Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi All,
My sweet girl Sophie is a 10 year old Coon Hound mix with lots of energy. She was just diagnosed with soft tissue sarcoma and also an abdominal mass. We will be having the abdominal mass removed but are trying to find the right path for the sarcoma. It is located on her upper shoulder or elbow I guess you would say. The sarcoma can be removed but the "roots" of it will most likely be impossible to get all of it due to location and how it developed. Radiation is not a viable option due to the only place to get it is out of state and at a huge cost. If we do not amputate, they will remove the tumor and it will return eventually. When they cannot say. The only full proof way of full removal is amputation. The word alone scares the daylights out of me. My Soph loves to run and chase balls. Amputation seems so extreme.
I am unsure what to do. I do not want to ruin her life. My main thing is Soph's quality of life and happiness.
I'm scared I will ruin her life.
Advice is welcomed!
Wanda
Hi Wanda and Sophie, welcome! Your future posts won't need to wait for approval so post away.
I'm sorry you're dealing with not one but two medical situations. Ugh! Are you seeing an oncologist? This is such a tricky situation. Do you know what kind of abdominal mass you are dealing with? Is there any way to find out before you do the mass removal? It would be good to know in case the two tumors are related.
There is a treatment called electrochemotherapy , and also another one called intralesional chemotherapy , that works really well on soft tissue tumors in some dogs. It's not widely practiced in the states, that's the only problem. It's a common procedure overseas, but not here. The cost is similar to amputation but it allows a dog to keep their leg.
Dogs of any age can do great on three if they are otherwise healthy and energetic. Sounds like Sophie is a good candidate for life on three? What does your vet think?
We certainly understand how scary the word "amputation" can be. I remember when my Vet first said the word to me for mu Happy Hannah's osteo, I recoiled and said absolutely not! I had not found this site at the time.
Anyway, long story short, I proceeded and had no regrets. My regret would have been if I had NOT done it.
I have since adopted a front legger Bluetick Coonhound who has been on three at least seven or eight years (unsure of his exact age) and has lived life to the fullest every moment of every day!. I know how energetic non stop and wild and crazy these "hound" dogs can be. While I don't condone some of his wild antics, he counter surfs like a Champ, will get himself into a tall old timey claw bathtub if it thunders before I can close off the bathroom, sleeps in the bed, on the sofa....basically does what he wants when he wants. Sound familiar?
Anyway, just wanted to throw that out there if you need to proceed with amputation to gove uour Sophie THE best chance for extended quality pain free time!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
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 Wanda, So sorry to hear you and Sophie are going through this. I don't have near as much experience as others on here but thought I'd offer you my experience, though it is not the same situation as yours.
My 8ish year old, 75lb shepherd/husky mix had her back left leg amputated a little over 2 months ago. She had a badly broken femur that her vet and the expert the radiographs were sent to for consultation believed was bone cancer. She was still walking on her broken leg! I had only adopted Starla 7 months previous and she loved to go hiking and to the beach and I wanted to give her the best life and everything seemed to be crashing down. I hemmed and hawed about amputation for a week but in the end went with amputation because I couldn't stand the thought of her walking on a femur fx, so painful!
Once we did the amputation, the biopsy results came back and we were so lucky that it wasn't actually cancer. I feel kinda bad for the surgeon who called to tell me the good news because in the moment I wasn't excited, I was worried that I took her leg for no reason but he kindly explained to me that the bone was so unhealthy that there would have been no way to save it anyway.
As she was recovering everyone was telling me she wouldn't be as active, she wouldn't do well in the sand dunes, etc. But she has exceeded my expectations as she recovered. She has to stop to take a rest in the middle of our hikes but otherwise is the same dog she was before. She seems even happier now, even my friends who only see her occasionally have noticed that she seems happier. For our situation, amputation was definitely the best move to improve her quality of life. If you want to read more details on our journey it's in a forum post titled Starla. Oh, and she does just fine in the sand dunes and beach!
I'm glad you are here, hopefully others who have more experience can offer more thoughts and ideas. It's a terrible feeling to have to make these sorts of decisions for our beloved pets who can't offer their own opinions. My advice: gather as much information as you can from those knowledgeable about Sophie's condition. does the sarcoma cause pain? risk spreading to other organs? can anyone help you fund treatments out of area? I ended up having to make a go fund me to pay for Starla's surgery because i couldn't afford it. Was so embarrassed when I first put it up but in less than a week my friends and family had come together to completely cover the cost. It was an amazing feeling and way more than I ever expected, so don't be afraid to ask for help.
and in the end trust yourself to make the right decision for her and you.
Wishing the best for you and Sophie! ~Lucie
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