Category: Post Amputation

Purrkins went for his acupuncture appointment today. He was not happy with the needle acupuncture he squirmed all around. I took a bag full of bonito flakes thinking that would help. Nope, not today.

Dr. Matt said this isn’t helping him and decided to try the laser acupuncture.

Purrkins didn’t mind that in fact, he started to purr.

In the photos, he still has some needles in. Most he squirmed right off. There were Lots of bonito flakes everywhere. 😉

Dr. Matt would like him to have 2-4 sessions. We go again next week and will keep you posted on how this goes and what improvement we see.

*Purrkins pain medication and gabapentin will be done tomorrow. Hoping this will help him be off the meds without any pain.

He came home and ate supper and is now sleeping soundly.

Thank you, Dr. Matt!

 

*Edited

Purrkins meds & duration ended up being

• 14 days Gabapentin 100 mg capsule – one capsule by mouth every 8 hours
• 12 days Buprenorphine 0.3 mg 0.25 ml every 8-12 hours

Spaced the Gabapentin and Buprenorphine 1 hour apart per our instructions.

I opened the Gabapentin capsule into a little bowl (pestle)
I added a small amount of sardine water or tuna water, mixed the Gabapentin, used a syringe and sucked the mixture back up into the syringe to syringe to Purrkins.

 

Purrkins is back in his window seat and is thrilled. We are so happy he is doing great! Each day is better than before, and each day he wants to do more.

We just set up his window seat and the stairs on Saturday. We thought it was time for him to start doing more things. We stripped this room down to next to nothing for Purrkins to come home.

We took the bed off the box springs and just put the mattress on the floor. No way for him to get under the bed. We needed to have access to him for his meds. Also under the bed was not a safe place to be, if he would bump his incision.

We took out all the tables too. The room had the mattress, litter box, sleeping bag cushion for me and all cushioned floor exercise mats down for Purrkins learning process. We did not want him to hurt himself if he had some mishaps learning.

We will continue to bring more things back into the room this week. Our Purrkins is getting stronger every day and making this Tripawd living look easy!

Purrkins had a better night last night. He helped me write his blog as you can see😉

We both got to sleep on the bed last night. What a treat!

He tucked in under the covers!

We went to get his pain medication this morning. Purrkins has always been a great rider in the car never makes a peep!

He just isn’t the Atypical kitty! I thought after this surgery he would protest. He amazed me once again.

I told him we were going to MSU for his meds and that no one was touching him today.  I have always told him what the plan is even for this surgery.  You never know he might understand, If nothing else he is a good listener!

He rode along just like usual enjoyed the scenery. We went in, got his meds and left. Not even a  quiver which always happens at the vets.

This is the greatest of carriers by the way! The top, bottom, and door come all come off! NO fighting to get them inside or out of the carrier.  They are secured with a seat belt. MSU even let him stay in it, in the cage until his surgery!  We got it on AmazonSmile K&H mod.  Saxton sleeps in his and uses it as his thunderstorm safe place!

He is back to being comfortable again today!  What a relief that was awful to see him in pain!

That was one of the many fears  I had going into this surgery!

Our Holistic Vet mentioned acupuncture would be great for Purrkins after this surgery. Purrkins has an appointment on Monday.  I will keep you posted on what benefits we see!

We had trouble finding the best height for Purrkins to eat comfortably since the amputation.

His Grandma and Grandpa sent him a prize he got it today its perfect!

Thank you, Grandma, and Grandpa your the best! We sure miss you!

Saxton loves the boxes and of course Grandma and Grandpas smell!

 

Purrkins is in pain!

I have several things to share today! We were doing great on the pain meds (Buprenorphine) every 10.5 -11 hours. We were coming to the end of the pain meds, and I took Purrkins to every 12 hours yesterday. Purrkins was in pain! He meowed, I went to him, he growled and hissed at me and would not let me near him! ALL HUGE SIGNS of PAIN!

I only know this because Purrkins was in pain from a vaccine once and he acted the same way! We ended up on a short course of Prednisolone for the vaccine reaction!

Called the surgeon

Then again this morning he did the same thing. I put him back to 10 hours and called MSU. I had to leave a message for Dr. Rubin. I waited all day for him to call in a panic (we only have one dose left.) I couldn’t stand to think Purrkins was going to have to go without the pain meds.

Mark got home and recalled MSU and Dr. Rubin was in surgery all day, but he would get back to us. Dr. Rubin called back at 4:48 and agreed we need more pain medication, and I can pick it up tomorrow a.m. Unfortunately, Purrkins will have to go on a road trip with me to get his medicine.😬 I can’t leave him so he will go with me.

Clean Margins

The best news we could have ever got we got today! Dr. Rubin got the pathology report back on his leg.

Soft tissue sarcoma low grade and we now have CLEAN MARGINS!  🎉🎊 Our prayers were answered.

Changed to baby T-shirts

I got Purrkins some 0-3 months t-shirts, the onesies were moving around too much on him, but the t-shirt seems to be a better fit and staying put. I will let you know if that changes.

Pooping

TMI disregard the next paragraph if you don’t want to know about Purrkins BMS 💩

Purrkins finally went #2 today seven days with no BM. I gave him 1/16th tsp Miralax on the 6th day and 1/8 tsp on the 7th day. We got BM day 8💩 Purrkins stands on his back two legs to go #2, and he still does the same stance, the only difference now, he holds himself up on the edge of the box with one leg, not two. He started covering his BM before I could get up to take care of it. I did end up helping so he didn’t tire out so much.

Thank you!

We want to thank everyone! Tripawds family, Our family all of the prayers that were put out there were ANSWERED in the way we asked. We couldn’t have done this without all of your support! We look forward to growing old with Purrkins and Saxton!

With gratitude & abundance of love!

Making more progress day 5

Last night  Purrkins got out of his closet bed and into my makeshift floor bed!

He got under the covers and curled up with me. We both got to get some sleep! So happy to feel him tuck in with me again!

His incision looks great it is not oozed or bruised.

I saw a lot of pictures before his surgery they looked scary. This isn’t scary at all! Beautiful job Dr. Rubin!

Purrkins wants out of his recovery suite!

He is insisting he gets out of this room. I took a couple of pictures you can see how excited he is.

And then mom says no. Not so happy

Tonight will be his last dose of Buprenorphine he will remain on the gabapentin.

Purrkins is feeling good he was up more today. I ran the vacuum, and he RAN 🎉🎊out of the closet and up to the bed! I could not believe what I saw It looked like Purrkins on all 4! It was a fantastic moment!  We celebrate each thing he does!

Saxton checking on Purrkins

His brother Saxton came into the room more today and stayed after checking on Purrkins.

We are making progress each day!

Tri harder

Litter Box needed Modified

We are doing great here we modified Purrkins litter box last night.

Here’s the before and after we just cut out the entry more and it did the trick!

No face planting in the modified litter box

Purrkins didn’t need his mom to help him go pee today he got in and out on his own no problem yeah!

He is getting his hop-like walk down, and I’m impressed!  Again Yeah Purrkins!

I am massaging and doing acupressure on him. I started that on them when they were kitties. They love it I am self-taught with a Tallgrass  Acupressure book and chart. I’m no expert just do the best I can, and they approve!

Purrkins hasn’t had a problem with appetite. He happily gulps his food down. Not interested in his water but that’s ok since he is eating wet food we don’t have to worry about hydration he is getting it from his food.

Purrkins wants out of this room already. He protested at the door scratching away like he has both his front paws! Sorry, buddy we are stuck in here for a bit.

Set up a camera to monitor

Since Mark went back to work I set a camera up so when Purrkins is sleeping   I can leave the room with no worries. I will get an alert when he moves, and I can be right back in. We use our old phone with the presence app. (It’s a free iPhone app) It’s a motion-activated camera app we normally use for the litter box because brother Saxton has IBD and constipation we have to keep a close eye on things. We get alerts when the camera detects motion. Yes, I get poop and pee alerts and videos sent to my phone lol. If you don’t know what’s coming out of your kitties, it’s good to know! It will save you a trip to the ER!  It can be insurance and life-saving! We keep a daily journal of who has done what.

Itchy today

We have one issue today he wants to scratch at his neck where it is shaved right above the incision. The onesie entirely covers the incision, but I worry he is still going to catch his incision with his claws.I put a moist washcloth on it, and he still wants to itch the area. I put the soft cone on him today after he would listen to my no scratching. That seemed to make him understand the no-itch again. I can’t see what is itchy other than it’s shaved there.

Pretty quiet day today he is most active in the early morning, he is up on and off throughout the day.

Sleeping more than usual and that’s good! I want him to heal.

 

Purrkins Recovery Onesies

To see how I made the DIY Onesie’s/T-shirts go to this post –DIY Baby Onesie/T-shirts Cone of Shame Alternative