Hi Mary Ann!

Can you tell us more about Spinner?  How old is he?  What kind of a dog?  Is he otherwise healthy?

Most dogs do really well on 3 legs, you would be really surprised!!  Spinner is probably in a lot of pain right now.  Taking away his leg would take away his pain.  Murphy was 7 years old when he was diagnosed with his cancer.  My husband & I agreed that since he was perfectly healthy aside from his painful leg, that we couldn't see putting him to sleep because of just that ...that would have eventually been our only alternative.  Euthanasia is often the only other option we're given - since many of us were facing bone cancer, once the bone breaks, there's not much else that can be done - remove the leg, or euthanize.

The first couple of weeks can be rough, we won't lie about that.  But 2 or 3 weeks is worth it!  You take away the pain & you gain time.  You also will find that you form a bond like no other.

Donna

Hi MaryAnn, my dog Missy is 12 yrs old and she is 9 days out since having her surgery. She seems to be happy and not missing her hind leg at all. So I think it was probably hurting her more than I realized. Her tumor had doubled in size in 2 months. If Sinner is in pain most likely the amputation will bring relief. Missy would have needed a month of radiation had I tried to remove the mass vs amputation. They often grow back requiring more surgery so I wanted to nip it in the bud. Hopefully your husband will come around. What seems to be bothering him about it?

I had a dog with Cushing's. She died last June at age 10 from lymphoma. She was diagnosed with Cushing's 4 yrs prior through lab work and her symptoms. Almost the same as diabetes. Thirsty and drinking lots of water and hungry all the time. She actually chewed a hole in one of those hard plastic bins in a day while I was at work to get to the food. They also shed all the time. The medication she was on for it was very expensive and only keeps the symptoms at bay.

Kathleen

Hi MaryAnn,

Shelby did great on 3! It's amazing how they can just pick up and adapt! Spinner is also a smaller dog so they tend to do really well on three!!! Hugs and photos!!!

Hi, I missed this earlier.  

My dog had STS, a nerve sheath tumor, but in a harder to diagnose location.  An STS is typically so slow growing and if you have caught this early enough, amputation is sometimes considered curative or at the least gives a long, long period before recurrence or showing up elsewhere.  Unfortunately, my dog was misdiagnosed for a year.  He had the amp then and did brilliantly, but the mass was very large and Stage 3 of 3.  Despite post op oral chemotherapy, it recurred 5 months later and was terminal at that point (incurred on his spine causing paralysis). We had a wonderful summer - he did beautifully even though he was an older and larger dog.

This decision is very personal. And every story is different.  But I would only change the timing - I wish we had known and done the amp sooner to buy us more time.  

Best thoughts as you work through this.