Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Dear Dr. Pam,
My 7 years old beagle start to have his back left leg limping since early this year. We brought him to vet this year and we did x-ray for him, he was suspected with osterosarcoma. After some x-rays on the bone and chest, the vet found that there is a spot in his chest. The x-rays also shows that there are swelling / suspected tumor at the knee bone of my beagle and the leg bone connected between the knee joint was completely look bristle. Out vet advised us to get his leg amputated and proceed with chemo.
Later on we went to another vet for second opinion and the second vet told us that he rather think that it would be kinda of an bone infection / fungal /bacterial infection rather than osterosarcoma. The reason the vet said this is because the bone that connects to the knee joint was bristle and he mentioned that osterosarcoma will not spread among two bones. He suggested us to do a biopsy to confirm the real cause behind all these. Whichever the cause of it my poor beagle's leg has to be amputated as the whole stretch of his leg bone already bristle based on the x-rays.If it is not an osterosarcoma, then we have to worry another thing as his lung x-ray shows a small lump. Hopefully it is not a met.
What is the symptom of bone infection? Is it almost the same as bone tumor? Hope you can give some advice to us. Thank you very much.
I am sorry about your Beagle. It is true that osteosarcoma does not cross the joint but other cancers like synovial cell carcinoma can. The distal femur (just above the knee) is a very common place to see osteosarcoma, but the Beagle is not your typical breed with this disease.
Fungal osteomyelitis is rare but could occur if you live in the Southwest (Arizona) or the Ohio River Valley. If your dog is very lame then amputation is probably indicated either way, and you can send the leg for a biopsy after it is off. The lung spot could be fungal, cancerous, or just a benign lesion.
If your dog is not that lame then I would have your vet send the xrays to a board-certified radiologist for their opinion. Osteosarcoma has a classic look on xrays that is hard to miss.
Good luck!
Pam and Tazzie
Thanks for clarifying Pam. We were curious about whether osteosarcoma could cross the joint. Great advice, as always.
Meiyoong, keep us posted. We send our good thoughts and pawsitive energy your way.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Dear Dr. Pam,
Manys thanks for the for the great feedbacks. We are actually from Malaysia and i suppose the chances of getting Fungal osteomyelitis will be relatively low. Anyway we are bringing our beagle for amputation this coming Thursday and will request the vet to do a biopsy for it. Hope that everything will be fine.
And to Jerry,
Thanks for the encouragement and this is really a great forum. Happy to come to know everyone and share our experinces and encouragement among us.
Dear Dr. Pam,
I'm wondering whether a bone infection will has the same symptoms as the osterosarcoma or other type of bone cancer? Will the bone infection will cause the bone to look bristle under the x-ray? I have try to search around the internet for more information on the bone infection, however not much information i can get.
Our amputation surgery has been postponed to next Tuesday as the surgeon is not available. Really worry alots.
I'm sorry to hear about your beagle. I don't know much about the cancer, but just letting you know we're thinking of you and your furbaby!
Bone infection can look similar on an xray but often involves a different part of the bone. Osteosarcoma is at the growth plates (end of bones) but infection can be anywhere. Your dog might have a different type of bone cancer such as synovial cell sarcoma or hemangiosarcoma. They can all look different.
I would say that bone infection is much more uncommon than cancer. I have never seen one case of fungal bone infection, even when I lived in Wisconsin where fungal disease is seen more frequently. Unfortunately our practice sees anywhere from 1-3 cases of bone cancer per month.
Your dog will feel much better after the amputation and then you can get your answers.
Pam
I was always hoping that my beagle was with bone infection rather than bone cancer. It seems like hard for me to accept that he is having a bone cancer. That's why i was searching for other possibilities of causing him his leg to be lame and swelling. Waiting for the surgery as well as for the biospy result is so torturing. Hope to let his leg to get amputate soon and get the biopsy done but the same time scare to receive the biopsy result. Dilemma.
Anyway thanks for all the support and advise.
Waiting is the hard part. We didn't have to wait for surgery, it came really quickly for us, but the final biopsy was so hard to wait for. Keeping you and the beagle in my thoughts, and wishing him a speedy and full recovery.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
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