Morgan is my 8.5 year old Rottie.  I took her to the vet last Friday (September 3, 2010), and she was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma.  She has a pretty obvious tumor in her left front leg. 

She had been limping on this leg for quite some time, but we figure she had pulled something.  She had ACL surgery on her rear leg of the same side back in March.  We thought that she may have been compensating for the rear leg and injured the front. 

She is a very petite Rottie at only about 70 lbs.  So the vet seems to think she will adapt ok to the amputatuion. 

She has had ACL surgery on both rear legs, and I am very concerned about the extra stress that amputation will put on those legs.

Anyone have any advice ? ? ? 

The thing to remember is that with dogs (4 legged) they place ~60% of their weight on their front legs.  For Morgan, it might be better that she have a front leg amputation because if she had a back leg amped, she would have only one back leg with a previous surgery trying to support the rest of her back end weight.  In that case she might be more likely to injure it.  

However, since Morgan will have a front amputation, she will probably have more even weight distribution on her back legs, which might work out better for her in her situation. If you are still worried then you can always go to another vet or oncologist and see what their opinion is about her having a front leg amputation. 

-Chloe's mom

 My girl, Tasha, was 8 years old when diagnosed with osa in her lf leg. She had her amputation a little over 11 months ago.  She is about 15 pounds heavier than Morgan and has done really good on 3 legs.  I  am glad to read that you are going to do the amputation and soon that painful leg will be gone. 

 Jo Ann & Tasha

 No we did not do any Chemo with Tasha. Tasha had a few really bad days during her recovery on days 4 & 5 we had to increase her pain meds for those two days but on day 6 things turned around for her and by day 9 she was off all pain meds. Today she is active, happy and spoiled, and I wouldn't want it any other way.  

I'm just catching up. First of all so sorry you are faced with this diagnosis.  My Mackenzie (golden – 80lbs) was diagnosed with osteosarcoma a year ago.  When we first got the diagnosis we decided not to opt for the amputation but instead do palliative radiation. Big mistake because Mackenzie ended up not responding to the treatment because she fractured her leg due to the cancer and we didn't know it at the time.  She was in incredible pain – much more than I ever realized.  It was 2 months later that we finally decided to do the amputation as it was the only option left - either that or lose her which wasn't an option.  I'm proud to say that she's still doing great – 10 months now as a tripawd and we have no regrets whatsoever.  It was the best decision we could have ever made.  I was one of those dense owners that just couldn't fathom the idea of amputation and I regret that I didn't make the decision to amputate sooner knowing what I know now.  Mackenzie swims, runs, climbs hills and does everything she used to do before her diagnosis.   So I've become such an advocate now of amputation – it really is the only option that gives your dog back the quality of life it so deserves.  I know you have to make your own decision and whatever decisioin you do make will be the right one for you.  And if it's any consolation to you, I didn't think Mackenzie could handle this amputation either when we went through this but she proved me totally wrong!

Good luck with everything!

Kami (Mackenzie's Mom)