Yesterday was huge! For the first 3 days, Boone was not doing much but sleeping. He would collapse when trying to go to the bathroom. He seemed extremely weak and we were concerned that there may have been some nerve damage or something. I reduced his Gapapentin from 600 mg per day to 200 mg per day and he was suddenly awake and alert. He stood himself up and got himself to the other side of the room a few times. He isn’t overly steady yet and gets tired after just a dozen steps, but a big improvement. Today, I am going to try no gabapentin and see how he is on just rimadyl.
No issues with healing. He hasn’t had any swelling and his bruising is just about gone. He has shown zero signs of pain or distress since surgery. I keep reminding myself of that because he was in alot of pain before. Its stunning how large his scar is and how much smaller he looks. Once his fur starts to come in, he will look more like himself. I hope he understands why I had to do this to him.
Good morning!
You might want to reconsider cutting him off so quickly. This is still very early in his recovery. Most animals are on 10-14 days of pain meds and gaba is usually in there also. It can make them groggy at first but that passes. Up until now he also has had anesthesia and other wonderful hospital meds that are probably going to be worn off here soon.
I am not telling you what to do and I am not a vet but he is a big dog and I would hate to see him crash too hard on you.
Hugs,
Jackie and Huck
I’m with Jackie here. Groggy is not a bad thing at this stage of recovery, even though what you are describing sounds extreme. The thing is the Gabapentin serves like a nerve block, settling down all those nerves that were severed in the surgery such as those that cause phantom limb pain. Right now, Boone is likely feeling little pain, but if the pain “breaks through” the meds, getting it back under control can be a real challenge.
FWIW, we hear about (and I’ve seen) the disorientation Gabapentin can cause, but too often, we hear about pets in distress, fighting pain and apparent phantom limb pain because their vets prescribed too few pain meds, and the one missing often seems to be Gabapentin, and the other seems to be insufficient (or absent) Tramadol.
I’m not a doctor and not a vet, but I’ve seen pain breakthroughs, and I don’t need to see any more.
Yes be careful about the pain management.
We only got tramadol and at times my Cookie would literally SCREAM in pain during the first week.
It was horrible to witness.
Just sending love and best wishes for the whole recovery period. Our boy is five months post op and bouncing around the park like a puppy (he’s 11), though with a little less stamina than of old, and still ‘choosing’ not to go up steps, only down. I remember those post-recovery days and staying up and varying meds, and it’s so hard. But good times ahead for you too, we hope. xxx http://tripawds.com/2018/01/16/tripawd-tuesday-emerson-the-labrador/
Good luck with everything, my 12 y/o dog Buster just had an amputation last week after a nerve cancer diagnosis. It’s hard and scary though we hit the 1 week mark today and there has been a lot of progress.