster, I would say by week three he was starting to get back to his old self and by week four I was feeling pretty good about his recovery. Hang in there, it does get better, and yes, when someone would post that the first thing in your mind is yea, but when, just give it time. Our vet told us make sure he wasn't to active to quick, so I wasn't to concerned when he just laid around, it gave him time to heal, 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
HI all. I hope I can figure out how to post of picture of my beautiful gal Jellie. After lots of worry about her lethargy, today, a first real spring day in New York, she showed me some of her old spark...barking at cars in the driveway, in the kitchen begging each time I am there, etc.
One thinkg I thought of and will be careful of, the shaved area could easily get sunburned now that we are outdoors again. we sat outside for a while today and I just covered her surgery area with my jacket. I didn't think applying sunscreen was appropriate. Anyone have comments on this?
Me & Jelllie
Let's just call her "Sparky" now! Yipee!
As for the sunscreen, I would stay away from it for a while. That's just me though. I don't know if it could cause any weird infection or anything but I just don't like the thought of letting those chemicals sit on my skin without being able to wash them off for now. You may want to just keep on covering the area with a blankie while she's sitting around, if that's possible.
Here's a link about adding images to the Forums, hope it helps. Let us know if not.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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