Bender the English Bulldog

Here we are, nearly nine months post amputation and Bender is loving life. I am really happy that he made it to the summer and gets to enjoy the nice weather and running around in the yard. The other day, we took him to the beach to people watch (his favorite thing).

Reflecting on the last nine months, the amputation was the hardest decision I faced in my adult life. If given the opportunity to do it again, I would not change my decision at all. Seeing the sparkle of life in his eyes reassures me that it was the right thing to do.

Hope everyone enjoys the summer!

Regards,

 

Bender has come a long way since September 🙂

We haven’t seen any signs of lingering neuropathic pain and he is getting around great on three legs- even with 30-40 cm of snow on the ground.

As Bender has bad arthritis and grade 2 knee luxation, we are maintaining the following medications: 75mg of Pregabalin and 15mg of Metacam per day.

He continues to amaze me every day with his strength, courage and determination to live.

Here are some pictures of him enjoying the fresh snow fall.

 

Quick update:

As Bender’s strength returns, so does his desire to play. Bender isn’t the typical bulldog that sleeps all day- he is very active and can’t get enough playtime.

I managed to snap a few pictures of him having fun.

I am so happy to see the sparkle in his eyes again.  He is full of life and loving every pain free minute.

 

Hi everyone,

It has been a long hard road but I am overjoyed to report that Bender is doing really well. The pain has subsided and he has been comfortable for the last two weeks.

He is currently taking one tablet of Amitriptyline and 3 tablets of Pregabalin per day.  We plan to slowly titrate these medications down over the next week.

The incision has fully healed and stitches were removed yesterday.

Bender’s weight and strength have been increasing day by day (he lost 10 pounds while at the hospital).  He can get around with no help and has no problem with small sets of stairs.

I can’t thank the University of Guelph Animal Hospital enough for saving our boy’s life. They went above and beyond to ensure he was pain free and able to live a happy life.

Additionally, thanks everyone for your support throughout this nightmare.

I will continue to provide updates on his progress.

 

Good news everyone. Bender is coming home today after a long stay in the animal hospital.

As mentioned in my previous post, Bender experienced uncontrolled nerve pain pre/post amputation. This pain was not managed with oral medications or hydromorphone injections (injection would last two hours and should last 6 ). As a last ditch effort to break the pain cycle, Bender was placed on a 72 hour constant rate infusion of ketamine and opioids.  Bender appears to be doing much better and is no longer screaming in pain.

I hope the oral medications (Amantadine, Pregabalin and Amitriptyline) can control the pain going forward.

I will keep everyone updated on his progress.

Until I can take some post amputation pictures, here are a few more with all four legs.