Hi everyone,

This is my first message here and reading some of your posts has done a great deal in reassuring me and seeing some light in my dog's not so bright future.

We are owned by 2 lovely dogs:  Jinny, a 3 year old golden retriever and Cujo, an 11 months old Rottweiler. Cujo is a lovely gentle boy, which we love very much, but unfortunately he has problems with his right front leg.

At the end of July, he started limping on and off.  I took him to the vet right away and they did X-rays, which showed that there was nothing broken, but that one of his growth plates had closed prematurely.  One of the bones had stopped growing while the other one continued, forcing it to curve a little.

His vet didn't think this was causing the pain or the limping, but that he had probably hurt himself while playing with his sister.  She gave him pain and inflammation medicine and scheduled a follow-up 2 weeks later.  On the follow-up, since he was still limping she sent me to an orthopedist surgeon, who she had consulted on the phone for Cujo.

Diagnosis of the orthopedist: pano (growth pains) which were causing the limp, but surgery was needed for his leg or he would otherwise end up with arthritis problems.  We had 2 options: ostectomy - removing part of the bone that had stopped growing, installing a metal plate on that bone and 3 weeks in a cast (all that to give a chance to the other bone to straighten) for a cost of $ 1,500.00 OR osteotomy - break the curved bone and straighten it with metal plates, cast and complete stop of activities for 6 weeks minimum for a cost of $ 3,000.

Neither surgeries were warranted to succeed but the surgeon was very confident that the ostectomy would be a success.  We went to show Cujo and his x-rays to my father's cousin, who was a orthopedist surgery teacher at a vet's university.  She reassured us that the surgeon we had chosen was a very good one and that the ostectomy had as much chances of success as the osteotomy.

We therefore went with the surgery.  After 3 weeks the cast was removed and the bad news arrived:  no amelioration, the surgery was a failure.  Total invoice: roughly $ 2,000.00 with the follow-ups.  

The surgeon is now pushing the other surgery - again, without any warranties of success.  The arthritis has already started in his leg, so it would have to be done fast. 

Unfortunately, we cannot afford another surgery. If we had known from the start, we would have had the other surgery made, but we already spent      $ 2,000.00 and cannot afford another $ 3,000.00.  Even if we could, I'm not even sure I would go with it.  I have heard awful stories from people who have had osteotomy done on their dogs:  how they changed after having to be caged for months to stop them from walking, complications leading to stop of activities for more than 5 months, no success with the operation, pain coming back after a few months, ...

Another option is available for Cujo: amputation. 

My plan at the moment is to go back to Cujo's regular vet., so that she can prescribe medication for the pain (if needed) and hopefully something to slow the progress of the arthritis.  And when the time comes, when he is in pain, amputation.  (I stopped smoking today to save for $$ for his medication and amputation)

He doesn't seem to be in pain at the moment.  He is playing a lot, eating normally and he is able to put weight on his foot, but he limps.  We stopped taking him for walks, not to put him in any pain and to push amputation as far away as possible in his future. 

A lot of people are judging my decision, saying I should just have him euthanized, that it's not a life for a dog to only have 3 legs.  From what I have read in your posts, in think amputation is giving him a chance of a happy, almost normal, life.

I'm sorry for the lenght of my post, which I have tried to keep as short as possible and for my English mistakes (French is my 1st language). 

What mostly concerns me is to know if amputation is going to cause problems with his others legs?  The orthopedist has done xrays on all of them and the 3 others do not have any problems at all. 

Will he develop pain in his other legs, since they'll be supporting his weight (90 lbs. at the moment and still growing)?   

Will he still be able to play with his sister? Or will we have to stop him from playing because his left front leg be more at risk of injury?

Thank you in advance for all your answers,

A very sad and worried mom