tripawd from mast cell

Gracie has passed her 6 month ampuversary (Dec 22). I’ve meant to get a video showing her running full speed for an update post, but since it hasn’t happened yet guess I’d better give the update w/out video at this time. Her remaining hind leg must be pretty strong again ’cause she’s doing a lot more hopping & jumping these days. Hardwood floors still cause some sprawls, but she’s doing great.

We had some work done on the house a couple months ago & it was so funny how many workmen would comment, after being here for a few days, that it took several hours, sometimes DAYS, before noticing Gracie has just 3 legs. People are amazed when they watch her. She’s very active, very happy.

off to catch up on reading others’ blogs, & hope to get that video of Gracie run’n ’round hav’n lots of fun!

posting Gracie’s great update… waited a few days past her official “ampuversary” (22nd) cause she had a follow-up vet visit & wanted to post after that.

I’d say his summary is the best summary: “I’m happy!” he said.

and I’m happy he’s happy ’cause obviously that means he’s feeling fine w/ how Gracie’s doing. We’ll be extra vigilant about watching for any lumps or changes in her skin. She’s on a steadily decreasing amount of prednisone to get her off of that completely by the end of Oct. She’ll continue w/ her benedryl twice a day & pepcid daily.

I think she’s doing ok w/ her weight (I was concerned she’d gain due to less activity & more appetite). She’s pretty active, running & chasing squirrels, etc, but not as much indoor play as she use to do. I’m sure that’s ’cause we have hardwood floors thruout the house & she’s learned she slides & falls easily. She sometimes acts like she can’t get comfortable. She use to get on my lap every evening but she no longer does that ’cause I don’t think it’s comfortable for her. VERY sad about that change. And we have a room above the garage w/ steep stairs where I have my exercise equipment. She use to go up there w/ me but she no longer does that ’cause I guess the stairs are a bit difficult for her. She can do it (if offered a treat) but prefers not to. Whenever she goes up some steps she has to pause & seem to “think” about how to do it. But she does fine once she thinks about it…

“only” 2 months — Gracie’s doing so good it seems like her surgery was long ago. There are some things she’s no longer able to do & she’s figured it out. Sometimes when she gets really excited tho she’ll forget & try some of the old tricks, but overall she’s great. I loved what our vet asked in a follow-up call about 2 weeks ago. He asked the regular questions about how she’s doing, then asked “Is she happy?” Yep, she seems quite happy. She even caught a rabbit one day, which she was definitely happy & pleased about

Gracie’s doing great! Once her hair grows out people will probably just wonder why she walks a bit funny till they look closer. Pretty amazing how quickly animals adjust. Her remaining back leg seems to veer more towards the middle & she holds her tail a bit off to the side, all to help balance I’m assuming. When she walks slowly her limp is quite noticeable but when running you really can’t tell. Of course it’s pitiful to see her try to scratch on the side w/ the missing leg – she hasn’t figured out that doesn’t work. What do they end up learning to do to take care of an itch on the missing side? Maybe rubbing the ear/head on the ground???

She still wants to dance & twirl & jump up on her back leg like she use to w/ 2. She’s gone sprawling a few times. Makes me nervous. I just ordered the boots & liners to hopefully give her a bit more traction on our hardwood floors. Hope she’ll get use to wearing ‘em.

She still seems to get tired quicker than before. But we’ve been going thru a looonnnng spell of high temps that’s draining everyone so not sure how much her lack of stamina is due to adapting to tripawdedness, or temps or combo…

she’s still on: benedryl, 1/2 25 mg tab 2x/day; 1 pepcid daily; 1 1/2 5 mg tabs of prednisone daily. Apparently she’ll be on those meds long-term. I’m assuming the prednisone is increasing her appetite. Sometimes she acts like she’s starving. I’ve always kept dry food available for her whenever she wants. She’s never over-indulged in eating that. At dinner I mix a bit of chicken in w/ some of the dry. But now every once in awhile she’ll go in & gobble it up. I don’t keep a lg quantity in her bowl but wonder if I should cut back on it. One day I was fixing salads & she was acting like it was time for dinner (it was earlier than when she usually eats) & I tossed her a carrot. When one son visits w/ his dog, his dog LOVES carrots & bananas & other such items but up till now Gracie totally ignores such foods. But this time she tried it & seemed to like it. I don’t want her to gain weight. Less activity now could be a problem, & extra weight isn’t good for anyone/animal & don’t think the 3 legs need to do more work than necessary.

I’ll say she hasn’t regretted any of the extra spoiling this past month has brought on. Spoiled little precious mutt!! Love her!

maybe a silly one to  blog about, but Gracie had her first bath post-op today. What makes that a milestone is it’s because her paws & muzzle were caked w/ mud. Yep, she’s able to dig after-all.

we both need to learn what tricks are suggested for bathtub bathing. She’s a bit unsteady on the slippery tub & especially so when the call to shake hits! Pre-surgery days after a bath she’d run like a maniac thru the house, leaping on furniture & rolling in/on everything available. Today after the bath she didn’t do any running – might have been very tired after a morning spent outside digging, or maybe she’s learning what she can’t do…

First over-night w/out a cone – she has officially graduated!

She quickly got back into her routine, which of course means the household routine is now back to norm! The best milestone she hit was yesterday when she learned to get up & down a certain set of steps that makes it much easier for her to go inside & out. There’s still a longer set of stairs for her to gain confidence on & I imagine she’ll get ‘em mastered.

hopefully any newbies just getting started on the “2 weeks of stress” will gain a bit of hope by reading Gracie’s pages.

believe it or not, Gracie’s STILL wearing the cone. I keep trying to leave it off but after awhile I catch her licking again. AND she still has some scabs so I want to try to prevent her licking those off (she got some off a few days ago, leaving a pink area but it’s ok, just new skin, not re-opened at all). She was cone free all morning until about 15 minutes ago I caught her again, so back on it went. After all this time she’s use to wearing it. I take it off when she’s eating or goes outside, but she actually wags her tail when I get ready to put it back on! ‘Cause she quickly learned to expect a treat every time it’s back on. Side note that she has a distinct walk due to her new tripawdedness but w/ the cone on she reminds me of those wobble/bobble-head figures!

She needs to learn to go up stairs. She’s able to jump onto furniture & able to go up a short series of stairs if running up them. And there are some wide stairs she’s able to go up at a regular pace because she goes up at an angle. But there are some stairs in our house where she can’t get a running start or go up at an angle. She’s tried but so far has been unable to.

She’s wanting to play like she use to but tires quite easily. Hopefully once the cone is gone for good she’ll become more active & build up her stamina.

today gracie began needing to pee frequently, definitely different from normal. She’s on prednisone but has been on it long enough that shouldn’t have caused a sudden increase. I left her alone for about 2 hrs & when I got back she’d peed inside on the hardwood floor so I could see it had blood in it. She had gone before I left & she never pees inside, so another example of how frequently/differently she’s going. She has been on the antibiotic Simplicef (1/2 100 mg tab per day) following surgery & had that last dose this morning. When I got home & saw the blood in her urine I called the vet & now have her on 14 days of Baytrnl 68 mg. for treatment of a urinary t infection.

wondering if a urinary tract infection is relatively common following surgery?

Paranoid me has me imagining all the “what-ifs”… she had an abdominal ultrasound to detect any spreading of the mast cell tumor prior to her surgery & she looked fine. Surely if it was spreading it wouldn’t be cause of bladder cancer this soon, right?

I’m going to do some double posting, putting this on the “Ask A Vet” forum too. Just not sure what will get the most viewing/possibly informed responses…

when I first started this blog for Gracie’s recovery I planned to keep it daily for 2 weeks. Today is 2 WEEKS & very happy to say she’s doing fine. As mentioned, I’m still concerned about the scabs. I’m hoping those areas remain because of the larger gaps caused by stitches being pulled out right after surgery plus the delayed healing caused by her licking, continuing to remove stitches & causing inflammation & pulling off scabs. The concern is due to not knowing if the delayed healing is due to the above reasons or due to presence of the cancerous mast cells in the skin at the incision area.

I’ll continue this blog but most likely not on a daily basis. But I know I’ll post on the day she gets the cone removed!! That’ll be cause for a celebration!

here’s a pic of tugger comforting gracie — or is he just keeping her “under paw”???

Yesterday, after getting to run around outside more, she seemed quite tired after coming in, but ok. Today’s been another good one, continuing to act/feel fine. ‘Cept maybe getting a little bored. Till the cone comes off still restricted from as much activity as she’d like. Today I left her on her own for the longest stretch of time since her surgery. The last time, last Tues, was when she pulled the cone off & did some serious licking. Today I believe she’s more use to the cone so wasn’t so inclined to pull it off. She was blocked into the kitchen where there’s little chance of creating problems & left w/ several kongs.

The scab is still there – chances are the cone won’t come off till the scab is gone.