Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Oh good yeah do message them. This is NOT an easy situation.
Poor Chaco, his belly must feel awful. Yeah I'd wait on the meds too. Are you able to get to a Whole Foods or natural foods store? edible clay is super helpful with diarrhea. Did I already mention that? If not see:
https://nutriti.....ting-clay/
Yeah I would ask about the culture if you get a chance. It would be good to know what kind of infection is there so the antibiotics are effective.
The oozing is probably a good sign that the wound is draining and the body is pushing the grossness out. I was told when I had a horrific case of poison ivy not to cover the gross area on my leg, so I'm guessing that letting air hit Chaco's elbow wound will be good for it. Did the vet recommend any kind of warm compress? That might be helpful too.
Hard to beloeve it now, but this will get better!!! The setbacks between the open wound, then the lack of appetite, then the diarrhea.....all have to be extremely frustrating!!!
Ditto the idea 9f getting a culture just to make sure the right antibiotic is being used. Hopefully with the wound draining and Chaco feeling vetter, maybe, just maybe, things will improve enough an antibiotic won't be needed......maybe?
(((((((((((((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!
Just wanted to give y’all an update—we’ve had a really good couple of days with our Chaco. The new antibiotics appear to be working well. There’s still a fairly large hole in his elbow, but the drainage is minimal & it looks like new tissue may be growing—we plan on taking him back to the vet when we finish the antibiotics to have it checked out again. We’re able to wrap his elbow with gauze then cover with the neoprene sleeve for several hours throughout the day.
He’s seemed like himself so much more the past 2-3 days. Appetite is up & he’s eating like a lab again. He’ll get up on his own & hop to the office to lay down—that was always one of his favorite spots. He’s been trying to get under the table to clean up after the boys at mealtime. We’ve had guests over every day & he gets up to greet them in his old way—by trying to squeeze between their legs so they can scratch his booty 😂
We’ve been really encouraged about his progress this week & the difference between this Saturday morning & last & just wanted to share! 💛
We are soooo glad you shared this WONDERFUL update! Have a HIGE grin plastered across my face😁
To read about the Chaco-specific routines he's embracing again. That's when you really kmow he has truly turned the corner on this seemingly never ending battle you all have been facing.
I love that he "cleans up after the boys" and greets guests in the booty scratch position 😎
So happy to read this tonight. Your perseverance has finally paid off. Even though it wasn't your intention, Chaco's journey will definitely give hope AND information to others facing this daunting aspect of the amputation journey. Victory can indeed be had!!!!
Give him an extra five minute booty scratch for us, okay?
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!
Yay! Of course you wanted to share, this is really great news! I'm so happy things are going the right way!
Sounds like he is tolerating the treatment and the sleeve?
Good boy Chaco! You've got this!
Finally got some photos on facebook & was able to figure out sharing them here. Here's our boy after his first "walk" to the neighbors house last night. His spirits were so high during & after this---and he's still sleeping off the workout this morning.
Sich a handsome boy!! And that looks says ot all! He's clear happy as can be and quite proud of himself😎
Thanks for sharing this update.....made my day!!!
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!
Oh I 
Chaco! What a hoppy boy! You can tell that really cheered him up. Let the good times & healing continue 
Hi,
I wanted to check with y’all here to see if you’ve run across this—we have an apt scheduled with the vet next week but curious if we should move it up.
We’ve noticed a clicking/popping sound in Chaco’s elbow in the past 24 hours. He still has the hole in it that appears to be healing. I made the mistake of googling, and of could it could be any number of terrible or not so terrible things. We’ve thought he has had a little more trouble getting comfortable at times, but he’s still getting up & down pretty good & is still fast when he wants to be. Should this raise any immediate red flags for us?
Thanks!
Oh Dr. Google is a scary thing sometimes!
If he were my dog, and I'm not a vet fwiw, but if he was getting around pretty well (especially compared to where he was just a week or so ago), it can probably wait till the appointment as long as everything else checks out.
How's his appetite? How's he walking otherwise? Does he have consistent energy or does it dip after he has some activity? Watch for any kind of backslide and if you don't see any, it's likely he's got some arthritis kicking in from walking in new ways.
Hello!
Wanted to give an update—Chaco is back to his goofy self! He’s had several good days that included taking advantage of the baby gate being left open & surprising us halfway up the stairs last night.
We went back to the vet today for a recheck of the elbow—side note, he acted like a wild child, so happy to be in public again. A completely different dog from two weeks ago. She’s pleased with how it’s healing. Going to continue the antibiotics until it’s completely closed up. Heart & lungs sounded good. She thought the clicking sound was probably just fluid around the elbow sloshing around, so not concerned. Plan is to recheck in two weeks.
he acted like a wild child,
Now that is HREAT news!!!! Thrilled to hear how Chacomis enjoying being Chaco again! You have been on an extra and unexpected "challenging " part of the journey. Ot looks like that is all in the rear view mirror now. Good job!👏👏
Really sorry you jad to go through this, but it is helpful I information to others who may face similar circumstance
Thanks for the update. Really did make my day!
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!
Cheers to the wild child! Awwwrrrrrooooo!!
That's a huge relief that the clicking wasn't a concern for the vet. I think a two week check sounds reasonable and hopefully you guys can put this phase behind you for good.
As Sally mentioned, when these things happen someone sometime down the line will learn from it and take comfort knowing they aren't alone. So thank you for sharing!
Hi,
Not good news over here today. Our boy was doing SO GOOD last week, then Monday we noticed he seemed a little down--just assumed he had overdone it walking around outside. Tuesday wasn't much better--noticed he didn't want to stay in the same room as us, would retreat to the office & lay there alone. Yesterday was the same, noticed some difficulty getting up on his own, not wanting to stray from the rugs (which he hadn't minded leaving them to clean up after the kids the past week or so), not wanting to eat, and some heavy breathing. Got him to the vet this morning & just heard back from them---there are nodules present in his lungs that weren't there on surgery day. Last week she said his lungs sounded good, today they concerned her. She sent everything to his oncology team, so we're waiting to hear from them on palliative options.
But we're just so heartbroken. His elbow wound completely closed up Monday night/Tuesday morning. He was doing so good. And now I feel like we just have days left because I can't watch him suffer much more. Waiting for the baby to wake up from nap so we can go get him & love on him.
Any experience on how long they usually have when they get to this point?
Gerica
Popping on quickly with some questions.
All this is FWIW and I'm not a Vet and not giving Vet advice
First of all, this just doesn't make sense to me and I would definately get a second opinion! It was just a matter of days ago he was doing really, really well!!! And lungs were clear day of surgery about a month ago. He had a good check up last week.
For mets to seemingly pop up so quickly and to be destructive enough this very early on to be causing all the sysmptons you mentioned just does add up.
If I recall, there never was an actual culture done but just adjusting antibiotics until his elbow cleared up.
Just wondering something underlying is causing this versus the mets. Of course, it's possible the mets are the issue, but to see these symptoms so verynquickly....dunno....others will have to chime in on that as it seems not the "normal" path mets take so quickly.
What other work up was done besides xrays? Temperature blood work, etc. Heart sound good?? Any me tion if fluid in the lungs? If so, that can be drawn off and a diuretic can help.
What treatments, meds, etc were offered to help Chaco through this hard time. IF it is about palliative care at this point, there are many options to keep Chaco comfortable mand extend good quality time for him. Perhaps Gabapentin and Prednisone can help at this point to ease the breathing difficulties can reduce inflammation if mets are causing irritation in lungs). Geenerally mets are not necessarily painful, so the Gaba can help if there is something underlying that can cause pain, not eating, etc.
Addit, he still could have a miscle spasm somewhere even of he does havers mets too. So if he will let uou, do some massaging and see of thst helps.
Hang in there, okay? I know it's hard but this MAY be something else yet to be discovered and could just be an unusual way for mets to act so quickly. Its certainly. worth checking our further
((((((((((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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