Oh, I forgot to add that I also had a Dalmation with osteosarcoma years ago who had a rear leg amp and no chemo. He was a senior at the time of the amp, and nearly 100 lbs. He lived the predicted 4 months before the cancer spread to his spleen. But all but the last few days of those 4 months he was running, swimming, playing, and enjoying life. Once the pain was gone he was revitalized.... A new man! Even though we only had him for those 4 months, they were full of joy and memories. I have never regretted doing the amputation.

Dane Mom Sue

He did not appear to have any noticeable pain or distress other than the last few days he was with us. You will find many dogs here who survived a year or more with lung mets. If you are curious to read about those first few days, check out Nova's blog at nova.tripawds.com, and go back to the posts I have archived there from November 2008. I have a day-to-day account of her recovery. I think you will be surprised how quickly they bounce back from the surgery.

Sue

Hi Melissa.  Zeus (husky mix) was 11 at the time of amputation due to osteosarcoma (front right leg).  Six and a half months later he is still doing great!  He isn't running marathons, but he wasn't doing that before the surgery either.

I completely understand your concerns.  Our story was a bit more complicated b/c we chose to have a CT of the lungs and it did show a tiny met.  We were also scared of putting him through the pain of amp and recovery just to lose him soon after.  But we realized that the met was small enough that it would not have shown on x-rays which is what all the stats are based on (I detailed this in the very first entry of Zeus' blog link below).  Anyway, we decided to give it a shot and amputate.  Most dogs are better after a couple of weeks but Zeus took about a month.  We did six rounds of chemo (carboplatin) which he tolerated okay but it was definitely hard on him.  The chemo is cumulative so you see more side effects as you continue treatment.  I could see that the fifth treatment really hit him hard and, in hindsight, I wish we had stopped at five because the sixth one really knocked him on his rear.  But, that is the good thing about chemo; if the dog doesn't tolerate it well you can always stop.

Almost seven months post amp, the met is still only one met and has not noticeably changed in size so we are very grateful.  Every dog, family and situation is different.  We have many dogs on here that do great with chemo and some that don't have chemo and still live years.  You have to decide what is best for your family unit - emotionally, financially and time-wise, but it's obvious that you love Loa so I'm sure you guys will be fine!  Good luck-

Lisa

Hello Melissaw, so sorry for your pup and you.  I know what a difficult time it is for you and the family.  My story is similar to the others posted.  We have a large female Golden Retriever (90 pounds and just under 7 years) We found a cancer tumor in her front right leg at the wrist late february.  I had the same concerns you have and had no idea what to do.

We visited with several vets, a surgeon and an oncologist.  Decided to go through with the amputation.  All of the doctors told us this is a very painfull disease and the best course of action was amputation.  Maggie had her amp on 3/22 and if you want to know more details, please read about her journey titled "Maggie's amputation 3/22".

Today we are 12 weeks post op and I have no regrets.  She is doing just super and is pain free.  She does all of the things she did be the amp. except for the long walks in the neighborhood.  Maggie swims, with the aid of a life jacket, climbs stairs, plays ball and runs very well.  She runs better than she walks!!  We also have her going through Chemo treatments, she just had her forth treatment last Friday.  One more to go.  Little to no side effects for our Maggie with the Chemo.  A little more tired if anything.

It is expensive and time consuming at first.  Tough decision to say the least and only you can make that call.  As for me, I'm glad we took this course with Maggie.  It was the right thing for us.  Good luck and please keep us posted.

Silver

Hi,

Sorry you have to go through this, but wanted to add my story for some hope.  In the Fall of 2010 our then 5 year old yellow lab, Bella had a limp, we thought she just pulled something playing with her sister, few days go by.. no limp.. weeks go by.. a limp one day nothing the next.. our bad we basically ignore it for months. As it did not seem to bother her, until November 2010 and her once in a while limp was everyday.  So, we took her in and first vet said.. overweight, front leg, bone caner.. will not do well with amputation.. here is some pain meds.. and gave her two weeks to two months.  Second Vet said.. we can do amputation, might have more trouble with her weight but it will take the pain immediately away and see how it goes ... amputation with chemo.. he said most are still gone within 9 months..  We decide and within a week she had the amputation.  Started Chemo not long after that and here were are heading into July 2012.

She was back to herself after two weeks.  She was not going for long walks .. but she never did that in the past either. I would honestly say everything was back to normal, the summer came and she loved swimming, going on boat rides etc.. 9 months came and went and someone forget to tell her she is not supposed to be here.   We did have a set back a few weeks ago when she was limping on her back leg.  They put her on some medicine which seems to have done the trick.. and bella was swimming all weekend again.  She has slowed down... a day of swimming and up many stairs .. she is tired .  But, I have been given almost 20 months with her that I did not think i would have.. and she is still loving life. 

I know what the statics say... I am grateful they are not always right.  I wish you all the best.

Karen and Bella