Tripawds Three Legged Dog & Cat Forum Archives
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My 8 year old rottie started limping off and on probably 6 months ago. Weeks of regular walking and running, then more weeks of limping and restricted activity. Our vet (and I) thought it was her foot; in fact, he X-rayed the foot and had a radiologist read it and it was pronounced to be osteoarthrisitis of the left front foot. We treated her with various NSAIDs that worked for a while and then didn't. I took her for second opinion March 3 and she was pronounced with osteosarcoma. A chest X-ray was taken and 2 nodules were found in the lungs. The vet guessed she had no more than 3 months to live. I called our veterinarian oncologist (Ilse had melanoma 3 years ago and this vet has been treating her since then) and we met with her to discuss options. Since Ilse supposedly had such a short time to live, we nixed amputation since she would undergo the amputation, recover, and die soon after that. So she has undergone 3 doses of palliative radiation and 2 promiderol treatments 4 weeks apart. A second chest X-ray was taken last week at one month after the first X-ray, and the vet. onco. and the radiologist who read the X-rays were both surprised to see that the lungs were all but clear! It seems the promideral can shrink tumors as well as strengthen bones and alleviate pain. Now we've been told 9 months to a year of life is what she MIGHT have. We have to rethink the amp. decision. She is in pain, and pants a lot with the pain, or sleeps most of the time with the Tramadol. She wants to be her happy self, but if she even trots after a squirrel, she pays the price of lots of pain. I think I need to schedule another consult with the vet onco. maybe.
Thanks for advice,
Marie
Welcome to Tripawds, your future posts will not have to wait for approval.
I'm sorry cancer has brought you here. I would definitely schedule another appointment, assuming your vet thought she was a good candidate for amputation- otherwise healthy and the other limbs are in good shape.
You can never tell what the cancer will do- but what you know right now is that she is in pain. Eventually the pain meds won't be enough and the leg could break. What you do by amputating is take away the pain. Any months you get after that are then quality, pain free months for your girl... what's her name?
Do you thinks she has any pain relief from the rad treatments?
You have a tough decision to make, we are here to support you no matter which path you choose. We do have members that for one reason or another do not amputate.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
Maggie's Story Amputation and Chemo
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