Hi Callie and Family,

Bo is a 6 year old lab and he is about 6 weeks post amputation of his left front leg. He also had osteosarcoma and we have chosen not to do chemo. We changed his diet to a grain-free diet and added some good supplements (Dasiquin and Catalyst) to it as well. Financially, this is the best we can do for our pup.

The decision to amputate was hard, but it came down to the fact that he was suffering. The day before surgery he was in such pain that he could barely walk out to the car. He came home the day after surgery and ran out of the vet's office, dragging her behind him. Surgery recovery had some ups and downs, but he is doing great now! He is swimming, rolling in the grass, barking at squirrels, maiming squeaky toys...same 'ole Bo! He gets tired a lot faster than he used to and we have to limit is activity a little bit (dogs know no limits!), but the important thing is that he is pain-free. 

I hope every day that we have many more months and years with Bo, but I know no matter how long it is that we made the right decision for our family. It is hard not to wonder what the long term outcome will be, but I am trying to live life through Bo's eyes and simply enjoy the moments that we are in.

Best wishes to you all and keep us posted!

Meghan, Bo & Fam

I did do chemo with my Yoda, but he only had about four months after his amputation and the impression I got from the vet at the time (though that could have been my misunderstanding) was that that chemo drug just didn't take for Yoda's osteosarcoma for whatever reason.  

He was on the short side survival-wise but it was very high in quality for the vast majority of that time.  The first two weeks after the amputation were very difficult, as they generally are.  Medications he was on for his pain made him whine a lot for the first couple days (that's typical of the medications and can be mistaken for pain from the amputation - especially if your vet forgets to warn you of that side effect).  And for a few more days after that he was still a little loopy (turning in circles for no apparent reason) and constipated.  But it was well worth it, because I learned soon after that how much osteosarcoma had been affecting his life and for a lot longer than I had realized.  I took his last four months as an opportunity to make up for the hard time he had been having even before he had started limping.

Months before Yoda started limping, he started refusing to get in the car.  I had to nag him for a long time or pick him up, or act like I was going to pick him up (because he didn't like that) for him to get in.  For the two years or so I had had him prior, he had never been hesitant about getting in the car.  I told his vet at his next vaccination appointment, but she found nothing wrong when she examined him and felt it must be something behavioral.  Now and then he'd get better about getting in the car and I just tried not to worry about it.  From the first day I brought him home from his amputation, he was back to his old self of not hesitating to hop in the car.

Yoda loved to play fetch with the tennis ball.  He rarely if ever caught a ball on the fly though.  I never suspected that could be a symptom of anything, but after his amputation, when we played ball, he'd catch it on the fly lots!

In hindsight, there had been other random brief limping incidents before it became continual, which after months of assuming it was tendonitis, finally got diagnosed as osteosarcoma.  It also explained to me a scuffle that Yoda had had with one of his best dog friends for seemingly no reason.  That dog friend did like to play by mouthing Yoda's legs and I know believe he touched the tumor at that time.

About a month after Yoda's amputation, I took him back to the dog park (results vary - that  may be too soon for some) and he played chase and had a grand time.  He would tire out quicker than before, but he did great and was soooo happy.  We probably went twice a week on average until he became too sick - and when he got that sick there was very little time left anyway.  There was the time he nearly gave me a heart attack because he tried to get himself included in a chase-wrestle game with two Great Danes.  I never would have expected him to do that before.  Park trips were pretty safe for him, because he was not into rough-and-tumble play with other dogs - he just liked to chase and be chased.  He seemed as fast as ever when he ran full out.  Don't know how - that's just the magic of the tripawd.  And I kid you not, he caught a rabbit in the yard less than a week before he had to be euthanized.  He had lung mets by then and was even having issues with loss of appetite, but he was so proud as he prance-hopped around the yard with his dead rabbit (as I tried to get it away from him).  He figured out how to do everything he had done before his amputation - going up and down stairs, chewing a rawhide with only one front paw to hold it down, even chase his tail (though that took the longest).

Anyway, that's my two cents.  I had a great final 4 months with Yoda.  I think I remember even writing a post after 2 months that was all we were going to have, it was worth it.  Because 2 - 4 months was what his regular vet had predicted for him.  But you have a lot of factors to weigh such as finances to consider that you'll just do the best you can with.  I took a pretty big risk opting for chemo with Yoda and just got lucky that I got a new, better paying job just in the nick of time.  If not for that, a couple months later I would have faced being laid off with almost no savings, because of what I spent on vet bills.  By the way, with my second tripawd (due to injury), Gerry, when he needed some major dentistry work done, Care Credit was a lifesaver.  You might want to look into that.  It's really helpful if you just can't pay the whole chunk at once.  It gave me 6 months interest-free (as long as I made monthly payments) to pay off Gerry's dental work.

Good luck!

Oh, and you also asked about how long it took for mets to show up.  Well, for Yoda I think it was around the third month post amputation.  But, there are several tripawds whose people have posted on this site who have done very well for months, even more than a year, I think, even after getting mets.  Though possibly all of them were getting treatments of some kind once mets started, if not before.

Hang in there!  I highly recommend that you keep digging around this site for more info and keep posting if you have more questions.