Hi all, I have been lurking for several months before we decided to go ahead with amputating our Siberian Husky's left rear leg.  I've gained so much from reading past posts and appreciate all the resources on this site!!  We are about 2 and a half months post amputation now, and I have some concerns.  I apologize ahead of time, his story is very long.  

Bandit came to us starved and severely abused several years ago.  He was the skinniest dog still walking I'd ever seen.  He was incredibly shut down and only bonded with me, and we couldn't bear to flip his world after all he'd gone through, so he's been with us since.  He has been treated multiple times for Lyme Disease as his previous owners never bothered to treat the infection and it was very progressed.  Two rounds of the aggressive dose of doxy for 8 weeks each time and he still relapsed.  I switched to Buhner's Protocol and he hasn't relapsed since, but has permanent joint damage/arthritis which is managed with turmeric paste and several other supplements.  He also had hind end weakness from being tied and having poor muscle development.  Because our dogs go everywhere with us he quickly built up the muscles and his hind end no longer sloped.  He was happy and super active until he tore his left ACL in May of 2014.  

In May of 2014 he was running across the road to my parents' and he started hopping on 3 legs.  After a few minutes of rest he seemed to be fine and was walking normally.  He wasn't limping that badly at all and it only seemed to bother him after he did too much with us on the farm, so we never brought him to a vet until July.  We didn't realize it was an ACL issue.  I would make him take it easy and he wouldn't limp for a few weeks and then would do too much and the hitch would return.  After a few months I was worried maybe he had a fracture or something so we took him in.  He walked into the vet's on 4 legs and came out on 3, never able to bear weight on that leg again without the leg collapsing.  The vet told me there was nothing we could do, that he wasn't a candidate for surgery given his past health history, gave me some anti inflammatories and told me to make him use the leg otherwise he would lose function of it.  Because he now had no stability in the leg, he COULD NOT use it.  We tried conservative management, braces, exercises, alternative therapies, anything we could think of.  He never seemed to be in any pain, just couldn't use the leg and we were told it would take months-years for him to stabilize the leg, so we kept on.  

About 8 months after the vet visit his stifle joint began to swell and his leg appeared to be rotating outwards.  I tried range of motion exercises, heat/ice, etc. but nothing made a difference.  He also seemed to tweak his good leg and was put back on strict crate rest.  That leg healed/stabilized and he had no issues with it again.  I took him to a different vet for x-rays to see what we were dealing with in the bad leg and to try to formulate a plan.  The vet walked in and said, "When I see swelling like that, I think osteosarcoma."  I wasn't well versed on osteo at the time, so didn't question her, and we proceeded with sedation for the x-rays.  She brought me in the back and showed me the x-ray in which it appeared that there was a mass, or severe swelling, that had eroded the bone and his bones were not connected, we assume because there was a complete tear of the ACL and miniscus.  She again said she thought it was osteo, but that his chest scan was clear and there were no signs of other masses.  (He has had one enlarged lymph node in his left armpit since we brought him home in 2012, and 2 fatty lumps on his chest.  None have shrunk/grown, or caused any discomfort, and all vets say to just leave them alone.)  She said sometimes people amputate and do chemo, but that it would likely only buy a month or two of time.  Amputation was only to remove the source of the pain.  We decided to wake him up and bring him home to have our large animal vet put him to sleep in the comfort of our home.  However, once we got home, I started looking up info on osteosarcoma.  What I found was that it is a very aggressive, excruciatingly painful bone cancer.  He had not been on any pain meds at all for a year, and was holding weight and happy/mobile.  I spoke to one gentlemen who said his dog went from limping, to excruciating pain, to dead in a week.  The time frame, the fact that he had been like this for over a year with no intervention what so ever, didn't settle right with me.  I also read that it quickly metastasizes to the lungs and other organs from there.  At a year after he started limping, he still had no masses in his chest cavity.  My husband and I struggled with the decision to put him down when osteo just didn't fit the past year of his life...so we went to see another vet.

I brought Bandit's x-rays with me to the third vet and asked that the vet just listen to my concerns.  She too echoed the second vet, that the mass appeared to be osteo, but then agreed that it was very unlikely that he would be alive, let alone eating, walking, etc..on his own a year later if he had osteo.  After some lengthy discussions, I let her know we were at the point of euthanasia or amputating IF he had a chance at a good life.  If she thought it was cancer, we would put him down and not put him through any more pain.  I asked if we could start with blood work and see if there were any red flags.  If we went ahead with the amputation, I wanted another set of chest scans done, and she agreed this was a great idea.  His blood work came back perfect, and she said if she didn't see him standing in front of her, she would say he was a perfectly healthy dog.  She had no worries about him making it through a surgery, and said "I'm not supposed to say this, but if this were my dog, this is exactly what I would do (amputate)."  We scheduled the surgery with another set of chest scans before, with the agreement that if other masses were found, she would not wake him up.  The second set of x-rays were done over a month after the first set, and again, came back clear so he had the leg amputated on May 6, 2015 all the way to the hip.  

Recovery was uneventful and he was SO HAPPY and COMFORTABLE again.  He seemed so relieved to have the pain of free floating bones gone.  We were thrilled, and continue to be amazed at how much life he has gained back since the surgery.  He is up to a mile walk a few times a day and plows through the field like he doesn't even realize he's missing a leg.  However, this week he seems to be going backwards.  His leg has started to weaken very early and I'm terrified it's his ACL.  I've stopped taking him on long walks and he is up and around fine during the day, going in and out of the house without any problems.  He is now pushing with that leg though (foot is rotated pointing out more instead of facing forward) instead of hopping like he usually does.  I'm very worried he is going to start having problems with this leg and am looking for some guidance.  I'm really, really hoping he just strained the leg and needs some time to rest/heal.  Anyone else have an experience like this?  I'm also concerned that his nails impede his movement some.  They are trimmed to the quick, but we are going to get a dremel tomorrow to see if I can sculpt around the quick better and encourage it to recede even further.  His nails don't touch when he's standing, but when he's moving, the middle two nails seem to move to the side, which I imagine is forcing his toes/foot to rotate as well. 

Thanks so much for reading my book! 

Alicia