Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi group,
My 8 year old golden started limping on her right front leg in May. After going through some false diagnosis of arthritis and torn biceps tendon, I went for a second opinion with the specialty center. We did new xrays which showed an abnormality in the right front leg just below the elbow that was not evident in previous xrays. A biopsy was done last Thursday. Results confirmed osteosarcoma. I have my oncology consult tomorrow. I know we are going to discuss amputation, which seems to be a for sure option as my pup completely stopped using the leg two weeks ago. Can someone give me a heads up on what more to expect from the consult?
I've been reading a lot since the biopsy. I like to be informed as to what to expect, and I want to be able to make the best decisions going into this for my baby.
Hi there, welcome. Your future posts won't need approval so post away.
I'm so sorry to hear about your pup. Many of us who've dealt with cancer went through a similar diagnosis. It's frustrating for sure.
What's her name?
That's terrific you're covering your bases and getting the information from the specialists. Have you seen Jerry's Required Reading List ? We have lots of insight there to help prepare you for your visit. I'm guessing you read it. But in short, here's a few things to think about:
If the vets are almost certain it's osteosarcoma and the leg has to come off anyways because it's damaged beyond repair, then talk to the vets about skipping the bone biopsy and have them biopsy the leg after amputation. Bone biopsies are SO painful and most members here said they wouldn't go through that again and head straight to amputation.
Amputation will get rid of the pain, but it will not get rid of the cancer itself. Chemo can increase the odds of obliterating the cancer cells, but that's no guarantee either. We've seen it go both ways with members: some who do chemo will beat the odds, some won't. Some who don't do chemo will beat the odds, some won't. It's all a crapshoot when it comes to osteosarcoma.
There are no right or wrong answers when it comes to how you treat this condition. No matter what you decide, we'll support you 100%.
I hope this helps. Stay tuned for feedback from others.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi kjwins,
Sorry you have had to find your way here, but glad you made it.
You have come to the right place for info and support, everyone here has been or is going through this right now. As others have and will tell you there are no guarantees with Osteosarcoma or I guess any cancer really. All we can do is what is best for our own situation, and each one is a bit diffrent. The most important is that your pup is pain free and healthy otherwise. We have an eight plus year old Alaskan Malamute who is now 19 day since her surgery and she is doing remarkably well. Got her staples out a few days ago and the incisions are healing nicely. With our Mya the pain got pretty bad and we were on tramadol and metacam even before the surgery. But other than the obvious pain associated with the surgery, for the first few days, she is pain free today. We will start chemotherapy this wed. The decision to amputate one of our best friends legs was the hardest thing we will ever have to run through our heads. Looking back I'm glad we did, and glad we did not wait for a lot more tests once we knew it was Osteo for sure. We thought that getting to it before the cancer had taken a bigger toll on her body and immune system. The hardest thing was for us to get over the fact that our girl had cancer, it was already behind her, then we could concentrate on making the best choices for her. We kept the atmosphere around the house as calm and happy as possible I never let her see me losing it, well we tried as best we could. We asked as many questions to as many people we could and listened to the answers wheather we liked them or not.
This will be a rough ride but there a lot of amazing people here that will suport you and know what you are going through.
Some positive vibes and a few tail wags coming your way.
Excellent info from Jerry.
The only thing I can add is how happy I am that we amputated Milo's leg just over 3 weeks ago. No matter what happens to him from here on out -- whether he lasts days, weeks, months, or years (we can dream!) -- I'm glad we did it.
We did check for lung, liver, and spleen metastases before amputating. All clean! So we went ahead. We had a fine needle aspirate before the amputation but the full biopsy was done afterwards. (Note: we had extra pre-amputation testing because we were getting into (got into) a clinical trial.) The full biopsy for us revealed Milo has a very rare, very aggressive form of osteosarcoma. A peer-reviewed paper in 2014 thinks they had the first documented case in a dog -- and the dog was dead a week after the biopsy. If I had done the biopsy first, I probably would have just called it a day and said my goodbyes because the odds are so horrible and amputation seemed so harsh. But with hindsight, I am thrilled we didn't know that and did the amputation. I'm glad we didn't have the biopsy first. We are now 3 weeks out, Milo is 80%+ his old self, and he doesn't have pain. Just today he hopped around Petco enjoying the smells in the bones and treats aisle, and is right now lying in his usual spot at my feet on the ottoman.
As you go forward, rely on this site. These people have been amazing and have helped me and Milo so much over the last 4 weeks. Best of luck as you hop on this crazy roller coaster.
Peace,
-Jenifer & Milo
Hi Kjwins.
Again, I'm really sorry you find yourself here, but it has been fantastic for me to learn to cope with all the emotions a cancer diagnosis brings. All the support from the people in this forum kept me focused on doing the right thing for Zuki - trying to think more like him, be more like him and I'm a better person all round for it. So keep that in mind as the next few months will be a roller coaster. It'll come with the heart breaking moments but also the joyous celebrations!
We are 12 weeks into our Osteosarcoma journey and Zuki is receiving his 4 of 5 rounds of chemo (Carboplatin) as we speak. And I'm pleased to say I wouldn't have done anything differently, except I wouldn't put him through the biopsy. He found it very painful and we waited an extra 2 weeks for results that came back inconclusive (big old waste of time and money!). He will be 10 next month and lost his back leg (cruciate repair holding his remaining back leg together!) and he's now doing 100% of the things we did before 🙂 he's a super star and a trooper. That said the first 2 weeks post op were tough on us all, prepare yourself both physically and mentally. But once the stitches are out you wont look back, you'll be grateful for every goofy day you get with your pooch.
Good luck, please keep us updated, we love following everyone's stories and ask as many dumb (nothings dumb!) questions as you can
Zuki Wuggafer 30/09/06 - 11/11/16. Right hind tripawd due to Osteosarcoma. He had a strong 5 and half months as a tripawd but unfortunately a secondary issue with his spine ended our battle. He loved life, loved our family and was the best dog I could ever ask for. Truly my first love, forever in my thoughts and heart.
Read our story: http://zuki.tripawds.com/
We have passed six months post amp, also for osteosarcoma. The first two to three weeks of recovery are hard, but I have never had a regret. Otis is now able to just be a dog, and I am so glad that he is still with me.
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
Hi there and welcome
My girl also has osteosarcoma and had her front leg amputated 3 1/2 months ago.
I would say there aren't really a lot of options with osteo as it is horrendously painful, so even if our pawrent's hearts are not accepting amputation, we are really not left with any good alternatives.
Like all others here, I would do it again without hesitation!
Not only my girl, who is a 150 pounds Great Dane, has adapted to life on 3 but also she would not be here anymore had I not decided to have the surgery done.
The prognosis was 2 weeks to 3 months had I not removed that painful leg.
I didn't have a biopsy done as osteosarcoma is pretty easy to identify on an X-ray.
My partner was hard to convince but I didn't want to subject my girl to another anesthetic, further pain and time wasted waiting for the results (which are often inconclusive anyway) plus we had the vet, the surgeon and the oncologist saying it was definitely bone cancer based on the X-rays.
This is a very, very crazy journey but you have to try and be pawsitive and not be afraid and move forward.
You can do this and so can your sweetie pie.
We are all here for you!
Sending you a big hug and cuddles to your furry baby
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Great advice above. Just want to say welcome and sorry you have to join this "club".
But the tribal knowledge and support you can find here is wonderful. My advice, and we are nearly 4 months post amputation for a different cancer, is talk pain management strategy ahead of time if you are amputating and even if you aren't. Read up here about the common, mulitple modality approaches and arm yourself with some knowledge when you talk to the vet. Know what the initial plan is, but be prepared to tweak the dosages and frequency to get pain under control and speed up the healing.
Best thoughts!
Lisa, Minneapolis
On October 27, 2016, nearly 6 months after amputation, and 18 months since his cancer likely started, we lost Pofi to a recurrence of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in his spine quite suddenly. His canine sister also succumbed to cancer on March 1, 2019 - we lavished her with our love in the interim, but life was never quite the same without her only real canine friend. Cliff kitty had to leave us, too, suddenly, in August 2019. Lucia kitty grieved all these losses, but helped us welcome two new Lurchers into our home and our lives, Shae and Barley.
Thank you all so much. I really am on an emotional roller coaster. Here's an update from the consult today:
Kai has ulner osteosarcoma, which according to the oncologist is fairly rare. Because of it being just below the articulation of the elbow joint, the only option is amputation at the shoulder. We didn't have a choice with the biopsy as it was not apparent or evident that we were dealing with a tumor. Today, I was given the option of doing a CT scan or chest xray. I chose the chest xray for two reasons. First, it was much cheaper. Second, if her lungs were clear then the choice to amputate was the best option. We did blood work, they called me this afternoon and let me know that was all clear as well.
So, in a matter of an hour, I learned as much as I could from the oncologist--much of which I had read on this site prior to the appt! And, we scheduled the surgery for Thursday morning. I'm not going to lie---as he said the word Thursday--like in two days--it was like a punch in the gut.
We discussed starting chemo thereafter with the possibility of immunotherapy.
The surgeon said we wouldn't be able to see her until Friday as they keep them fairly sedated and calm for the first 24 hours. If she is feeling well enough, I would be able to bring her home Friday afternoon otherwise Saturday. Any advice of how long your pups were kept before being released to you?
Again, thank you thank you thank you for all of the advice and support.
Greatly appreciated,
Kelly
Hi Kelly ~
I had to take Murphy the night before his surgery, then he stayed 1 night after surgery. Here is a video of him walking out to the car 24 hours after surgery:
Murphy came home on 3 different pain medications: Tramadol, Rimadyl & Gabapentin. We made sure to space them so that he had adequate coverage. Some come home with a Fentanyl patch for pain, and some with antibiotics. Some don't want to eat very well. Most sleep a lot the first few days. You will want to keep activity down - mostly just potty breaks. We never used a cone for Murphy - we put a t-shirt on him to keep his incision clean and so he didn't bother it.
Recovery is a huge roller coaster of emotions! I really questions whether we had done the right thing or not. As I'm sure most people here have done. But, after that first couple of weeks, it all turned around - the sparkle came back!
You don't have to make a decision about chemo right now. For now, just focus on surgery & recovery. You got this! And we will be here for you.
Donna
Donna, Glenn & Murphy
Murphy had his right front leg amputated due to histiocytic sarcoma at 7 years old. He survived 4 years, 2 months & 1 week, only to be taken by hemangiosarcoma at 11 1/2 years 6/12/17
Read about Murphy's Life on Three Legs
Pofi's surgery was the last they performed that day as we moved the surgery up considerably based on an MRI (he has soft tissue sarcoma / nerve sheath tumor rather than osteo and MRI is needed) the day prior. So they were done with him at 7:30 pm - I brought him home nearly 48 hours later. He needed that extra night - when I saw him the afternoon after surgery, he was still heavily drugged and not wanting to eat. At that point they thought they might need to keep him even a 3rd night post surgery, but I we agreed they would start easying off the IV Fentanyl and I came again in the evening and got him to eat some. The next morning, as they had reduced the Fentanyl further, he was very alert and very mobile - they were stunned at the turnaround. I came and gave him breakfast and they moved him from ICU after that and I came early evening to pick him up bring him home. He hopped out to my car and into the back of my Rav4!
We also came home with Tramadol, Rimadyl and Gabapentin (plus antibiotic). Pofi had a very steady recovery, but I did do a lot of hand feeding for a while.
Lisa, Minneapolis
On October 27, 2016, nearly 6 months after amputation, and 18 months since his cancer likely started, we lost Pofi to a recurrence of Soft Tissue Sarcoma in his spine quite suddenly. His canine sister also succumbed to cancer on March 1, 2019 - we lavished her with our love in the interim, but life was never quite the same without her only real canine friend. Cliff kitty had to leave us, too, suddenly, in August 2019. Lucia kitty grieved all these losses, but helped us welcome two new Lurchers into our home and our lives, Shae and Barley.
Hi Kai and Kelly!
As you can see, under the circumstances, there is no better place to be for support, information and understanding. We have a lot of invaluable first-hand knowledge that is invaluable. You've already gotten great advice and I don't have much to add, other than just to say, you are not alone from this point forward!!!
Most all dogs here stay one night, some need more time. Either scenario is "normal". Waking up from anesthesia and being on heavy duty pain meds is best handled at the vet. So use that night to get some good sleep! Kai will be high as a kite and seeing pink eelephants!
If you have hardwood floors, put non slip scatter rugs down for traction . No jumping up and down in beds or going up and down stairs. Plan in sleeping on the f@oor next to Kai for quite awhile! Also plan on a lot of ups and downs the first couple of weeks.
It was three weeks before I could finally say I did this FOR my Happy Hannah and not TO her!! You are getti g rid of Kai's very painful leg. Once the recovery from the surgery itself takes place, you will be thrilled to see how happy Kai is to not have that useless painful hurting leg anymore!
Stay strong and confident for your girl! I did a lot of crying outside or sitting in the car so my Happy Hannah wouldn't pick up on my fear. And believe me, I was soooooo fearful! I did not join this site until six days after amputation so I was completely unprepared and uninformed on what to expect. It was a scary time. But being here helped me navigate through all the hurdles and unknowns with a lot more confidence.
Now make sure you stock up on chocolate...a lot of it! Ice cream nelps too!
HUGS!!
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
PS. When you go pick up Kai, don't even look at her incision. She's gping to be so happy to see you she needs you to give her kisses and hugs and tell her what a good girl she is!
Actually, the amount of fur they shave startled me more than the incision when I finally did glance at it.
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 Kelly
Eurydice also had her right front leg and shoulder removed.
I am really thrilled to hear her lungs are clear!
I know it is such a shock to think surgery is around the corner but it really is the best thing you can do as it will definitely remove the pain.
We took Eurydice away for a couple of days to play with other Dane friends before surgery, that sort of helped us go through the "waiting" time.
I honestly think you should consider carefully visiting Kai if she is not coming home... it will make her really anxious and stressed...
Eurydice stayed in hospital for 3 days, she could have come home 2 days after surgery but I thought it would be better for her to stay one day longer and be properly cared by trained staff.
Of course, my circumstances were different as she is really huge and I was terrified I wouldn't be able to help her pee etc.
Everybody has given you really good advice already, I would just add you should get a harness, we have a ruff wear harness , it is great because it has a handle which is really useful to lift them up, help them in and out of the car etc.
Sending you a cloud of pawsitive energy and bug cuddles to your sweet girl
Eurydice 77kg/170lb Great Dane limping end of April 2016, amputation (right front leg/osteosarcoma) 4 May 2016 6 courses of carboplatin followed by metronomic therapy, lung mets found 30 Nov 2016. 3 courses of doxorubicin, PET scan 26 Jan 2017 showed more mets so stopped chemo. Holistic route April 2017. Lung X-ray 5 May 2017 showed several tennis ball size mets, started cortisone and diuretics. Miss Cow earned her XXL silver wings 12 June 2017, 13 months and 1 week after amputation and 6 1/2 months after lung mets, she was the goofiest dawg ever and is now happily flying from cloud to cloud woof woofing away :-)
Kelly,
thank you for your post on my thread. I'm so glad you got some positive input from reading all the info there. This site is so fantastic and everyone has welcomed me and supported us like part of the family.... I'm so grateful for that and don't know what I would have done without this support.
I don't know if you noticed but My Sweet Ted also was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in his ulna. It was right in the center of the bone.... similar to your Kai. I really struggled with having the amputation and because of that struggle was referred to a veterinary surgeon. Long story short, he said he could just remove the ulna and save the leg, so we did the surgery, and 3 months later Ted had cancer in the soft tissue right where the ulna was removed (also very rare). I wish I would have just had the amputation done in the first place. He is just over two weeks since the amp and he is doing so well. His lymph node pathology also came back negative for metastases....totally didn't expect that but we are hanging on to that good news.
There is so much info on this site and it looks as thought you've been scouring it just like I did when I was anticipating Ted's surgery. It is so scary and hard to make the decision. But it was absolutely the right decision for Ted. You've got to get that cancer out of there. I hope that you or someone in your household is prepared to be with Kai 24/7 for at least a week. it is tough but it's necessary if you want a successful recovery. i unexpectedly brought Ted home the day of surgery. He was pretty wasted on the anesthesia and he couldn't get around so it took two of us to get him in and out of the car and into the house etc. He was up pretty much 24 hours whining and panting and just detoxing from the drugs. After about 48 hours he started to come out of it, sit up a bit, and then stand, and start walking around a bit. After that it was basically like watching a toddler for a while and protecting him so he didn't slip and fall or do something stupid. He got his staples out 10 days after surgery and he has been improving pretty much daily since then. He has been a little over the top lately (bouncing around like the Tigger that he usually is) so I've been trying to monitor that a bit since I want him to not overdo it. But, I really believe if you take the time up front and be with her for the first week you will have better results than leaving her alone to fend for herself. It is a major surgery...
I usually log on every night (I'm in VA so I'm about 2 hours later than most) so if you have any questions please send something. I also encourage you to join the chat room in the evening - there is always someone there!
wanda
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