Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat

A hemgiosarcoma diagnosis is about as bad as it gets. But Shadow's hemangiosarcoma bounce-back story shows that even a terrible prognosis can sometimes be wrong.

Today for Tripawd Tuesday, we are thrilled to share his amazing longevity story, as told by his mom Linda. Prepare to be amazed!

Shadow's Hemangiosarcoma Hasn't Stopped Him from Living his Best Bubby Life

Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass…it’s about learning to dance in the rain

Vivian Greene, poet & novelist

That quote describes our sweet Shadow’s approach to his cancer and amputation journey. He is living his best “Bubby” life every single day. He is inspiring to watch. ❤️

Just over two years ago in early 2021, we got a diagnosis that we all dread…Hemangiosarcoma. Shadow our Corgi had been limping for a bit. We are an experienced Corgi family, and given he was only 2 1/2 years old, we assumed that he’d just injured himself playing, as all our crazy Corgis managed to do over the years.

We were devastated when given the terrible news and prognosis of only a few months! We knew we needed to do what we could to alleviate his pain and hope to extend his life, so we moved forward right away with his amputation.

While the recovery was difficult at first (and heartbreaking to witness), Shadow was always a trooper and was back to playing and wrestling with his brother within a couple of weeks. In consultation with his vet, and reading so many stories on this site, we made the decision to start chemotherapy. The first couple of rounds were a little rough on him, but we worked with the vet to adjust his dosage and were more proactive on nausea meds. From then forward he just rolled on like a champ!

Two Year Later, Shadow's Hemangiosarcoma Story Continues!

Fast forward two years….Shadow recently had another series of scans and blood work…and he is still cancer-free! 🎉🥳. The vets are thrilled, as of course are we, as he is a story that gives us all hope.

Some examples below of how Shadow has chosen “…dancing in the rain”

What hasn’t changed?

His voracious appetite (he will eat anything that doesn’t move, as well as a few things that do…like ice cubes sliding by or leaves blowing in the wind).

His fondness of belly rubs.

How he loves to howl at sirens along with his American Eskimo brother (who knew Corgis could howl?!).

But the most consistent thing is the joy with which he wakes up every day, happy to be with his family, squimping loudly (the word we use to describe the gleeful sound he makes when he greets you) for whatever the day may bring (…after a filling breakfast, of course! )

Every story is different and no one can predict the future…

but for now, we are incredibly grateful to still have Shadow as part of our family. We will keep him on the turkey tail mushroom supplements, which have some science behind them as beneficial for his type of cancer. We don’t know if they are part of the reason he is still cancer free, but there is no chance we will stop just in case they are helping!

We will also start him now on some glucosamine, given his long back and short legs likely will get creaky over time. His vets say he’s earned a longer break between his next check up with scans, etc, so he will do that in about 9 months. In the meanwhile, we will give him all the love and fun possible.

We hope Shadow's hemangiosarcoma Tripawd story can give others hope for their beloved pet pals. Give them love, the treatment you feel right and follow their lead. For Shadow, it seems he lives this quote by Abraham Lincoln -

Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.

Abraham Lincoln

Shadow has clearly made up his mind that he should live his best life every day - and our whole family is following his lead 💗.

We are grateful to the people who lead and participate in this forum for all of the support it provides Tripawds around the world!