Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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First of all, I know thisnis a kick in the gut for you to hear this news.
The important thing is Bandit didn't hear a word of it!! Xrays don't mean squat in his world!!
While I know this is upsetting initially, I give you a STANDING OVATION for recognizing that, as far as Bandit is concerned, today is a great day and he will, indeed, have MANY more great days and weeks and months and, hopefully even years ahead of him!!
To recognize also that Bandit is not displaying ANY sysmptons is HUGE! Truly- That's really good news!!! I say that especially because, even IF "symptons" do start to shown up, there are a lot of things that can be done to continue to keep Bandit comfortable and happy for more good extended quality time!
Others will chime in avout their experience with Palladia, so you can get some first hand accounts. You might also check out Metronomics. One question for the Vet regarding any of the drugs would ve that, if side effects do show up, how long after stopping the drug before side effects disappear??
Jist do like you've been dping every day since Bandit jumped i to your heart...MAKE EVERYDAY THE BEST DAY EVVVER!! Continue to make every day count and do NOT let that poece of 
disease rob you of one second of your time with Bandit!! Cheeseburgers, cheese pizza, ice cream, steak.....rummy rubs.....drinking out of the toilet.....whwtever Bandit wants, Bandit gets!!!
Extra 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!
So, we started him on the Palladia and Losartan regimen Sunday night. He had no side affects whatsoever for the first 3 days and 2 doses, until....Wednesday evening. What appeared to be significant cramping, he couldn't stand up, couldn't walk...he barely moved all day Thursday. Bandit stood up twice, with significant coaching, to get some water. Never went outside all day. We stopped all medications except for the small dose of Rinadyl he has been taking. As of now, Saturday morning, he is almost back to "normal". He's still having a little trouble walking, and seems a little uncomfortable. I'm assuming that will be gone today or tomorrow.
The doctors want to put him back on the Palladia, but at a smaller dose. I'm reluctant to put him back on anything, the medication roulette is not something I want to put him through. I checked the suggested dosage for the medications he is on, and his size, and it appears he is actually "under-dosed" now. He was certainly on the low side of the dosage recommendation.
We are unclear yet how fast the cancer is growing in his lungs. The goal of these meds is to slow that down, but we don't want to go through all the discomfort and nonsense in the hope the cancer slows down Based on what I have heard and read, I'm assuming he has +/- 60 days if we do nothing at this point, possibly longer if we find the right mix of meds and dosage. That said, even if we find the right mix and dosage the odds are 50/50 that this makes an impact on the cancer.
I really just want to get him back to "normal"...that was a pretty good place....
I'm sorry Bandit had trouble on the meds. You are right- normal is the place we all want to be.
Did the vet talk about other metronomic protocols? Many here have done a protocol without palladia.
Here are some Blog Posts on Metronomics.
Not pushing for more meds, but wanted to be sure you had seen this option.
I've dealt with three cancers in two pugs. Once I chose chose chemo, twice I declined. You weigh what is best for you and your pack with life quality as the goal. I found it helpful to write out the pros and cons, it helped me make a decision, and my notes helped later when the inevitable 'what if's' would pop into my head.
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
You are doing a good job of staying focused on Bandit's QUALITY. We all want more time...it's NEVER enought time...ever. But "extra" time without quality is not what our dogs, or us, ever want. Only humans focus on days on a calendar.
Not good enough to do the search, but I'm pretty sure I recall loss of mobility with Palladia sometimes. Normalcy returned once it was out of their system. I'm not sure on this either, but it seems like I saw where it was given on an ecery other day basis in oncpe case. Could be completely wrong. Obviously I'm not a Vet!
Once Bandit bounces back, and he will, then you can maybe revisit what path you want to take...what path Bandit wants to take.
I will say this, when jt comes to mets, or pretty much anything on this journey, "projected timeframes" just do not take in the individual dog and all the specifics related to that dog's individual scenario!
Many, many dogs get QUALITY extended time even AFTER "symptons" appear. And Bandit isn't even showir any real symptoms at all!!
Let us know how he's doing, okay? It may take a few more days, but I think you'll jave your Bandit back to being Bandit fairly quickly now.
And btw, cheeseburgerq and a scoop of ice cream are always in order as a "nutritional" meal around here! 🙂 🙂
Lots of extra 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!
Thanks for the replies, truly appreciated. Bandit seems to have 95% of his mobility back, but just seems uncomfortable in general. Anyway, he's coming around. Not sure what path we'll take going forward, I'll start looking into this tomorrow...
So, unfortunately, this will likely be the last update. We got Bandit off of the Palladia and Losartan and went into a homeopathic regimen. About the same time we started the homeopathic protocol he stopped eating. We stopped all remedies and medication 3 or 4 days later. He quickly declined and we lost Bandit to the rainbow bridge. He did great from osteosarcoma diagnosis early December until the middle of May-you wouldn't have known anything was wrong with him. But when he went south, it sure happened quickly. We're assuming the cancer had spread to places we didn't know about. We did all we could, and we were hopeful for so much more, but Osteosarcoma is nasty...
Bandit had a great 8 year run...we sure miss the big guy....
danzur said
We did all we could, and we were hopeful for so much more, but Osteosarcoma is nasty...
Yep, a nasty disease. Sorry to hear how your story ended, but when I look back to your first post, and think of the fear you and all of us feel worrying about a pathologic fracture, you took care of that. Bandit, like my Casey, was headed for an ugly end due to an ugly disease. You took care of that and allowed Bandit months of joy on his way to the bridge. You did good.
Oh my heart broke when I saw this, I'm really sorry. You absolutely did so much for Bandit, he was so loved!
Cancer is just so unpredictable and mean. How we wish he could have had more time with you. I do hope that as your heart heals, you can look back and be comforted by the extra memories you made together. Bandit rocked it on three legs, and that's so inspiring to others with giant breed dogs affected by this disease.
If you would like to share more of Bandit's story with us, if and whenever you are ready, post a tribute to him in Coping with Loss ok? We would love to honor the special dog who won your heart.
Our sympathies and condolences to you and your family. We are truly sorry.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I am so very sorry for your lost. You were an amazing advocate for him and you have him the best chance available to live a good life.
I know you'll miss him dearly but he will always be in your heart
My thoughts are with you in this great time of loss.
Hugs,
Jackie and Huck ❤️
Hugs,
Jackie, Bo, Andy, Oscar, Phoebe, and the coolest feral tripawd kitty Huckleberry 
So sad to read this news. Cancer is ugly that way....as soon as you think you're winning cancer changes the rules. Your sweet Bandit gave it a good fight as did you guys. You took away his pain and the fear of fracture and that gave you 5 more months of memories and time to love on him. We all go into this journey hoping against hope that ours is the miracle dog that beats those odds. But even when that doesn't happen the bond you create with them over the course of this journey is unbreakable. I know your hearts are shattered and breaking and there are no words I can say at this hardest of times. But know you fought the good fight...you tried and more than that none of us can do. Bandit will now watch over you from the heavens and you'll see his light shine from the brightest star. Fly free new Angel! Sending you many hugs and healing light.
Linda & Spirit Mighty Max
Oh, I am so, so sorry to hear the news 😔
Osteosarcoma is a hideous 💩 disease that does as it pleases, no matter what we do it still has the upper hand in the end 😔
But what osteo could never do was break Bandit’s spirit, he was deliriously happy with his family for over five months and nothing, nothing can change that.
You loved each other and lived each day to the full and now Bandit is flying high in the sky with his beautiful silver wings, alongside all of our Angels 🌟🌟🌟
He is happy and pain free, you can be sure of that, and he will always watch over you and will visit you in your dreams 🕊💕
Sending you a warm hug and slobbery kisses from Angel Bandit and Angel Eurydice 😘😘😘🐮🌟🌟💫✨🌹
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 :-)
It was just soooo sad to hear Bandit transitioned to the Bridge. We all cry so many tears when we get news like this ...so many tears.
He showed so much spunk, so much determination, so much Warrior Fighter attitude, even though he was the epitome of gentleness.
And make NO mistake about it, no one could have been a stronger advocate for Bandit than you!! You went farther than most would go to give your boy every single ppssible tool kmown to mankind to beat this piece of crap disease. And not only that, you and Bandit shared spme great insight into all of the treatment plams you were pursuing . Quite educational .
It has been such an honor to be traveling with Bandit on his incredible journey. You gave him extended time full of quality, full of time for more loving and more spoiling! Bandit will continue his legacy of inspiration for all big dogs and continue showing them that big dogs and three legs work together beautifully.
Anytime you want to share more of Bandit's glorious life with us...and especially some of his adorable photos. .we would we honored.
Surrounding you with love
Sally and My Chunky Spiritual Being 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!
💕🕊🌟💕
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 :-)
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