Hello!

I will say, my dog is not a giant breed, only a large breed, so I can't help you with that angle (although there are quite a few giant pawrents here)... But he does have OA and dysplasia in his rear legs. We elected to do a front amp in March.

Has it put increased stress on his back legs? Yes, a bit. But not enough to make the tradeoff (euthanasia) a better option. He has a bit of a goofy gait (even more than a normal tripod)--but he had that beforehand. It's just goofiER now. I don't think it is diminishing his quality of life--in fact, most of the slowing down and activity modification we've had to do probably would have happened eventually, as he is 13, so no spring chicken. He still goes for (short) walks, utilizes stairs, runs around ("run" is sort of a misleading word :p), etc.

To mitigate things, we did PT, and continue to acupuncture and laser therapy, and we are on tramadol (a low dose) and prednisone (also a low dose) daily. We also take K9 immunity and a glucosamine/chondroitin supplement.

furlichk said
Thank you all for your responses. My girl's name is Lily. When she was 2 years old she ruptured her left cruciate ligament (surgically repaired) and now she has arthritis in both that leg and her right. When she started favoring her right front leg, we were expecting more arthritis, so this diagnosis blindsided us. We live in a small town and our local vet does not recommend amputation because of her arthritis....I'll have to do some research on where I can find a rehab vet for a second opinion. Maybe Michigan State? So far her pain seems to be managed with the Tramadol/Gabapentin/Mobic combo, but the biophosphinate therapy sounds promising, so I'll ask our vet.
This has just been so hard on us. She seems fine except for that stupid bump on her arm. Her chest x-ray was clear. She is so sweet and stoic...I'm worried that she is experiencing more pain than she is letting on. How long did it take your dogs to recover after amputation? We have already built a ramp for her because I was worried about a pathological fracture occurring when she stepped down the stairs. Did you have to get any special medical equipment?

Oh, that sounds like a rough journey for your girl. I am sorry you had to end up here, but I hope you find some answers and support.

We built a ramp for Sampson the night we got his diagnosis (Wednesday), and took him in for the amp the following AM (thursday). He came home on Friday. He had zero interest in the ramp to get on and off the deck, and did those stairs (in the two feet of snow and ice, no less) from day 1. We managed to keep him confined to the first floor for about a week or 10 days, and then he had enough and started knocking down the barricades and going up and down as he pleased.

We never really noticed Sam being in any abnormal pain--he always had a hitchy gait b/c of the arthritis. And he was lumpy b/c he has infiltrative lipomas. So when I noticed the wrist bump, I didn't think much other than "watch it and see". When I finally took him in, the xrays showed there was pretty much nothing left of the bone. I am sure he must have been in tremendous pain...but I didn't realize it.

Honestly, after the first few weeks--which take some adjustment for everyone (actually, probably more for us than him :p)...I think he was so happy to not have the pain in his leg, he was like a new dog. He must have de-aged two years.

Is it all rosy--no...the arthritis does affect him, for sure. But that pain is manageable through meds, PT, acupuncture, and whatnot. His activity level is low, and he has a very odd gait (he usually uses his back legs as a single leg, esp. if he's moving "quickly", more or less...despite all the PT work to get him not to :p), but he is still himself and enjoys life.

It's an individual thing though, for sure, and every case is different. Sampson earned the nickname "philodendron with fur" early on in life. He has NEVER been particularly overeager to exert himself. So not being able to go for long walks or go hiking or sprint around is not a huge loss for him. He's a pretty reserved, stoic guy in general. Everyone's "normal" is different.

Only you can decide what is right for Lily, because you know her best. <3 <3

I've never been on a blog before and I don't know if I'm in the "correct area" but I'm also wondering what to do for my boy-Oscar.  He just turned 6 in march-he's an english mastiff and about 170 lbs.  He was diagnosed in April with hip dysplasia and significant arthritis in both hips.  Started limping a couple of weeks ago and was x-rayed etc.  Got the official diagnosis on tuesday and saw the vets today at the University of wisconsin vet school.  I had initially said,  "no way--I am not amputating his leg"--his tumor is in his right front leg--near the joint.  I thought it was cruel etc.  Last night I couldn't sleep so was on "You Tube" and watching people's stories of how well their dogs were doing after amputation and started to reconsider.  The vets repeated that most dogs do very well and gave me some statistic's (which may help you-furlichk). She said "amputation removes significant pain and once your companion recovers from surgery pain control is usually 100%."  If the limb is amputated, they recommend following up with chemotherapy to "provide the best prognosis".  the drug they give is "carboplatin and it's given 4 to 6 times with three weeks in between.  there can be side effects but typically 20-25 % of animals suffer from them.  this combo can buy (average) 10-14 months.

If the limb is not amputated they would give radiation with one dose per week x 4 weeks; can help with pain control-does not treat the tumor and the disease continues to progress--this buys 4-6 months.  if only treating the tumor with pain medication; survival averages 1-3 months.  

I think I'm going to go ahead with the amputation-basically for pain control.  today when we got home, it had been about 7 hours since his last tramadol and he was miserable.  I don't want his pain to increase and wait for that leg to fracture.  hope this helps you furlichk.  if you are close to minneapolis-you may want to consider ;the vet school at the university.  i think while i was writing this; I convinced myself.  oh-also the cost of amputation here is generally 3 to 4 thousand dollars.  then there is blood work prior to and 10 days after chemo-need to monitor bone marrow suppression and platelet counts.  I don't know what the cost of the chemo is.

Someone also told me "remember that the dog isn't going through all the emotional baggage-they live in the moment and just deal with what is."

Again, hope this helps you- I hope you make your decision and are at peace with it.   

Furlichk--are you in Minnesota? If you are near the Twin Cities area, I'd be happy to meet up with you and talk in person. Not a medical professional at all, but I am happy to share our story and any other support I can.

Hi Lily's Mum,

Mighty Atlas is such an inspiring story, if you get a chance have a look at some of the video on Tripawds of Atlas enjoying life.

Here is another link http://tripawds.....do-it-too/ I found this when I first joined Tripawds and was looking for giant breed Tripawd inspiration. Its of a newfie called Oslo, you can get an idea of how a newfie can cope on three legs.

Then there is my Porthos who had OS in his front right leg. He had TPLO surgery on both knees and arthritis. We were not going to amputate and try to manage his pain but the pain came quick and even though he was on the highest dose of Tramol I could see he was suffering. We decided to amputate against our vets wishes, he walked the same day as his surgery! we put carpet down everywhere so he wouldn't slip over and bought a Help em up harness, this has front and back support, great for giving him a hand to get up (you can literally lift them right of the floor if needed) but he didn't need it that much.

We completely changed his diet to the cancer diet and gave him lots of fish oil and glucosamin chondroitin. We also gave him Boswellia which is suppose to be a great anti inflammatory and pain relief herb. He wasnt on any other pain relief until his last two weeks. 

My boy in action!  He was a giant breed Pyrenean Mastiff, and was seven years old.

When we decided to amputate I said to myself that I need to be able to accept the worse case scenario, which would be that Porthos would not walk again, if that happened then we would euthanize. Or that he may need lots of help getting around and that as long as he was still happy and enjoying life I would be there to help him. He did better than I could have ever imagined. I even would forget he had cancer!

I know you have the extra concern of Lilys age. She may need some extra help getting around and may take a little longer to recover from amputation, or she may bounce right back. Its so hard to know how each dog will be.

Whatever you decide we will be here for you and will offer support where we can.

Thinking of you and Lily,

Amanda & Angel Porthos x