my second day of being a tripawd
it has been awful for me. momma gives me asprin and is giving me my antibiotics but im still in pain. i am managing to get up and down to lay in different spots in my cage though. i wish i could go outside and run but i know i won’t be doing that anytime soon. it also helps when my best friend (tiny) comes in the room and lays next to the cage. momma is helping me get used to having three legs. its really hard. im kinda scared to walk and i know she won’t let me fall but still i just can’t help but drag my back leg and just use my front legs. she holds me up with a sling type thing and her hand. she even helps me down the stairs. i just wish she would also make her cats stay out of my water. they reach their dirty paws through my cage and put them in my water. makes me so mad and they know i cant get up to make them stop.
on March 9, 2011 at 10:01 pm
Aspirin!? Didn’t your vet send you home with any pain meds? Please let us know more about your story. Why the amputation? Is your name Pepper? Hope your feeling better soon, please keep us posted…
Hey Momma, welcome! Thanks for joining and sharing your story. We look forward to hearing more and seeing some pictures.
on March 10, 2011 at 2:18 am
no, the vet only said to give him baby asprin. but the vet is a small country vet that cant even take credit card. and yes my baby’s name is pepper. he had to have his back left leg amputated because he got hit by a car. it was with enough force to knock his knee over and destroy the legiments holding it in place. the vet said he could repair them but since pepper doesnt really trust people and he tries to run right when people walk up to him we knew he would just tear them again so we thought it would be more humane to him to remove the pain. we didnt want to have him go through the pain again. pepper is already used to having three legs. he can lay down and get up on his own and he can even walk. once the swelling goes down and the pain goes away and the hair grows back he will probably completely forget about it. so long as he can play with my other baby(tiny, my great Pyrenees) ,who he loves a lot, he should be happy. he loves tiny to death. its more like pepper is tiny’s dog than mine. my name is Hilary. and thank you. there will be plenty more stories about pepper. he is a one of a kind dog. irreplaceable.
on March 10, 2011 at 12:04 am
It gets better, I know it doesnt seem like it right now but it really does. And yes… aspirin? wow. Welcome to the group, if you have questions someone here should be able to help.
on March 10, 2011 at 2:31 am
did you have to hold your baby up with a sling type thing and help him walk at first, if so for how long? pepper has already learned how to stand and lay down and walk.
on March 10, 2011 at 12:51 am
Oh yeah, you should have some sophisticated pain medication for this baby! And you should count on them being needed for at least a week, but more like two (based on what others here have said).
Please let us know that you managed to get some good drugs for your baby!
Shari and Dakota
on March 10, 2011 at 2:29 am
the vet told me to just give him baby asprin and to cut them in half since he is little. any suggestions on better pain meds that he can take? i hate knowing that he is in pain. he doesnt wimper but i think its because he isnt used to me giving him this much attention (which i will post something about his past as a four legger which will explain this) so he is scared to whimper to much. and he is pretty shocked. he has never ever went anywhere without me or my great Pyrenees, tiny. he trusts us the most. so leaving him at the vet’s office with complete strangers and then having to make him stay in a cage so he won’t get hurt has been very stressful on him.
on March 10, 2011 at 2:48 am
Oh my goodness, you need some tramadol or gabipenten{sp}.Find another vet and do it now. Your little guy should have some relief. Zip got some and even the little tripawd kitten I adopted from the shelter got the good stuff also. My daughter is a vet and she is appalled that baby aspirin is all Pepper has for pain relief.
on March 10, 2011 at 4:18 am
Oh my dog, Pepper, you need something better than aspirin, plus you have to be careful with aspirin not to take too much. You need a pain drug that is more effective and safer for dogs.
Most of us are given tramadol. Many are also given metacam (meloxicam) so we have tramadol a few times a day (every 8 hrs to start) and metacam once per day.
Dogs with phantom pain (they tend to yelp out loud all of a sudden) turn to Gabapentin, but that is less common. Certainly tramadol and metacam are super common, even for country vets. (And human pharmacies might mix them up if a vet does not have them in supply.)
It is better to give drugs to avoid pain than to treat pain once it is present.
Good luck and I hope Pepper starts to feel better. It can be hard for the first week or two (or three).
on March 11, 2011 at 12:45 am
But Aspirin is a blood thinner, I don’t understand some vets. The vast majority of dogs go home on Tramadol at least.
Many members report having to help their dogs for a few days, but I bet is Pepper was on some decent pain meds, hed be getting around a bit easier. Keep in mind we are not vets! If you don’t have access to a local second opinion, consider asking Dr. Pam.