Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello! Happy to report Calvin is doing really well. Still occasional twitching in his stump, but not the painful spasming he was having the first week. It has now been 10 days since rear leg amputation, and this week the biggest problem is stopping him from following me all over the house. He’s trying to gently play with our other dog Rupert; and navigating no problem. We have wood floors so I purchased the toe grips from amazon and cut them to fit on each pad and they have been amazing! No slipping at all since I put them on four days ago. So my question is when do I wean off pain meds? Was going to get input from you guys for when you thought it was the right time. He is down to tramadol and gabapentin and methocarbamol every 12 hours. Switched the tramadol from 8 to 12 hrs at one week post op and noticed no difference in how he was feeling. So wondering if i should move the tramadol and methocarbamol to once every 24 hrs and keep the gabapentin every 12 until he’s at 2 weeks? Just don’t want to back off too soon and then have a backwards slide with his pain. Thanks for any suggestions!
Calvin's rockin' it! That's terrific news.
You're being so conscientious about his environment, I love that you went out and got the Toe Grips. Don't forget that if they pop off, you can apply them with crazy glue and they'll stick better. Dr. Buzby has a video tutorial on her website about how to do it.
Your vet is the best person to guide you on how to withdraw the pain medications. Every dog is different so sometimes it's a matter of pulling different drugs at different times depending on how the dog is doing. Since the three you mentioned all work differently in the body to alleviate pain, I would talk to your vet about which ones to pull, and when. And do let us know what the vet says so we can all learn from it.
Hoppy New Year to you, Calvin and the pack!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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