Hi and welcome to Tripawds.

I'm sorry to hear Eli is dealing with mast cell tumors. My pug lost her left rear leg to a mast cell tumor in her knee, tumor removal was not an option. My quad pug Tani has been dealing with MCTs for years.

How did the onc determine grade 2, were the tumors biopsied? Seems like the way our MCTs were graded was after removal (keep in mind that Mag's surgery was 7 years ago). If they know the grade did they give you the mitotic index? The MI can help you decide on treatment because it gives you an idea on how aggressive the tumors are.

Clean margins are what the surgeons are looking for, and with mast cell that means a lot of skin and tissue needs to be removed all around and under the tumor to ensure only clean tissue is left. On legs it is difficult to get clean margins because there just isn't enough skin. About 6 months before her amp surgery Maggie had a tumor removed from her side. She ended up with a 7 inch incision to get clean margins, about a third of the circumference of her chest.

When Mag was diagnosed we were initially given the option of tumor removal with radiation or amputation. I didn't want to amputate so I researched radiation. But once I did I decided that radiation was not the right thing for Maggie. As a brachycephalic breed she was prone to issues with anesthetic and Maggie had proved to be very sensitive. I did not think she would survive being put under so many times, she almost didn't survive a couple of previous surgeries. So I decided on amputation. As it turned out after more consults the only option in Maggie's case was the amp surgery, but I know I would not have done radiation for her. There have been a couple of dogs here that have done radiation, you might try searching the forums.

Did the onc discuss chemo options with you? There are several meds for mast cell cancer in dogs, palladia and Kinivet (Mastinib) are a couple. Quad pug Tani is taking a herb to treat her cutaneous mast cell tumors.

Tough decision. I understand your desire to get rid of the cancer with the amputation, and Eli is still pretty young. But if you do want to pursue an amp I would do some more tests to be see if there are mets. Mast cell tends to go to the liver, spleen, and lymph nodes. We did an abdominal ultrasound and some lymph node aspirations prior to the amp. Mast cell is considered one of the most treatable cancers in dogs which may be why the vets are recommending more conservative treatment.

Another thing you might consider is getting a second opinion from another oncologist.

There are links to Maggie's story and her amp and chemo treatments in my signature below if you are interested.

Karen and Spirit Maggie