Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Most mast cell tumors are on the surface i'm told. Our 11y/o cocker has a mast cell deep inside of her front leg . Our Vet recommends amputation. Most of the cancer related amputations i'm reading about on these forums are about bone cancer. Are mast cell cancers worse? Will amputation even give us more time than if it were a bone cancer? anyone else have a tripaw that had/has mast cell?
Hello and welcome to Tripawds. I'm sorry you are facing this decision- but you have found a very supportive community here.
You are right that most here are dealing with bone cancer, but there are a few of us here who dealt with amputation due to mast cell cancer. You can read about my tri-pug Maggie's story in her blog. There is also a page there that details her amputation and chemo treatments. Maggie lost her left back leg to a MCT.
Also check out Roxy the boxer's blog. She is a front amp due to mast cell cancer loving life over a year past her amp.
You should also read through Jerry's Required Reading list- it is a compilation of information from this site on what to expect from amputation, recovery, and cancer treatment.
As far as mast cell being worse than OSA- it is really a function of how if the cancer has spread at time of diagnosis, if it has spread. In our case Maggie was given 6 to 9 months after amputation with chemo. She lived almost 4 years and did not die from mast cell cancer.
Is your vet recommending some pre surgery tests to see if there are signs of mets anywhere else? That is what I did before I decided on amputation. I had no real option once the tumor in her leg was diagnosed. It was too large and to involved in the tissues of the leg to be removed. Amputation gave her a chance at a longer life.
It is all about what you think is best for your pup. If you make your decision with her best interest at heart you won't be wrong. We are here to help with what ever decision you make.
You can use the Private Message system here to contact me if you want to talk more.
Karen and the pugapalooza
p.s.- as long as you log in your future posts will not have to wait for moderation- only the very first post from a new member has to wait.
Rio's mom has also recently started blogging about Mast Cell Tumors and Amputation.
Welcome and thanks for joining, please keep us posted about your dog. What's her name?
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi! Roxy's mom here.
I don't know if anyone could say that MCT is "better" or worse than osteosarcoma. It's a completely different beast. Both are agressive, but I guess the main difference is there usuallly isn't pain involved with MCT I don't think. But with your pup's being deep in the tissue I guess there probably could be some pain. Is there?
I think a lot of pawrents of dogs with osteosarcoma choose amputation mostly to get rid of the pain, but alos hope that it will give their pup extra time. For those of us with MCT its usually just wanting to give them more time. But just like with everything else, sometimes it works and unfortunately sometimes it doesn't. There just aren't any guarantees.
I know when we were facing this last year there really isn't a lot of good information out there, just some depressing statistics. If you've read those statistics my advice is to process it and then throw them out the window and realize your dog may not be one! Just look at tri-pug Maggie who lived almost 4 years! Or my dog Roxy who really didn't have a good prognosis because hers was Grade III, but she's here over a year later. I know every day could be the last good day she has, but so far she's still here, she's so happy, and she makes us laugh all the time. Her life is good on three legs.
Like Karen, I had as many tests as was reasonable done before I made the decision to amputate. Bloodwork, x-rays, ultrasound of the abdomen, and biopsy of the liver and spleen. I knew that if they all came back negative there was still a chance that the cancer had spread and we just weren't seeing it. But I also knew I had done everything I could to make sure I had the best information possible.
Again, like Karen said, it's all about what you think is best for your pup. Only you know what's best for your family. But we wanted you to know that there are some MCT dogs who have good lives on three legs.
Leslie
Welcome to Tripawds! Sorry to hear about your pup. As you had said, not many here have had to deal with MCT.
Skyler had a MCT on her right rear leg. She wasn't in any pain (that we could tell), so we had her leg amputated to give her a chance. Her stage was III, and the prognosis was 1 year. After the amputation, we did chemo once a week for 8 weeks, which was vinblastin. She also took cytoxin & prednizone by tablet. She had no side effects from the chemo, and seemed to be doing well. Unfortunately, she only survived 3 months. The cancer had spread to her spleen and other areas. I don't mean to scare you, just wanted to state the facts.
Every dog/situation is unique. As many others have said, there is no date stamp on our tripawd's butt. Decisions are made based on love for our pets, with the information we have at the moment. In other words, we have no regrets that we had Skyler go through the amputation and all. It was quality of life for her, albiet a short one. Do your homework, ask the doctors lots of questions, and there is alot of great info on this site for you to read.
We are all here for you! Please keep us posted. Sending you lots of golden hugs!
Cathy/Jane/Spirit Skyler/Chloe
It is strange that I am finding this post now, since just yesterday we had our 5 yr old black lab mix's right hind leg removed do to an MCT that was too entwined in her lower leg tissue to be removed. She is up and doing well and will hopefully be home tomorrow.
Before we decided to have her leg removed, we had did an ultrasound of her stomach (no tumors seen), had her spleen biopsied (clean) and the lymph node about her tumor checked (cells present). That lymph node was removed along with the rest of her leg so we are hoping it hadn't moved beyond there. Her tumor is being checked now for what grade it was but the plan is to treat daily with a chemo pill (can't recall name) and prednizone for at least a year.
There aren't any guarantees in this but we hope it will allow Clementine to live a long, full life.
Hi Short 1- welcome to you as well. Please consider registering and becoming a member here, that way your posts will not have to wait for moderation.
I hope you had a chance to look at my Tri-pug Maggie's blog- Clementine's diagnosis sounds a lot like Mag's.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Everyone thank you for your replies. Let me share a little more about our dog. Her name is Sadie and she is a 11 y/o cocker an extremly lovable dog. Back in october she jumped from our couch and wacked her front leg on the coffee table. A small knot formed but she didnt limp and did not act like it bothered her but we had it checked out to see if she fractured it she had not but the knot never went away and after a few weeks started to grow. Now she's limping and something is wrong so back to the vet and it was aspirated (spl?) the vet found mast cells (or what ever it is they see in the microscope that determines mast cell tumors). We opted to have it removed immediatly the doctor told us then that because it was within the deep tissue it would be unlikley they could get it all but it was early enough they would try. after the surgery she was fine for several weeks and we thought we had it all but soon another lump started about an inch from the first one. This one was growing very fast and causing her pain we had it removed also. things seemed alright but now the entire leg was beginning to swell and soon she was limping badly again. The doctor recommended amputation but first we had to see if it had already spread to other areas. As anyone who has been around cockers can confirm older cockers do tend to get lots of warts and sometimes fatty masses all over their bodys (not all cockers but alot of them do). We inspected her entire body and had all the fatty masses aspirated and warts checked out so far she is clean. This would be the time to check out x-rays, ultra sound, bloodwork and all of that stuff too but we feel there is no time! this thing has completly engulfed her lower leg and is causing the radius and ulna bones to seperate, it's causing her alot of pain she she just kind of drags it around now. It dosent even take a doctor to tell you that there is no way they could go in and scrape it all out. It would remove half of her leg anyway! She will be having it amputated on thursday and following recovery then we are going to talk about chemo and what other things we can do. unfortunatly our budget is going to be a big factor, already is and our vet knows this. We have termendouse faith in her and we know she is doing all that she can to steer us right without breaking us with expenses that will be redundant.
I hope we are doing the right thing here.
Thanks for sharing more about Sadie.
Don't feel bad about worrying about your budget. It would be nice if cost were no option in these situations but the reality of it is that it does matter. All you can do is do the best you can for Sadie and have no regrets.
If you haven't already you should check out the Tripawds nutrition blog here. Lots of ideas on diet and supplements that might help Sadie.
I hope you had a chance to look at Maggie's and Roxy's blogs. I did chemo with Mag, but Roxy has not had chemo and is still kicking over a year after her amp.
I learned with Maggie that you stay positive and optimistic until there is a real reason not to be.
I'll be thinking about you guys on Thursday. Good luck with the surgery- let us know how it goes.
And again- feel free to send me a PM if you want to exchange more information or experiences.
Karen and the pugapalooza
Hi Kilosam and Short1,
I'm just now catching up on your Sadie and Clemtine's situations. What a coincidence that you are both going through this at the same time. Wow.
I hope everything goes well for both of you and that you keep kickin' butt like Roxy is and Maggie did for so long. Good luck with the surgery Sadie. Fear not, I know you have it in you to do great on three legs!
Oh one more thing...always remember that the only "right" decision is the one that works for your pack. As long as you make decisions based on love and what will give all of you the best quality of life together, that's all that matters. We are here for you no matter what you decide to do for treatment and stuff OK?
Please keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Well i've spent some time reviewing Rio and Roxy, and Maggies blogs and I must say I am encouraged that we can come through this in good shape. I'm still nervous because tomorrow is the big day but we are trying to be optimistic. I thought of a couple of questions that maybe someone can comment on.
1. We have two other cockers (healthy) and we are concerned with their interaction once Sadie comes home and is recouperating. We have a small collapsable temp kennel to keep her seperated if necessary, and also prevent her from trying to jump up on furniture by herself while she is healing. While only on rare occasions in the past we've had to break up little spats, they are not super good buddies they more or less just kind of tolerate each other and Sadie will be at a great disadvantage obviously. We've arranged to have some time off from our jobs (half day shifts) but we will have to eventually go back to work.
2. if i know us we're going to be tempted to spoil her rotten while she's healing. We know better than to overdo it but i think you guys know what i mean. any advice reguarding pack member jelousy or things we absolutly must not do?
thanks all of you for all of your encouragement and well wishes
Depending on the pack interactions I would keep them separate at first. Sadie isn't going to be herself when she comes home and might feel vulnerable. I had my Dad keep Maggie's little sis Tani for the first few days- but that was mostly for my sanity. When we re-introduced them Tani attacked Maggie. It was a alpha dog thing- Maggie had always been alpha- but I think Tani sensed a weakness. Maggie put her in her place and we didn't have any other trouble. Maggie was also a slug during recovery so I didn't have to worry about her overdoing it.
I think we are in the minority- there was a forum topic about how the rest of the pack responded to a new tripawd and I think most did fine.
Again- good luck with the surgery tomorrow.
Karen and the pugapalooza
The one thing you must absolutely do is act act as though life is perfectly normal, if you want life to be normal that is. Be a strong balanced pack leader to let your dogs know all is well! These posts may help answer some of your questions...
How Do Canine Siblings React to New Tripawds?
Tripawds News Blog
video post, September 24th 2010
Tripawd Siblings – Feeling Left Out, Depression, etc.
Tripawds Hopping Around Forum
Use the search button above to search the forums , and search all blogs here.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I've been wondering about you guys.
I think keeping them mostly separated is a good idea too, at least until you figure out how they are going to act around each other, and especially if there's no supervision.
And like Admin said, you have to act normal. It's natural for you to want to baby Sadie, after all she's going through a big time surgery. But she will feed off your emotions. So if you're anxious and sad, she will be anxious and sad. Be happy around her, talk to her as if she's all fine, and leave the room if you get emotional. Come back strong. Your next couple weeks are going to be tough more than likely, a lot of ups and downs. If you read through Roxy's first couple weeks I'm sure you saw that. But it really is amazing how they seem to all of a sudden just be their old selves again.
Come here for anything, questions, worries, or just venting. We'll help you through it.
Leslie
Update
X-rays have revealed that the cancer has spread to Sadie"s lungs. We will not be going through with the amputation. We are going to go ahead with chemo and pain management in hopes of buying a little time and maybe halting the tumor in her leg to lessen the pain. My wife and i are heartbroken but we are determined to fill her remaining time with as much quality as possible. She is showing no outward signs of illness with the exception of the limping, good appetite, no incontinence, alertness. These things may come but until they do it's going to be one day at a time and maybe a few steak dinners.
thank you everyone
Kevin
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