Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello!
Again, I appreciate the support and kind words. benny55, she will not be staying overnight. This hospital is not a 24 hour facility, but if they think she needs to go somewhere overnight they’ll refer us. After op, they hold them for at least three hours to monitor and send them home.
I dropped Willow off this morning at 8am EST and am awaiting her discharge call!
That's good they have an ER clinic they work with if they feel she needs more care overnight than you can give at home. Just be aware that it's not easy, and you may be really, really worried when you see her so out of it. But it's not an impossible situation and within 48 hours you'll start to see more sparkle come back. Will you have someone there to help you out?
We are sending lots of love to Willow and you, keep us posted!
Update!
Willow is home and confided to her recovery area. The doctor and techs all said she did amazing and looked really good after waking up.
We have our list of instructions and are ready to tackle the next 24 hours! Post op check up is also scheduled in 10 days.
WELCOME HOME WILLOW!!!! Good job sweet girl!!
As we've mentioned, bringing any dog home the same day of surgery can be rough. Obviously It's unavoidable sometimes. You may, or may not, get much sleep tonight. Even though my Hapoy Hannah did indeed spend the first night at a clinic, her second night (first night home) was full of whining and restlessness. It took several days before I could get the right dose, meds that worked for her. Some dogs sail through those first several days. Yep, every dog is cifferent!
Update when you can.
B R E A T H E.......👍
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!
Good morning!
I have a minute to update now.
Willow has done great so far to the best of my knowledge! She did not eat much the first night and the following morning, but had a big appetite the next night and did not leave a crumb in her bowl! We were a little worried about her taking all of her pills at first since she did not seem too keen on them, but luckily we think it was just the lack of appetite initially as she's taken all of them on time after the first 12 hours or so. Hydration has also not been a problem.
As I've said, she came to us injured, so she has been walking almost 3-legged since we've had her. This was a great advantage for her as she is already hopping along outside for our little bathroom breaks! Speaking of the bathroom, she has urinated a few times with no issues, but I do think that she needs some more fiber..you know why haha!
As of right now, I think our medicine dosages are working well. She slept through most of the first two nights well. She does not seem to be showing pain around the wound area and there are no signs of infection.
Unfortunately, the soft cone alternative is not great for her as it is a little thin and her snout can reach the area for licking. She's sniffed at it a couple of times, but as a precaution, I ordered another alternative to try out before getting a traditional plastic cone.
I know we're only two days in (we have our 10-day follow-up scheduled for next Friday), but I am feeling positive about the recovery journey!
This is an excellent recovery so far! Good job!
Now you may still have a little bit of a up and down day or two, but don't panic! That would be normal. And yeah the pooping may take a couple of days.
You can try adding some steam squash or some natural pumpkin. Give Willow a smooch 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!
Wow that's an impressive first few days! So happy to know she's sailing along and doing so well with pain control, appetite, etc. Bringing home a dog or cat the same night of surgery is NOT easy but you handled it like a pro. 
Try not to worry about 
, it'll happen! As Sally mentioned, a little high fiber foods added to her meal will help. Pumpkin pulp usually does the trick.
Let us know how that cone works out, I've never see it. Pretty neat. Funny they show a GSD since our own could probably get out of that, but I'm curious to know how it works.
Sounds like Willow is doing great so far! That's awesome.
Sometimes we see here that a pup with an injury is in chronic pain and even the pain from surgery is a bit of a relief.
I don't think Maggie pooped for several days after surgery. Back then I didn't know about adding pumpkin or oil to help things along...since Willow is eating well I bet things get moving quickly!
Unfortunately, the soft cone alternative is not great for her as it is a little thin and her snout can reach the area for licking.
Ah yes, I should have clarified...mine now are Pug mixes. After 24 years of Pugs my current girl's snouts seem pretty long to me, but they are still pugish 
. In fact when Pug Maggie had her rear amp she had a bit of a buddha belly, combining that with her very short Pug snout she couldn't reach her incision so didn't need any kind of cone.
Keep up the good healing!
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Not a vet so FWIW but that looks pretty typical. Sometimes bruising can happen in splotches, not all over. It also gets worse before it gets better. Is there a smell or discharge happening? Or a smelly discharge?
Hey Jerry!
there is no discharge and we do not smell anything. She doesn’t even seem to really mind when the area is touched. I was just worried she was being tough and wanted to see if that was typical bruising or a vet run.
Update: I called the vet today just in case. They said it sounded like normal bruising, but to send pictures of the area and her gums. They mentioned that her gums should be pretty pink (which they were) and not white. She's still acting fine and showing no signs of pain or discomfort. She even took her first #2 today (about an hour ago)!
WOW that's wonderful she did a ! Super great sign that her recovery is on track.
Glad you were able to talk to the vet. I would take another photo each day, to compare how the bruising is doing.
Yay Willow!
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