Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Well, last night was a long and sleepless night for the Shilo family. Shilo seemed to have a busy and eventful day yesterday. My brother and his girlfriend came over which kept her more on her toes and happy for the company. Bad was she crashed after the visit, got up in our bed and was out for the count. Her Dad even went to check on her and she did not even stir with the love pats like she normally does. I just passed it off that she was exhausted from her busy day, it was the most active day since her surgery.
A couple hours later I went to crawl into bed put my arm around Shilo and felt a wetness under her chest, at first I thought I was imagining it. We convienced her to get off the bed and found that she has an accident. Not just a little pittle but a huge accident. It was enough that I had to completely strip the bed and her Dad and I had to give her a bath. I got some new bedding and got her all cleaned up. Dad took her out to go potty and I crawled back into bed. After she was mostly dry Dad gave into the pitiful eyes as she asked to get back on the bed (she places just her head on the bed then stares for the ok 
). He figured she should be ok, we assumed it was just the excitement and it was a one time occurence. Within 20 minutes she did it again. Not the big mess but enough that it went through the blankets again just not all over her this time. This time though she was trying to clean it up, but it was like she didn't know she had to go.
Worry insued and neither Dad or I got any sleep. We were too busy making sure there were no more accidents and trying to keep her off the furniture.
Sorry this is turning in to a book.... Long story shortened.. I called the vet took in a urine sample and it came back with nothing. They asked if it happens while she is laying down.. I said yes, and they think that she is becoming incontinent... I now have pads on the bed (she is heartbroken not doing her norm) and will talk to her oncologist about a possible med she can take while taking chemo.
My worry was that it could be something else, her Dad and I worry that it was the bad C word. I know her sister has the same issue with incontinence so I am thinking it is just a coincidence it started happening now. What do you think??
Worried as always - Alisa
Shilo diagnosed with osteosarcoma 9/4/2009, amputation 9/9/2009. ShiloAnne lost her battle 11/23/2009 where she regained her fourth leg and is patiently waiting for her parents to join her. We will always love you baby girl.
Alisa,
I sure can relate to your signature: Worried as always. Just this evening I posted about Emily not acting herself. Sorry I can't comment on your problem, I just wanted to let you know you are not alone in your worries. Take heart and talk to your oncologist but if her sister had incontinence too then it is probably not the cancer.
Debra
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
Sorry I don't have experience with accidents or incontinence with Yoda, but for what it's worth, I've never heard of incontinence being a symptom of the C-word returning. It's still stressful and tiring, of course, so I hope the vet can help her with it soon because the Shilo family has enough to deal with and worry about!
Yoda&Mom united: 9/5/06 …….… Yoda&Leg separated: 6/5/09……… Yoda&Leg reunited: 10/14/09 ……… ……………….………….………….……. Yoda&Mom NEVER separated! …………………….….……....….…… Though Spirit Yoda currently free-lances as a rabbit hunting instructor for tripawds nationwide
Poor Shilo... I sure hope it's nothing serious. 
Once the vet checks her out to make sure... If it's something that runs in the family (you mentioned Shilo's sister also has it)... then you get some doggie diapers for her to wear at nite 
... maybe get one of those waterproof mattress covers for your bed (just in case). I hope tonite you all get a better nite's sleep!
Jake's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
It is common for spayed female dogs to have urinary incontinence at some point in their lives. Tazzie actually had this for at least one year before her amputation, and she took estrogen (DES) three times weekly to prevent it. I took her off of the meds during chemo and surprisingly she has had no problems since.
Some of the narcotic drugs can make a dog temporarily incontinent. Is she still on any meds like Tramadol?
Treatment of this condition either involves a drug called PPA (phenylpropanolamine) or DES. PPA is given once or twice daily and can cause elevated blood pressure, crankiness, or nervousness. DES is given one to three times weekly and can cause bone marrow suppression but if given at low doses this is rare. Since chemo can also cause bone marrow suppression it is most likely that Shilo will be given PPA. Many dogs take this medication without any issues. Some need it for life and others only need it for a short time.
Pam and Tazzie
As people living with dogs living with cancer (
) I do think we always worry about things much more than before. Recently McGwire developed a mass on his eyelid and an infection that wouldn't clear. I rushed him to the vet only for him to be diagnosed with dry eyes. Yes, dry eyes. I was so shocked and relieved when the doctor said that that I almost started crying! Seriously, I think the incontinence thing is a common thing for older females, especially since she had such a big day, she probably was too tired to know she even did it. Then you woke her from her sleep, gave her a bath (which always tires my dogs out) and she did it again. It kind of makes sense. I hope you are able to get some sleep tonight and can talk with her oncologist. Good luck!
Alisa:
Hopefully it was just the fact that Shilo was exhausted. Our other dog, non-cancer, non-amputee started having accidents after being boarded. The first night home from boarding, twice she has wet the bed, and by bed, I mean MY bed. So, it becomes a middle of the night OMG, get up, get up, get up.
This started earlier this year and only happens when she's being boarded. If it's not been my bed, it's been her bed, or the couch. I don't know if she's so tired from staying at the kennel that she doesn't think to get up or what.
We haven't kenneled her in a while, but the last time we did, we set our alarms to make sure she got out and that seemed to help. We did have Caya go in for a full checkup, because really, she's very well house trained and knows to get me up in the middle of the night if she needs so what's with this? They prescribed an incontinence pill (can't remember exactly what it was) we tried for awhile but took her off of them because of possible side effects.
So, MAYBE, because Shilo was just tuckered out and didn't have the energy to let you know or really care about it.
It's not fun, but the upside is, it may not be as bad as you think? Here's hoping it is.
Best of luck,
Kim, Tika and Caya
Kim and Spirit Tika http://www.tika.....ogspot.com
You are all so great!! Well the fun was chasing the girl with a bowl to catch the pee as she went to the bathroom . It ended with me with the bowl under her bum and she turned around and looked at me with this (what the heck are you doing) look on her face. Took everything I had not to laugh so hard I loose the pee I just caught.
We took it into her local vet and had it checked, they called back with good news her pee is normal. Bad news she is probably incontinent. They didn't want to give her anything because she starts chemo tomorrow and asked that I asked the oncologist when she goes in. So Dad got about 4 hours sleep and when I went to bed, he got up. Of course us being overly cautious, he took her out about 4 times over night while I tried to sleep...
(Dad turning on the bedroom light each time to look for his sleepers) But she hasn't had an accident since so, we are hoping she was just exhausted & tired.
So maybe a little over reaction on the parents part, I hope... I did try the diapers she looks at me as if I am insane and takes them off.. (How dare I??) So I bought pads to lay between our blanket and her blanket on the bed. Of course I think she has figured this out cause she tries her best to get just on our blanket, but at least I can get her to stay there a little better.
Emily - I saw your post and wished that I had more experience to offer you... Our thoughts are always with you and your family though.. As we all know to well we are in this boat together.
Shilo diagnosed with osteosarcoma 9/4/2009, amputation 9/9/2009. ShiloAnne lost her battle 11/23/2009 where she regained her fourth leg and is patiently waiting for her parents to join her. We will always love you baby girl.
Incontinence is very common in female dogs. I was told it had to do with the spay procedure itself...that it weakens things and then with time those things get even more weakened. I know...technical talk! Well, Caira Sue had the problem before she was a year old! I guess that's pretty rare. They told us it normally doesn't happen until female dogs are older. We had her tested for everything under the sun and they came up with "well things get weakened when they spay girl dogs...."
We have had her on 2 different incontinence medications. She does best on Proin. Whenever we try her off she starts to become incontinent at week 2. She finds this greatly disturbing....and we do too if it happens on our bed! Anyway, we just keep her on the proin and everything is fine.
Not sure if this helps or not, but it's my little experience in the world.
mary
May 2001-Jan 21, 2010.....I'm a dog and I'm AWESOME!..... Always.
So glad to hear it is nothing that alarms the vet. We, too, had a doberman years back that was spay incontinent. She also took daily pills. It has been so long ago, I don't remember what they were. Here's hoping Shilo can take something that won't interfere with the chemo.
I think it is normal for us to have some latent fear about new cancer being found, but try hard not to live your life in a worry state. You're going to wear yourself to a frazzle and in the end it doesn't help you or Shilo 🙂 Just my 2 cents.
((hugs)) I know it is dificult. It takes practice.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Alisa and Shilo,
I had been reading the posts about Shilo the past few days... and then this morning... When I went to take Jake out for his final peeps and poops before I left for work... he was soaking wet! He still had his sling on under him... his comforter and bed were also soaking wet... with pee!! I thought of what you had written a few days ago about Shilo's 'accidents'... and I panicked! 
I was sure this was a bad sign... he's only 2 weeks post-op... but he initially broke his leg and was diagnosed almost a month ago... alot can metastasize in a month! So I washed him up... and took the comfortor and his bed and threw them in the laundry... I called work to say I wasn't coming in... I just couldn't leave him alone... Then I started thinking... maybe when my husband took him out earlier, he didn't pay attention to if the sling was sliding down... towards his wee-wee... and when he peed... it totally soaked the sling. When my husband brought Jake back in... Jake plopped down on his comfortor before we had a chance to remove the sling... so it could have soaked him and the comfortor while he was lying there for another half an hour...
OK, so I sound paranoid, right? But there haven't been any 'accidents' since then, so I'm thinking it was just the sling that wasn't positioned properly... and he just peed all over it.
Arrrhhhh!!! Tomorrow Jake has his vet appt to remove his sutures... I'm hoping things will be better tomorrow, and that his vet gives him the go-ahead to go into the pool this weekend...
I hope that Shilo's incontinence can get under control with the pads and/or medications... It's so hard for us not to worry about every single new development... But at least we have each other to console...
Sending you and Shilo a big fat hug!!!
Jake's Mom
Jake, 10yr old golden retriever (fractured his front right leg on 9/1, bone biopsy revealed osteosarcoma on 9/10, amputation on 9/17) and his family Marguerite, Jacques and Wolfie, 5yr old german shepherd and the newest addition to the family, Nala, a 7mth old Bengal mix kittie. Jake lost his battle on 11/9/2009, almost 8 weeks after his surgery. We will never forget our sweet golden angel… http://jakesjou.....ipawds.com ….. CANCER SUCKS!
Jake and Mom -
I am glad to say that Shilo's 'accident' seems to be a one time occurance.. Of course the oncologist we say Wednesday was wondering why he had a urine analysis from his vet(hehe). So I told him what had happened but that we hadn't had any other problems so it is on the back burner unless we have another incident. I am sure Jake's was just an one time accident and you are probably right to question the sling. Man it is easy to jump to fear though on every turn isn't it??
Well - Shilo had her 1st round of Chemo yesterday. She didn't try to growl at the vet (at least until she tried to take her temp *normal*) but they said she was GREAT!! I wasn't too impressed that once we got her in the car we kept smelling a horrid smell. At first I thought it was her breath, then I looked back gagging and realized that she had poop stuck all over her bum.. I thought I saw something on her at the vet but, figured it was the gel or something from the temp thing... But there were dried on clumps along with wet and luckly mom brought her blanket to lay across the back seat.. That could have been a big mess :-).. We drove windows down and heater on for 1 hour getting back home.. I think next time I will either bring baby wipes or ask them to clean her up. She was devestated..
Well we got her home and all cleaned up and she ran from one side of the house to the other doing this hop thing.. I was so glad to see her so happy, then well she crashed. Her tummy was upset a bit not too bad and today she is doing great. I really was scared the chemo was going to make her too sick, I am so glad she seems to be handling it well.. YEAH
Big hugs from us !!! Good Luck tomorrow Jake's going to be GREAT!!!
Shilo diagnosed with osteosarcoma 9/4/2009, amputation 9/9/2009. ShiloAnne lost her battle 11/23/2009 where she regained her fourth leg and is patiently waiting for her parents to join her. We will always love you baby girl.
Oooh, Jake, we're betting that your Dad was tired and didn't see you peeing all over your sling.
You know what? I had my first accident in the house yesterday morning. My Mom and Dad were so upset, they couldn't figure out why I did that after living with them for two months. And then they realized....duh, they forgot to take me out to wee before bed the night before!
Humans, they get that way sometimes.
Good luck at the vet's tomorrow. What a relief it will be to get those stitches out! Another big achievement. Yay!
Wyatt Ray Dawg . . . The Tripawds Leg-A-Cy Continues!
Read all about my adventures at my Tripawds Blog
Doing the happy dance for the minimal chemo side effects. I know that is a great relief to you and takes a weight off the shoulders.
Oh and an official welcome to Wyatt Ray from Trouble and me. Somehow I didn't notice his other 9 posts.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Alisa & Shilo,
I'm glad that the first chemo went well. Emily did not have any reaction to her chemo either with the exception of a low white blood cell count between her sessions.
It is interesting that you identified Emily as a Rottie in one of your post. We claim her as a doberman mix (insurance, you know) but she sure looks like she could be a half Rott. She is a rescue dog so we can't be sure. In answer to your question, when she first had her leg amputated (4 1/2 monnths ago) she licked her front legs so much we had to keep her e-collar on her A LOT! She is and always has been a licker. I remember when she was a puppy anxiously awaiting her turning one so it would slow down and eventually stop. No! She licks, licks, licks! She knows she isn't suppose to so she licks in private. Let's just say between our three dogs Goodwill would not want my furniture. Small price to pay for so much love!
Give Shilo a kiss from me and a like from Em.
Debra & Emily
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
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