Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives

For what it is worth, after listening to the neurologists and oncologists at the Vet School, the overall picture is that cats tend to recover better than dogs and often have better prognosis'. However, dogs get the lion's share of referrals and attention. Mmmmnnnn... I think that is likely true of our TriPawd Nation! Why so many dogs and so few cats? 

There definitely is a bit of a double standard when it comes to canine and feline medicine, but I believe that things are improving. 

One other reason for the disparity is probably the fact that osteosarcoma is fairly common in dogs, but rare in cats. Nicholas' veterinarians had been in practice for 8 and 20+ years (respectively) when he was diagnosed, and he was their first case of appendicular osteosarcoma in a cat. The nearby vet school only has a handful of feline osteosarcomas listed in their computer system (though, to be fair, many of these probably don't get referred- his GP would have loved to have done the surgery, but he broke his leg just before midnight on a Friday, so we went with an emergency/referral practice to expedite things). 

One unfortunate side effect of this is misinformation. A lot of people don't realize that osteosarcoma carries a radically different prognosis in the cat, because it doesn't typically metastasize. VCA's feline osteosarcoma site (my first hit when I Google "osteosarcoma in cats") gives canine statistics and treatment recommendations that don't apply to cats. (I've contacted them about this, but no changes yet. It does appear that the site is currently "down for maintenance"... am crossing my fingers.)

With the influx of kitties, any plans for a feline version of "Tripawd Heroes" in the works? I've seen copies of the canine edition in several clinics over the years (generally donated by the owners of canine amputees), and I think it is a wonderful resource for owners considering amputation.