PrairieProf

I'm sure people are going to post and tell you they got it for much less.... (don'twannaknow)

I am so very sorry for your sudden loss.

I just had it done on Beth last Wednesday and I think it was around $1,100 or so -- the bill was $1,360 but I had some pricey unrelated blood tests done that she was due for since they were doing a presurgical blood panel anyway. I'm in Iowa, which isn't a high end place, but my vet is pretty high end (laser surgery etc.). The actual surgery wasn't that much, it's all the many items on the itemized bill that run it up.....

I'll definitely keep the Pepcid in mind if she develops problems. Meanwhile I decided it was OK for her to be out of her crate for a while (I blocked off all the bedrooms and stairs so she can't run/jump on anything). She is doing well and it's nice to be able to pet her more easily.

I give her Deramaxx and Tramadol around 6:00-6:30 a.m. followed by a scoop of cottage cheese -- and then we both go back to sleep for a bit! Maybe I'll add a little of her breakfast kibble to it as well. I want her to have the pain meds on board for a while before we go out for our morning potty walk....

I have toddler socks but no boots like therapaw. Just looked at the medipaw -- I think my vet has something like that, they showed it to me when we were treating the ulcer, maybe I can get it tomorrow. It says it's breathable though it doesn't look it. I don't need it for outside as the Pawz rubber booties have worked fine, but you can't leave those on as they don't breathe.

Aww, great to see Carol's sweet and smoochable face!

How did you keep her from licking it? I have a muzzle with stool guard but I think she can get it off if she really tries. Does it hurt more to walk or does it pull on the stitches with the toes spread out and moving around more? Yikes, now I'm really nervous. I guess 24 hours more won't really change anything that much.....

Well I changed the bandage successfully this morning (need an icon here for wiping nervous sweat off one's brow). The suture line looks fine, no swelling or pulled stitches, and I got antibiotic ointment on it the way I'm supposed to. There is Telfa padding between the newly-adjacent toes. Some of the rest of her foot, mostly the remaining middle toe, looks quite red and inflamed -- this at least mostly isn't new but is from the original abrasion. (The ulceration was on the toe that was amputated, but the opposite side was red and abraded as well.) It looks to me like it would be healing better if it got some air and didn't have a bandage pressing on it -- but hopefully I can talk with the vet about that tomorrow. Maybe I could put on her muzzle and leave her foot unwrapped during the overnight? Anyway, I can imagine it's pretty ouchy.

Yes, her foot is still wrapped. That's interesting that it might be uncomfortable -- the dislocated toe was more comfortable when the wrap was holding it in place. I did think that it might affect her gait, since the toes can't spread out normally. I'm going to try to change the wrap tonight or tomorrow since it's a long haul until the vet is open, but otherwise I'm going to keep going there -- I want trained eyes on it and fortunately the office is only five minutes from my house. I feel very isolated and going to the vet is sort of the most comforting part of the day. Beth is a serious wound-licker so I want to keep that foot bandaged a good long time! Kristin, the Deramaxx dose was calculated as fine for her weight (she was on 75 mg after the initial injury, and I remember the vet saying she could be on up to 100 at her weight). She seems to be tolerating it fine. I assume we'll be lowering the dose after the first week. She was also on 100 mg Tramadol 3x/day after the injury, then we took it down to twice a day.

To post pictures, you need to put them on a hosting site like Photobucket, and then post the IMG links in your message. Here are more instructions: http://forum.greytalk.com/index.php/topic/121707-how-to-post-a-picture/

Just soliciting some reassurance, since the vet is closed until Tuesday -- it's four days since the amputation and while Beth walks well mechanically (she puts weight on the foot, maybe slight oddness in her walk but not much when she occasionally trots) it's clear the foot still gives her discomfort when she walks -- she's still sitting down every little while on most (though not all) walks and has three-footed a few times. This is on major pain meds (100 mg Deramaxx daily, and 100 mg Tramadol 3x a day). This isn't too abnormal, right -- not a sign she's not going to be comfortable again pretty soon? It's just hard after watching her in pain from the injured toe for several weeks and having her show the exact same signs after the amp -- I'm beginning to have that "what if she's never OK again?" worry, and can tell my anxiety level is going up and up as I wait for Tuesday morning. I'm going to change the bandage myself before bed tonight, yikes -- the tech showed me what to do.

I'm so sorry Nancy; I can't believe what you're going through. Ramm was so handsome and sweet looking.

Welcome Beth from me and my own Beth. Tell us more about your greyhound (and mini-hound)! We loooove pictures.

I am so sorry. What a wonderful tribute; I loved learning his story.

Another positive report from the vet tech this morning! And because I won't be able to come in again until Tuesday, I bit the bullet and looked at Beth's foot (I wanted to be shown what they do when they change the bandage, so I can do it myself if needed or probably anyway on Monday). It is gory but not all that bad -- a lot of what is alarming to see is just the pinkness of the shaved foot. Tons of stitches, of course, but the overall foot shape now didn't look too bad -- I think when it's healed it won't be terribly conspicuous. Interestingly when the tech put the antibiotic ointment over the suture line Beth is most sensitive down near the end of the incision closer to her pads, rather than up near the foot where the actual digit was amputated -- maybe it's like humans with more nerve endings around the "fingertips"? She also did well walking this morning -- she didn't sit down at all, though that might have been a fluke. And I let her up on my bed last night (she did jump down from it once before I could stop her, but no harm done!) -- it was sooo nice sleeping with her as usual again. For the strong of stomach, I took a cell pic of her foot (a little blurry, I think she moved): http://i511.photobucket.com/albums/s357/PrairieProf/0528010921.jpg

Beth is doing well -- we just got back from her second bandage change and another very positive report from the vet tech. She also said Beth seemed less bothered today when they were putting the antibiotic ointment on her suture line. We had to wait a while in the reception area and she wanted to stand up a lot of the time and check things out, which I thought was a good sign! She's doing well with walking too (and pooped last night and this morning). I'm keeping her on crate rest in the house the remainder of the time. I may let her up on my bed tonight, though, because my back can't take sleeping on the futon anymore but I don't really want to be in my bed if she can't be there with me.... She doesn't usually get off the bed once she sacks out for the night.

TOTW Pacific Stream is 25%/15% ... pretty average percentage. That said, that's what Beth was on when she started developing problems (though I also added some raw and things like canned mackerel, and when I tried adding fish oil, I think that's what triggered her episode). If she'd been on JUST TOTW she might well have been OK. But I'm not planning to take the risk of going back to it -- when I try another food I want it to be lower fat than that.

I dunno -- Beth had intermittent problems (not signs of pain like Turbo is having, but poo issues), and then the problem got worse. So yes, I do think you can "build up" to a problem. My vet said that sometimes dogs can tolerate something for a while, and then they can't. At any rate I think it would be much safer to get onto something lower fat. (And FWIW according to my vet no more than moderate protein -- protein doesn't put as much of a strain on the pancreas as fat does, but it does some, more than carbs. Beth is on 22%/9% with all treats being low fat too.)

If he is "heading towards pancreatitis" he should NOT be on Evo. That is very high fat and very high protein and that's the opposite of how a dog with pancreas issues should be eating. Something in the 20% protein/10% fat range would be much safer. Beth was knocking on the door of pancreatitis (confirmed by TLI blood test) and now is doing great on Prescription I/D -- no more diarrhea since we've been on that (and gone through a six-week course of Flagyl for its anti-inflammatory properties).

I'm actually not too worried about the poop issue -- she's on low residue food anyway. But I do expect her to go when we go out for "last call." Or else tomorrow morning.

She still seems to be doing OK, though she sits down periodically when she's walking, as she did with the injury itself. No limp though, same as before. I'm reminding myself it's only the day after surgery, my foot would hurt too if someone chopped off my toe. And she still hasn't pooped since yesterday morning, but she didn't eat much yesterday and I'm pretty sure she'll go later tonight. She was very distracted by a neighbor's cat who was outside with him as he worked in his front yard and who is so dog-friendly she ran up to Beth and started rolling around right in front of her -- Beth did NOT want to turn around and go back up the block!

Back from our first vet check -- everything went well. I let her jump into the car and got a tech to lift her out. The techs changed the bandage (wasn't crazy about the vet not getting a look at her, but the techs saw the foot in surgery yesterday and I do think they're very competent) -- they said the foot looked great for (less than) twenty-four hours out, just minimal oozing and no swelling at all. And the tech I think of as the most experienced showed me a way to help Beth in and out of the car that I can do -- I hold her collar to keep her under control and put my arm under her tuck, and help guide/lift or lower her rear end while she jumps. That way I can prevent her smacking her rear feet on the ground but I'm not trying to hold all her weight. We're a little awkward at it but I'm pretty sure we can get it down, and it will work for my bed too when I'm ready to let her up there in a couple of days. I'm really going to try 100% crated in the house (or on leash) at least until tomorrow night. Edited to add picture as of about 11:00 a.m.:

Well, I tried to lift Beth for practice in the house last night and threw my back out, and also feel muscle strain in a thigh. My back hasn't bothered me of late so I forgot I tend to have problems with it. Need a trip to the chiropractor this afternoon. So I think she's going to have to jump, though maybe the techs at the vet's office can lift her out and in while I'm there. A quiet night -- no breakthrough pain or any weirdness (except for me, since I slept on the sofa next to her crate). I'll report again after our bandage change this morning.

I'm in good shape but I have a totally crap knee that's going to protest (I tried standing from the position a couple of times without the dog as a warm up).