Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Rocky had his right forelimb amputated in February after being diagnosed with OSA. I noticed this week some relatively hard lumps on the right side of his back. He's got some softer lumps on his left side that his vet diagnosed as fatty tumors a couple of years ago.
I took him to the vet today and they did a fine needle aspirate of one of the lumps, but it was inconclusive. He goes back to his oncologist (two hours away) in a couple of weeks for his final round of chemo, and she's going to take a look at the lumps then.
I know it's more common for OSA to travel to the lungs. But is it possible the OSA has spread further down his side? How likely is that it's another form of cancer? Obviously I'm hoping it's just more fatty tumors, but concerned it could be related to the OSA.
Thanks,
David and Rocky
David and Rocky (and Baxter now too!)
Rocky had his right front leg amputated on Valentine's Day 2017 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
He joined the September Saints on September 3, 2017.
He is the toughest, bravest, sweetest and best friend I'll ever know.
I was convinced Clyde's cancer spread to one of his back legs when I found a hard lump there. My vet did not think it was an issue, and that is was probably and old injury. He told me that its rare for OSA to spread to another limb. Lump's still there, and Clyde is still here, so here's hoping they are just hard lumps and nothing more.
Good luck!
Well, ine thi g we say around herenis thst sometimes a lump is just a lump, and a bump is just a bump! But on this joirney it's sooooo easy to jump to worste case scenarios with every little hiccup, or burp, or lump!
To state the obvious, certainly no Vet, but I don't think osto shows up as lumps down the side of their back. Are rhey sort of s.all.pwa shaped? Believe it or not, sometimes an infected follicle can actually cause some hard lumps that show no sign of irritation or I fection. They just show up as hard lumps. And since these lumps aren't completely jard, they certainly could be fatty lumps.
Did the Vet suggest anyother "test" kr taking it off, etc?
Others will chime in who maybe have more insight, but I really doubt that it has anything to do with Osteo.
And I do believe it's about time for more loct4ures of cutie pie Rocky! 🙂 🙂 🙂
Hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
Hi David,
We see this concern a lot here. Nine out of ten times it's not cancer, just a b9 growth that doesn't affect the dog. Bravo for getting it aspirated, I'm sorry that it didn't come back conclusive but there can be all sorts of reasons for that. Your oncologist should be able to get a better idea. I know that seems like the wait will be forever! Try not to worry though, it is extremely rare as Clyde's human said.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks! That does make me feel better.
His vet offered to send the sample off for a pathology, but since we're already going to the oncologist next week, we'll just let her look at it and go from there. My gut tells me it's probably nothing, but you can't be too careful.
David and Rocky
David and Rocky (and Baxter now too!)
Rocky had his right front leg amputated on Valentine's Day 2017 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
He joined the September Saints on September 3, 2017.
He is the toughest, bravest, sweetest and best friend I'll ever know.
Good call! Just keep on keepin' on jist like Rocky! No worries!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
I put this in Rocky's Share my Story thread, but it appears we're one of the unfortunate rare ones. Rocky's oncologist aspirated the lumps today (and found a third on his left shoulder) and she's 90 percent sure it's his cancer. We're waiting on a pathology to confirm. The odd/good news is, his lungs and lymph nodes were still clear of mets.
David and Rocky (and Baxter now too!)
Rocky had his right front leg amputated on Valentine's Day 2017 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
He joined the September Saints on September 3, 2017.
He is the toughest, bravest, sweetest and best friend I'll ever know.
So the third one on the shoulder is the one that's very suspicious...or is she feeling all the lumps are "suspicious" because idpf the one she aspirated. And did she mention what ki d she suspected.
I know I'm asking questions that you may not jave answers to. Just thinking this does sound very "odd" for osteo. Possibly it's another kind.....a kind more treated with removal, etc?
Geez, this journey is just plain crazy!
And the .ost important thing to remember through all this ordeal today fullmof uncertainty...ROCKY FEELS GREAT!!! So let's hang on to that for now, because that's really all that matters! Once you vet .ore answers than you can develop a plan of attack and move forward!!!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
I think she aspirated all three, at least that was the impression I got. I mentioned the first two on his back, and she said they found a third on his shoulder. She said they were hard (like bone) with blood, so definitely not fatty. And she said she thought it was his osteo. She did say it was an odd case, especially with his lungs and lymph nodes being clear.
If the pathology confirms it, then we'll move forward with either Doxorubicin or Palladia since the Carboplatin will have obviously failed. A tough setback today, but we're still fighting.
David and Rocky
David and Rocky (and Baxter now too!)
Rocky had his right front leg amputated on Valentine's Day 2017 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
He joined the September Saints on September 3, 2017.
He is the toughest, bravest, sweetest and best friend I'll ever know.
Oh ueah, definitely you and Rocky will keep fighting...a d you have your e tire Tripawd Family fighting with you!! That's a very powerful team!! 🙂
No, not news anyone wants to hear. And, as you know, Rocky wasn't listening!
Don't have any input in the drugs, but I know others have used them, especially the Palladia. And perhaps Jerry will have input on if she's seen it show up that way before and what some other optiins might be. Try to keep things chunked down and not jump ahead.....hard, I know!!
In the meantime, we need more pictures of ROCKY , preferably esting ice cream and drinking a Puppucino! 🙂
Lots of hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
David I'm so sad to hear this. Cancer plays so mean.
Unfortunately we've had a handful of members whose dogs developed mets elsewhere besides the lungs. I'm hoping that this isn't what Rocky is dealing with. When do you hear back on the report?
Was radiation therapy mentioned at all? I'm not sure it's an option if there are multiple mets. And you're right, Doxo is a little hard on the body. Here's a Tripawds News blog post about Doxorubicin side effects.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
She expects to get the pathology back tomorrow. She's going to call and then we'll go from there. I thought about radiation on the drive home. Also thought about surgery to remove the lumps. I don't know if that's a worthwhile option or not. But I'm sure we'll go over all that when she calls.
I'm leaning away from the Doxo since he's had heartworm. She also gave it a 30-50 percent chance of being effective. She put the Palladia at 50 percent, but its side effects aren't as nasty. I also ordered some Turmeric for him. I had someone recommend that awhile back.
Holding out hope it's not the cancer spreading since everything else looked good.
I did get him some ice cream last night. So I need to add pics to his Story thread.
Thanks,
David and Rocky
David and Rocky (and Baxter now too!)
Rocky had his right front leg amputated on Valentine's Day 2017 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
He joined the September Saints on September 3, 2017.
He is the toughest, bravest, sweetest and best friend I'll ever know.
Ice cream???' YES!!!! No pictures of Rocky eating his ice cream. Bad human!!
I think yoi'll feel better about how to proceed once you get all the specifics of what's going on. You can then do focused research and have all your questions answered. And, depending on what type, there are alternative/holostic approaches that May be effective too.
One thing for certain though...ICE CREAM is definitely an effective "treatment"! 🙂
Lots of hugs!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Happy Hannah had a glorious additional bonus time of over one yr & two months after amp for osteo! She made me laugh everyday! Joined April's Angels after send off meal of steak, ice cream, M&Ms & deer poop!
I took pictures! I just need to upload them.
And the ice cream came in a pack of four, so he has three more waiting for him this weekend.
Thanks for the support. It's sucks but the only thing we can do at this point is take it day by day and hope for the best.
David and Rocky (and Baxter now too!)
Rocky had his right front leg amputated on Valentine's Day 2017 after being diagnosed with osteosarcoma.
He joined the September Saints on September 3, 2017.
He is the toughest, bravest, sweetest and best friend I'll ever know.
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