Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
Join The Tripawds Community
Learn how to help three legged dogs and cats in the forums below. Browse and search as a guest or register for free and get full member benefits:
Instant post approval.
Private messages to members.
Subscribe to favorite topics.
Live Chat and much more!
Register
Log In
Members
Add Topic
Offline
Hi there!
We are new to tripawds, my girl is an harlequin great dane, she will be 5 on June 1st and we found out by chance that she has osteosarcoma on April 25th.
She had stepped on a chestnut husk 3 weeks before and was initially limping a bit, but we kept removing the spikes and treated her for an "infection" on the wrist (antibiotics and anti inflammatories) as she developed a lump there.
We went to see four different vets as Eurydice was limping more every day and I wasn't comfortable with their opinions, all they did was medicate her for the "infection" but they didn't think much of her limping and suggested we would wait and see if it would improve on its on.
My heart was telling me something was wrong so we persevered until we finally found a good vet at a veterinary hospital who saw her, felt her lump and told me immediately she should have an X-ray done as he suspected it could be osteosarcoma.
Next day the X-ray was done and it was confirmed so we got referred to Fitzpatrick Referrals and saw an oncologist the next day.
He advised us to get a cat scan done to see if there were any cancerous growths anywhere else in her body, especially in the lungs, and luckily all was clear!
We were then given 3 options:
Palliative care - they explained pain killers cannot control 100% bone cancer pain so she would have some degree of pain, plus there are side effects to take into account. They estimated she would live 2 weeks to 3 months.
Radiotherapy and chemo - Radiotherapy would target the tumour in her wrist but it only deals with the pain, doesn't actually deal with cancer spreading. Also, it needs general anaesthetic and that is not good news for great danes. Another big problem is that she would at some point have a pathological fracture which is excruciatingly painful and the bone will never heal as it has been destroyed by cancer. By the time that would happen, it might have been too late to have her leg amputated. If we would follow this route she would have about 10 months to live.
Amputation and chemo - This is what we chose to do in the end and have no regrets whatsoever.
With her leg gone, the pain is gone too! She had amputation on May 4th, 2 weeks later her stitches came out and she had the first course of chemo the same day and no signs of any side effects so far, she is only taking cerenia to prevent any nausea but apart from that hops around and is in generally good humour.
We will do a further 5 courses of chemo every three weeks and possibly have another cat scan done to assess the progress.
I was really worried with my girl because she weighed 77kg (70kg now) and only has one front leg and in these deep chested breeds 60% of the weight is supported by the front legs. Actually, it was quite a lesson to see how she coped so well and I was told she stood up on her own the very morning after the operation!
Her life expectancy is about 1 year but I was wondering if anybody else has danes who largely passed that mark ??? Are there any cases of total remission of bone cancer ????????
Wishing you all and your furry friends a lovely day 
Teresa and 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 :-)
teresaheliodoroeurydice said
Are there any cases of total remission of bone cancer ????????
Unfortunately, osteosarcoma is an extremely aggressive cancer. While there is currently no "cure" the goal for care is what oncologist's refer to as "Stable Disease". Every dog is different, but there there are many successful treatment modalities to reach that goal. For Jerry, we chose a healthy canine cancer diet, metronomics and K9 Immunity . He loved life on three legs for two years, and we have had members document survival of their three legged heroes for 5+ years or more.
Please do not miss Nova's blog for Great Dane Inspawration! Search the forums above or search all blogs here for more.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you so much for your advice and lovely to hear life expectancy can be higher than one year!
At the moment I am feeding my girl grilled chicken and raw food, I will have to focus on her diet when she feels more normal, at the moment she is still not able to go out for walks for more than 5/10 min (generally one a day) and still on the rebound after amp.
Sending you a hug and slobber from 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 :-)
I also have a dane and she is progressing well. We changed her diet to a cooked diet with low carbs and she is doing great. At week 3 her progress started to take amazing turn for the better. My dane is only 4 so I understand the serious concern for longevity.
Your Dane is doing well, so lovely to hear!!!! And what a lovely photo, she looks like a princess with her beautiful pink collar
I had a message today from another Dane owner whose girl lived for four years after amputation, I was overwhelmed with joy realising our babies may have much more time then we initially thought, fingers crossed ! Yupppiii !!!
Sending you a big hug and lots and lots of cuddles to your sweet girl
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 :-)
Way to rock recovery EURYDICE!! You are a great inspiration.for any large dogs starting this journey!!
And your avatar picture is absolutely stunning!! Can't wait for more photos!!
Yep, many dogs blow statistics out of the water around here! Another Great Dane who comes to mind is Atlas. I'll give you the link when I find it. If I recall, I think Atlas went beyond.the two hear mark...and that was with Wooblers!
THE most important aspect.of this entire.journey.is to throw.your calendars away! Days on a calender mean nothing to Eurydice. All she cares about.is the now and being loved and spoiled and by your side! Statistics don't mean squat to her! Tomorrow doesn't mean squat to her! NOW is all that matters! Stay in the present and savor every second. You'll cram more lifetimes into every moment than you ever thought possible!!
And BTW, qe have a hero dog here named Pug Maggie (Stubborn Pug Maggie) who was "told" 9- 12 months. She didn't listen. Four years later she transitioned with something else!!
And good for you for being such a great advocate for Eurydice!! Glad you listened to your heart...pretty wise heart!
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!
Oh, I wanted to ask you, did your girl lose a lot of weight following the operation? My girl eats about 2kg a day but is becoming slimmer and slimmer by the day. She does very little exercise because she places her paws in a different position than before as she walks and that causes her nails to cut into the flesh, the hospital gave me cream and said the areas will eventually harden so she will be able to walk painfree again in the future. I am thinking of getting her some muscle massage at the vets to try and prevent muscle loss but am unsure if that will suffice.
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 :-)
Hi there!
Thank you so much for all your good advice, it is true that we are still concentrating a lot on how long we can have her with us ... because we want her here for ever
Yes, I savour every moment with her, spoil her to bits and spend part of my days lying on the floor giving her lots and lots of cuddles ... and am looking super hyper forward to when she will recover and is able to go out and see the world properly again!
After having lost my previous Dane at 4 1/2 my moto has always been to cherish my time with her, savour all those precious moments every day, I just adore to see her having a good time with other doggies and their mommies and daddies
I read Maggie's blog, what an incredible dog she was! So great to see statistics being thrown out of the window like that 
I would love to hear about Atlas too!
I am totally following your advice and burning the calendars 
and I am too happy to hear there are better possibilities than what statistics show and you are so right - no more counting the days for us from now on !!!
Thank you so much for your support and good energy, it means the world to me and my baby girl
Sending you hugs and lots of slobber from Eurydice and a big, big cuddle to Frankie (he is sooo gorgeous!!!!)
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 :-)
teresaheliodoroeurydice said
I would love to hear about Atlas too!
Have you searched yet?
Here is Atlas' blog, but his story was documented more fully with many more posts mentioning Atlas here in the forums. His mom has shared man videos. You can use the Advanced Search above to refine your results.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Sorry about the loss of your young Dane. Sounds like Eurydice has a wonderful Guardian Angel watching.over him though!
Just wanted to add that when Atlas transitioned,.it was because Wooblers caught up with him NOT that stupid piece of crap disease!
And cuddles and slobber right back to you! People who don't have big dogs who drool and slobber don't know what they're missing!
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!
I think Eurydice and me have a marvellous Guardian Angel watching over us from the sky her name is Kinky
I am going to take a look at Atlas blog now. Did he have wobblers and bone cancer ???
Is your boy a mastiff ? If so, you will know all about slobber in the ceilings !!!
Sending you a big hug and super cuddles to mr cutie
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 :-)
Well this is amazing.
I think I may have already crossed paths with the beautiful Eurydice. Our boy Beau is also being treated at Fitzpatricks, he was in for his Chemotherapy on 28th April and I'm almost certain I saw Eurydice peeping out of the consultation room window?! If that was her, well what a beauty.
Way to go on getting through the amputation and recovery! It sounds like she is a fighter. Beau also had Osteosarcoma and had his rear right leg amputated on 04/02/16. He's in the process of kicking cancers butt and has his final chemotherapy session in a little under 3 weeks. He's doing amazingly well and people often have to do a double take as he flys past them on his walk
Just wanted to say hi. Hoping Eurydice continues her speedy recovery and sending lots of smooches her way.
xxx
Wow that is so amazing !!!
Yes, it was her at Fitzpatrick on the 28th, I was all over the place that day as confirmation for osteosarcoma was only 2 days before and we were going to meet Kelvin Kow to be given all possible options ... I was unbelievably scared and so upset that day I can't remember much about any doggies who were there, if you knew me you'd know how much that is not me!
I am so happy your beautiful boy is doing so well and flying past everybody how lovely !!!!
Maybe one day we could get our fluffies together for a walk on six legs???
Sending you a big, big hug and super cuddles to Beau
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 :-)
You probably wouldn't have seen us, we were in the waiting area at the time while you were in the consultation room, we just remember seeing Eurydice's beautiful big face staring back at us through the glass and thinking was a gorgeous girl she was! Ah Kelvin is wonderful, you're definitely in good hands. I remember those feelings so well, having to make such difficult decisions when your brain can barely catch up with what's happening. I'm just so glad to hear that your girl is recovering well and is being such a great representative for all the big dogs out there.
Oh I bet they would love that! I don't think Beau has ever met a dog bigger than him, he's used to being the 'big guy', I'd love to see the confusion in his face meeting a dog the size of a small horse
Sending lots of hugs to you an your girl
xx
Otis once met a Dane at the dog park. Like Beau, he had never met a dog bigger than he was. It was so fun to watch!
Otis - 106 pound lab/Dane mix, lost his right front leg to osteosarcoma on Febuary 9, 2016. Four rounds of carboplatin completed in April, 2016. Lung mets August 25, 2016. Said goodbye too soon on September 4, 2016. Lost his adopted sister, Tess, suddenly on October 9, 2016. likely due to hemangiosarcoma.
Wherever they are, they are together.
1 Guest(s)
