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
My 7 year old black lab, Brady, was just diagnosed with histiocytosis. My hunband and I have been informed that this is very rare and the information regarding this is all over the map. A little background: We noticed his right front leg was swollen in December and he was limping. We took him to the vets and they initially diagnosed him with osteosarcoma. We had his leg amputated. We are now meeting with the cancer specialists this week to determine a course of treatment. Has anyone had experience with Histiocytosis? What can we expect in terms of life expectancy? Our vet did not know much about it since it is out our her area of expertise. I was just hoping to find some news prior to our meeting with the cancer specialists on Thursday.
Thanks,
Marcy
Offline
Hi Marcy
I personally have never heard of that disease, but that does not mean much given I only heard about OSA when my dog was diagnosed last summer. A quick web search indicates that histiocytosis is primarily a disease found in Bernese Mnt dogs, but I see you have a lab. Glad you have cancer specialists in your region that you can meet this week.
Susan
If I remember right, most common in Bernese Mountain Dogs (extremely common), Rottweilers, Golden Retrievers, and Flat Coated Retrievers.
From what I understood and read, life expectancy greatly varied depending on if it is localized or disseminated; but even then, it was all over the place. None of the Vets we saw gave us a real timeline, and we never really pushed for an answer.
We were repeatedly told it is a very, very aggressive cancer, but Harley has been living with it for at least 9 months now (3 months as a Tripawd).
CCNU (lomustine) seems to be the chemo of choice. Although, Tehya has just added a new chemo drug to her regimen.
I'm not sure where you live, but OSU and CSU have studies using liposomal clodronate for treatment right now:
http://vet.osu......u/5067.htm
Best of luck!
-Gwen & Harley
Amputation on 11/10/09, due to Histiocytic Sarcoma in left elbow. Angel Harley earned his wings on 06/24/10.
Marcy, we're so sorry to hear about Brady. Thank you for coming to Tripawds though, we hope that some of our members may have information for you. We personally do not, but we did find this link from the University of CA at Davis. Hope it helps if you haven't seen it already.
Meanwhile, please consider registering as a member so that your posts will appear immediately.
Good luck to you and Brady, please keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for your responses. We had a meeting with the oncologist. Brady had a full work up - chest xray, ultrasound of his spleen, and some liquid removed from his lymph node and spleen. All his test came back negative for mestasis. The oncologist gave him a very favorable prognosis. His cancer is localized, which is the best possible outcome for this type of cancer. We are starting his chemo this weekend. He will do one full round of chemo (4-6 treatments) and then we will reassess. The oncologist said if he is good after this first round, we can discontinue the chemo and then have him checked every 4-6 months. The oncologist believes that the amputation saved his life!
Thanks for the update Marcy. Remember to log in when visiting the vorums and your posts will appear immediately without requiring moderation.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Welcome Brady and Marcy! I'm sad you had to go through this but it sounds like you got some really good news. I hope you'll give us updates!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
The news you got from the oncologist sounds very positive! We're so glad!
I don't know what kind of chemo Brady will get – you might want to ask your vet if an anti-nausea injection prior to chemo might help. It helped with Holly's first round of chemo, although she suffered from nausea after the 2nd round. Of course, that's just Holly's experience, but it might be worth asking about. There's a thread on chemo and nausea that we started after Holly's second round – it's under treatment and recovery if you want to take a look at other's experiences and advice.
We'll keep fingers and paws crossed that Brady's chemo treatments go well with minimal (or no!) side effects!
Best wishes,
Holly and Holly's mom
Holly joined the world of tripawds on 12/29/2009. She has a big little sister, Zuzu, who idolizes Holly and tries to make all of her toys into tripawds in Holly's honor. And she's enjoying life one hop at a time!
http://anyemery.....ipawds.com
What wonderful news. I am so happy for you and Brady!
Debra & Angel Emily
Debra & Emily, a five year old doberman mix, who was diagnosed with an osteosaecoma. She had a right rear leg amputation on May 19, 2009. On November 10, 2009 she earned her wings and regained her fourth leg.
YAY!!! How lucky Brady is that his amputation hopefully stopped his cancer!!! Never thought you'd be glad he has a certain type of cancer, didja?!?! hehe 🙂
<3 Laura and Captain Jack
FYI: Dr Patty Khuly just wrote about Histiocytosis pathology in her Fully Vetted blog.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Marcy & Brady!
Don't know how I missed all of these posts, but just wanted to welcome you to Tripawds. Please keep us posted on how Brady is doing with the chemo treatments.
Cathy/Jane/Spirits Skyler & Chloe
Just a quick update……but Brady is almost at 1 ½ years post amputation and over 1 ½ years post cancer diagnosis. He is doing very well and has adjusted to life on 3 legs. He has had no signs of metastasis and has been his usual self. He still enjoys going outside and will even chase after a few of the neighborhood cats!!
Thanks for the great updates about Brady, Marcy! And thank you for joining. Your future posts will publish immediately without requiring moderation.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
1 Guest(s)
