Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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New to site and having some hope now that I have found it. Olive, our 12.5 yr old Boxer rescue is facing a pretty quick decision. She has osteosarcoma in her front left shoulder that is making her unable to put weight on the leg and has her in great pain. We are in Southern CA dropping son off at college and away from our normal vets at Texas A&M veterinary hospital. She was diagnosed 9/2018 with Arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy (ARVC). She is on a strict medication schedule 7x a day. She has had multiple episodes of collapsing and her heart restarting and a couple we have had to give chest compressions to get it back started again. This is always triggered when she gets too excited. Looking at her and being around her you would never guess she’s 12.5 nor that she had any health issues. Until now. She’s in pain with the osteosarcoma and we are a 3 day road trip back to Texas. We are in an Airbnb for another 8 days along with our 4 rescue Dashchunds (one who’s paralyzed mid chest down) but is quite young and full of spunk and vigor). The vets at the surgical center (Blue Pearl in Irvine) suggested an amputation as the best route. We have always been afraid to put Olive under general anesthesia due to her ARVC, however we do know that without some kind of action she is miserable. I am hoping to hear from some of you guys that have been down this road that could help shed some light on the challenges and help guide us to the best decision for our girl. Thanks in advance for your time.
Hi Olive and furmily, welcome. Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away.
I'm so sorry this is happening to you and Olive, especially when you're away from TAMU, they're such an incredible facility. Is there any way one of you can drive back to TX with her asap to get her into their oncology center? Yes, osteosarcoma is horribly painful and it's imperative to act quickly. But if she is not suffering from a fracture, and taking good pain medication right now to help with some of that tumor pain, it wouldn't be out of the ordinary to wait a week or at most two, for surgery. Many people have to wait even longer sometimes. It's not ideal and it sucks for her and you, but in your case, having her near home for recovery is a much easier and better situation for all of you.
Otherwise, it sounds like you are in Orange County? I personally prefer the Veterinary Cancer Group any time cancer is involved. But it does look like Blue Pearl has cardiologists on staff that can find out if her heart will be OK during surgery. Their team and boarded surgeons also look perfectly capable of doing an amputation surgery so I wouldn't worry too much about that aspect.
What I would want to know is, what kind of shape is the bone in right now? How eaten away is it, does it look like it's close to fracturing? The severity of the damage would determine whether or not I would want to do the surgery there or at home. Because I can tell you that having to go from hotel to hotel during recovery on her way home is probably going to be tough, especially while you manage your other dogs.
You are such an amazing parent, I can already tell! Lean on us and let us know how you proceed OK? We are here for you!
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