Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Coco Bear is our 6 year old Border Collie, she was diagnosed with spindle cell cancer on her right rear leg within two weeks over Christmas. Within the first week of January we decided to amputate after exploratory surgery showed the nerve tumor was aggressively wrapped around her achilles tendon. She recovered so quickly! No more pain, bouncing around in the snow, and life was great. Until this week I noticed those grape like bumps were near her incision and she had a soft bump in her groin... I took her in and the vet and I sat in tears on the floor because we knew the cancer had snuck back in. Somehow some rogue little cell had snuck by all of the blood work. To make it even worse, it was the same day our 15 year old pompoo passed away peacefully of old age. Yeah not a good day in our house. I have to children 11 and 15 years old who are very compassionate as all of us are to our animals, they are just more kids, not animals. I'm going back to the vet tomorrow to talk one more time to make sure I heard my options correctly. Unfortunately, none of the options I was given cured Coco Bear. Since the original spindle cell is not very receptive to chemo and radiation my understanding is our choices are to make sure we enjoy every minute we have with her. I just don't want her to be in pain. Where it's at is in her nub and groin so she is playful and mobile. My understanding is it will matasise to somewhere else. If anyone has any advice I am open to any ideas, this appears to be very aggressive since her amputation was only two months ago.
I do want to say thanks to tripawds, I found your site prior to making my decision about amputation, and it definitely has helped along the way.
I'm so sorry to hear about Coco Bear. My heart is breaking for you. I don't know anything about that kind of cancer and I'm glad you are going to retalk to your vet about options. My only advice is to remember that dogs don't think about the future. They live in the present. Enjoy Coco Bear every moment that you can. There will plenty of time to grieve later so don't rob yourself of the time you have together. My thoughts and prayers are with youl
Debra
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.
Oh! How tragic and Coco Bear is so young! I'm so sorry. And I'm so sorry about your pompoo. What a bad, bad day for your family.
Sometimes the cancer is just so aggressive, we have to love them while we can. Now is the time to make some special memories so you will have them to treasure.
I don't have any advice either. But I just want you to know that we will be thinking of you.
HUGS,
Comet's mom
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.
I don't have anything to offer about treatment options, but couldn't pass up the opportunity offer my support. This is a very tough time for you and we are here for you. Enjoy each day you have, regardless of the diagnosis and/or prognosis. You may have many, many more great days.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Coleen,
Welcome to tripawds. I'm sorry you have come to this point with your girl Coco Bear.
It does sound like you are up against a very aggressive cancer. The only suggestion I have (besides what you are doing today in talking to your vet again) is to check out the Tripawds Nutrition Blog. There is lots of conversation there about supplements and diet that may help Coco Bear.
It is unfortunate, but most of us when we go down this cancer path are not able to look for a cure. All we can do is focus on quality for our pups and enjoy every moment we have with them. Some here have been very fortunate and had a long run, myself included. Maggie survived a long time after her amp for mast cell cancer. Unfortunately I have also been where you seem to be now- Mag developed a second cancer which was not treatable- she had only 3 months after that diagnosis.
What I did then was focus on her quality- made sure she was happy and not in pain. We did as much as her health would allow in those three months. They were very intense- but very rewarding months.
But, that being said, one of the things I learned in our two cancer journeys was to stay optimistic and positive until there is a real reason not to be. Mag was given 6 to 9 months after her original cancer diagnosis- and she lived almost 4 years. With her second diagnosis I knew our time was short- but I did not ask for a prognosis. It was all about her those three months- and she had a good quality of life.
Let us know what the vet says today.
Karen and the pugapalooza
p.s. your future posts will not have to wait for moderation as long as you log in- on the very first post from a new member has to wait.
Hi Cocoa Bear and family
So sorry to hear your news. That would be especially hard because doesn't amputation usually cure that particular type of cancer?
My dog Tazzie had OSA, but his mets came as subcutaneous lumps, so sound a bit similar to Cocoa Bear's, except that his lumps popped up at a different site than his amputation (front leg amputation, lumps on the hind right). The main lump (a very large bunch of grapes) grew to be quite enormous before it bothered him. It was extremely aggressive and doubled in size each week.That is not to alarm you, but to help you see that Cocoa can have many good times ahead. It grew to a lemon, orange, grapefruit, melon, well you get the idea. But he was in good form, romping in the park and seeking attention as usual from anyone he could see, right up to the end.
After three months of growth (and I would guess it grew faster than yours will), the pain was starting to be apparent, but he still romped in the park and had fun with people. One night you could tell he was no longer comfortable. The important thing is that our dogs can live well right to the end. It is amazing (and I wish people could do the same). Someone else on this site – I think it was Romeo – has a similar metatastic lump, but it grew much more slowly. (We might have made things worse because originally we tried to remove
the offensive lump, which might end up increasing the blood supply to
the tumour.)
By the way, the oncologist assumed that Tazzie would be riddled with lumps in his internal organs and lungs after I found this subQ lump. We did lots of x-rays and ultrasound, but found nothing. That might have changed by the end, but certainly the vet's expectations for the dog and the dog's behaviour did not match up, which was a great thing.
Our dogs do not read lab reports, thank goodness. In fact, they end up cheering us up when we feel blue about their medical news.
As for what you can do, I found that Power Mushrooms helped Tazzie's energy level tremendously. I think that is what helped keep him in good form even when the lump was so large that it must have been draining his energy. I would have done palliative radiation to try to shrink or control growth of the lump if that was an option where I live (but we only had a lump in one place – radiation might not be an option if we have lumps in different places). We also used metronomics (cytoxan), which is a low-dose daily chemo. Not sure if that made a difference at our stage. The mushrooms were the main aid. Their effects were immediate and others have had nice results from them too.
You can find information on power mushrooms on this website and there should be a link to help you purchase them. The company was great and they arrived quickly, even though I live across the border (Canada).
Cocoa is still a happy puppy now, is that right? If so, try to feel as happy as she does.
Susan
Sorry to hear your at this point of the journey. Unfortunately for us we lost Gus just 3 1/2 months after surgery, but they were good, but the one thing I did that REALLY helped me after he was gone was I went and bought a video camera about 2 months before we lost him, of course at that time I had no idea he would be gone that soon, which made having them even better, but having those to watch showed me we did everything we could for him and he had a good life right up to the end. Good luck, Paws up, Spirit Gus and Dan
My buddy Gus had a left front amputation on April 7, 2010 and lived a great life until July 26,2010
Hi Coleen, welcome and thanks for joining. Sorry to hear about Coco. Please try to remember that she is living with cancer, not dying from it. We recently posted a document with metastasis treatment options in the Tripawds Downloads blog that includes information about osteosarcoma mets, but you may find it helpful.
Jerry lived a happy life on three legs for nearly nine months after we discovered his lung mets. We attribute this primarily to his metronomics and K9 Immunity. Others have reported success using Power Mushrooms. As Karen suggested, you will find more recommendations for diet and supplements in the Nutrition Blog.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Coleen….{{{{Hugs}}}}}}
Wow. What a ruff time, I'm so sorry.
Just remember that no matter what happens when treatment options are presented, just look back to see how Coco Bear handled the amputation and everything else. Try to follow her lead and live life to the fullest no matter what. It's not an easy thing for humans, but it will keep you sane.
There are many pups here who've successfully fought off further metastases after getting a spindle cell diagnosis, including Tripawd Chloe. Here is some good info her Mom posted, and feel free to contact her, I'm sure she would be happy to share what she knows about it.
Please let us know what the vet says.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi friends,
We went to the vet and our news wasn't any different. You know you kind of hope that I missed something when Coco Bear's big brown eye's were staring at me the first time...but we didn't. We put her on some anti-inflammatory meds because she has bumped herself a few times. Her spunky self found a few places around the house that didn't have throw rugs...they do now 🙂 But I do have to say, she has perked herself and the rest of the family up. I think all of us were pretty blue not just cause of her news but also cause we lost our lil' Foxy. She's running around on all three.... making us all laugh, giving us love every day. We have decided to just treasure every moment we have with her. I really appreciate the thought that our puppies don't look into the future only we do and that we have to live for the moment.... that's what I'm focusing on. Thank you for your posts, they have been amazing. I was scrolling through each of them before I went in for our vet visit trying to get a bit of courage. I'm going to hop over to the nutrition blog to read up on the mushrooms...next is to tackle posting a picture....
Thank you so much for the support
coleenl said:
We have decided to just treasure every moment we have with her. I really appreciate the thought that our puppies don't look into the future only we do and that we have to live for the moment.... that's what I'm focusing on.
Whenever you get down, just remember that to Coco Bear, the only important thing is right here, right now. Put off those sad thoughts for another time, long in the future. The time you have together today is all that matters.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
jerry said:
Whenever you get down, just remember that to Coco Bear, the only important thing is right here, right now. Put off those sad thoughts for another time, long in the future. The time you have together today is all that matters.
This is the most important lesson we can ever learn. And then putting it into practice when things are on a downturn is still amazingly difficult. Thanks for the reminder.
Shanna & Spirit Trouble ~ Trouble gained her wings 3/16/2011, a 27 1/2 month cancer survivor, tail wagging. RIP sweetheart, you are my heart and soul. Run free at Rainbow Bridge.
The November Five - Spirits Max, Cherry, Tika, Trouble & Nova. 11/2008 - 3/2013 An era ends as Queen Nova crossed the Bridge.
Hi Coleen,
As Jerry said, Chloe too was diagnosed with spindle cell sarcoma (June 2010). Luckily amputation cured her, well as far as we know anyway... I too worry at times that a tendril snuck past, lying in wait to make its move.
Before Chloe underwent amputation, her vet informed us of options for treating the cancer with chemo and radiation, but made the same prognosis yours did. They are not guarentees for anything. This is partly due to the fact that spindle cell sarcoma is a rare type of cancer, therefore less studied and conventional methods for treating cancer in general (chem and radiation) are not necessarily the best ways to stop it.
But you, like myself, opted to forego these leg preserving procedures in hopes that we could nip the cancer in the butt (so to speak). Leg gone, cancer gone right? Problem solved yes? What you are going through, what you are facing, you should know that you have done all that you can do. No shoulda coulda wouldas because you made a well informed decision, but life isnt always fair. And in the meantime, you are enjoying your time with Coco Bear and making sure you make the most of it, which is something I admire and wish you the best of luck with.
-Chloe's mom
P.S. I have never seen what spindle cell tumors/nodules look like in other dogs. If you look at Chloe's leg below the knee, you can see a lump protruding from her "calf". It was extremely hard to notice since fur grew over it... Was just wondering if Coco Bear's looked similar or not.
Chloe became a rear amp tripawd on 7-29-10. Another tumor was removed on front leg 2-20-14. Found 3rd tumor on neck 2-2015, but she's still kicking cancer's butt at age 14. Chloe's blog
I'm sorry the news wasn't better about Cocoa Bear. But I am happy you can smile.
I know it's not much to offer but at least you have the opportunity to take more pictures and videos and enjoy some extra special quality time.
Sometimes we get busy with life and don't do it and regret it later. Almost every time I've lost my dogs and including family, I never saw it in advance. It was sudden. I learned my lesson with Comet and took as many pictures as I could. I even video taped the most mundane details of her life. And in the end, she too died suddenly without warning. I have hours of videos and hundreds of pictures that I have. It will take me a long time to get through them but I have them and they are priceless.
Many hugs -
Comet's mom
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.
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