Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi everyone,
I have just jumped on again after a few days of spending time with Harlie and taking her for a picnic and spoiling her rotten buying her a new big bed because she deserves it! I have to say I needed to read Sally & Hannah, Kat and Katie and Sam's replies to my post after not being on this site for a couple days. I started to doubt amputation yet again and then reading your posts I know it's the right decision. Harlie has a lot of life left to live and putting it in perspective of 3 months is like a year in a dog's life I couldn;'t be more sure now. I knew it would be removing her pain and I want that more than anything – I am just so freakin scared. Scared to take her leg and have her be in pain after for recovery and scared at why she has no leg now. Of course I'll be there for her 150% post op but gosh when you read about people being scared it really is heart-wrenching of a decision to make for my best friend. Thank you all again for writing. I really dont' know where I'd be right now without you guys.
I do have an update to share from last week and wondering about your thoughts -
On Thursday I went to meet with the surgeon as I had posted. When I got there I pointed out a small lump on her front right paw to the surgeon. It looked like fatty tissue but I was adamant that they aspirate it. The oncologist came in and got a good test done. Unfortunately it came back suspicious so they took her right in for an xray of the leg. As i waited an hour in the patient room I did a lot of crying and begging for her xray to be clear. Thank goodness the results came back negative but with a positive aspiration and a negative xray they thought it best to put it to the board of pathologists for review. I would know in a couple of days. I got the call at 3pm yesterday that it is soft tissue sarcoma and only isolated to that one spot. Not a higly spreadable type of cancer i was told and that I could continue now with scheduling her amputation. That they could just take that lump off while she's under for the amputation. However, another cancer diagnosis???? What does this mean for my girl Harlie? Is this a bad sign? Even though it's isolated and can be removed with a 90% chance of not spreading, it made me even more worried as of last night.
I am calling to schedule her surgery for sure today. I know it's the best thing for my girl. But anyone got any thoughts on the 2nd diagnosis and whether or not i should be concerned of it being a cancer diagnosis in her front leg? And do I definitely remove it during surgery or just let it be which was the surgeons second option? Another member mentioned that it may not be a good idea to remove this at time of amputation because she will have enough to worry about with healing from losing her right rear leg. Any advice is much appreciated.
Thank you so much for your time,
Rachel & Harlie
Rachel,
I am really sorry for this bump in your road with sweet Harlie......I have hesitated to post on this subject, but I do believe your situation is entirely different than mine with my Polly. I have had this happen with my precious Polly, and the prognosis was very poor; however, I do NOT want to worry, or alarm you, because my Polly had a very, nasty, aggressive form of cancer that first appeared in her front right leg, then in her right rear leg in about a year. We were dealing with hemangiosarcoma, which typically attacks the spleen first, but for some reason, showed up in her front leg first. We thought we had a fighting chance when it appeared in her front leg, and we did beat the odds for a very long time till it finally showed up in her body. When this ugly cancer did appear on her back leg, she was already going downhill from this crappy thing taking over her internal organs.
If this were me, I would go ahead with the amputation, and once healed, address this second cancer. If it is a localized cancer as the vet believes it is, you may have a few options to deal with it. Others here may have other ideas, or maybe you could post in the Ask the Vet forum, for some valuable insight.
As Sally would say, just take a deep breath, and take one step at a time. Try not to get overwhelmed with all this, I know that can be very hard, but we will help you through this stressful situation. We all do know how scary taking the leg off your best friend can be, but if quality of life is the outcome, then it really is the best decision to make.
Keeping you and Harlie in my thoughts,
Bonnie & Angel Polly
P.S. Talk this over in length with all your vets that are involved with Harlie's care , and there will be a desirable solution to this situation. Also, I agree Harlie needed a brand new comfy bed, and ALL the spoiling you can give her!
Well written Bonnie....and, as always, with compassion and balance and a dose of good advice.
The vet who said NOT to take t off at this time....did he suggest alternative ways to deal with it? Was his thought process also along the lines that a surgery simultaneous with the amputation would make mobility difficult...which makes sense to my untrained- no -medical-background mind!
GEEZ....maybe a third opinion?????
Yo are a wonderful advocate for your girl!! Very strong! I would be so far off the deep end and would have a real l y hard time swimming back to shore. But remember, you are attached to the Tripawd lifeline and we won't let go!
Sending you hugs! And yeah, do that breathing thing...it helps! DEEEEEP. BREATHS IN.....SLOOOOOWLY EXHALE.....BREATHE......BREATHE.......
Sally and Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle
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!
Hi Rachel and Harley!
Like Bonnie I was a bit hesitant to post because I didn't want to scare you however I found the best way to put my words. My doggie Keira just had an amputation due to soft tissue sarcoma. Your vet is absolutely right that it isn't a very aggressive form of cancer. Keira's was about the most aggressive you could get as a soft tissue sarcoma, yet it only progressed within her foot. As long as the tumor is removed before it has a chance to really latch onto things (which at this point it seems good being a small tumor) you are probably free and clear.
I am absolutely no expert on the situation but I say remove the tumor ASAP! Do not let that thing grow and get a hold on. I was not as great an advocate for Keira as you are for Harley and my vet said I could wait a week or two to remove the lump until I got back from a vacation and by that point because hers was so super aggressive it had already gotten a hold onto her tendons. Please do not let this worry you because Keiras was pretty rare with the aggression of her (normally fairly non-aggressive) cancer.
Please just think about her story when you think about whether or not to take off that tumor. Also with having a small tumor removed without amputation I can tell you that she did not limp at all, and really the only recovery was letting her stitches heal. She wasn't even on pain medication for that.
Positive thoughts and please keep us posted!!!
Rachel you're getting some fantastic insight here from folks who have been through a tough situation like this. I can only offer this: when in doubt, get as many opinions as you can. Ask about alternative treatments for the second tumor and how removing it now could affect her mobility challenges after surgery. If it were me I wouldn't want to put my dog through two surgeries in one year, I would just get it done under one anesthesia and take it from there. But that's me, and only you know Harlie best.
You're so right, it IS a tough, upsetting and heart wrenching decision. But remember, that's a human thing; dogs don't care about the what ifs, the future, the odds, they just want to feel better now. You're on the right track.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
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