Day 5
Well. So far, Jack has been doing beautifully. He’s made it look so easy, like he never had a major surgery in the first place. In fact, I’ve been having trouble keeping him quiet and resting – I’ve had to resort to just locking him up in the bedroom (dog-gate provided to keep him from being lonely) because I could not keep him from trying to play with the other dogs. Even when we had the play-pen surrounding him and his bed, he’d get up and move from side to side to try and watch his siblings, Abbey and Toby, play.
I think he’s paying for it today. He’s pretty sore and not too happy to lay down. His paw is a little swollen too. I called the vets and they said that if it got any worse to bring him in, but that it was expected. They also had me give him an extra half pill of tramadol 8 hours after his pill this morning because it appears that he’s feeling pain somehow when he gets up from laying down, not every time, just a couple times this day. I don’t know if it’s helping, but he’s at least resting quietly right now, sitting. He doesn’t seem to want to lay down…hopefully that does’t continue through the night.
May 29th, 2012 at 11:54 pm
When you say he’s feeling pain when he gets up, is he “screaming?” my Roxy did that and it ended up being phantom pain. She would scream for like 20 or 30 seconds and then it would be over. Several of us have dealt with that. If it continues you might ask your vet’s opinion on that. Gabapentin is commonly used for phantom pain…
May 31st, 2012 at 4:04 pm
He just yelps once when this happens…I’m really hoping we don’t have to deal with phantom pain, but I’ll definitely keep this in mind – hopefully this isn’t it, just adjustment to getting up or something. Thanks for the info!
May 30th, 2012 at 12:21 am
the first two weeks can be tough, but jack is a fighter!!! make sure you rest, when he rests. hopefully the pain meds, and just plain exhaustion, will help him sleep tonight. it took gayle about three or four weeks (as i remember) to start sleeping on her amp side… glad he’s interested in the world and managing well!!
charon & spirit gayle
May 30th, 2012 at 12:30 am
It’s great to hear that his spirit is up – even if it is challenging to get him to rest and recup. Warm thoughts for continued recovery!
May 30th, 2012 at 12:38 am
Glad Jack is handling the amp well. If you can tell what seems to be painful, then ice (for swelling) or moist heat (for sore muscles) can really work wonders. The trick is figuring out which one you need! 🙂 Good luck!
Lisa