Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

Leah, at age 10, was diagnosed March 12, 2015 with peri-articular histiocytic sarcoma in/about her elbow. She had her left front leg amputated on March 17th and then completed five rounds of chemo (CCNU). Leah did great until September, when she began to show symptoms again of not eating. Tests revealed an enlarged spleen with nodules. A splenectomy was performed in October to give her relief from pain and to slow down the cancer. Cells in the spleen were also histiocytic sarcoma and a second round of chemo with doxorubicin with a bisphosphonate, zoledronate, were started. We were blessed to spend a final holiday season with Leah. In early February 2016 it became obvious that we could no longer prolong the inevitable. We knew histiocytic sarcoma was aggressive from the beginning. On February 4th, we let Leah go - free of pain and all suffering.