Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Wow! A huge bear right close ... Honor has such a brave Mom! I could never keep hold of the leash in that situation. And all you could think about was his leg. Glad you are both safe and that Darcy is doing well.
Oh my goodness! The adventures you and Honor take when just going on a jaunt are....er....exciting to say the least!!. So glad everyone was safe, including the Bear!
And Darcy is home healing comfortably and, so far Ho or has no negative reaction to chemo.....all good news!
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!
I’m finding myself on the fence about cementoplasty. The vet at UF and Bioceravet both reviewed Honor’s xrays and said he is a good candidate.
The potential benefits/risks the Dr gave me have me struggling though and I think you’ll see why. I’ve listed below.
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the potential benefits: pain relief, mechanical structure for longer period which can reduce risk of fracture (they don’t know for how long)
the potential risks: earlier fracture and infection, no amelioration of pain.
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I’m not even sure how to make a decision based on that. I do know I’d feel terrible if I did this procedure trying to improve things for him and it actually made things worse. They actually have to inject the product through healthy bone which makes me nervous. Yet, there is the potential to make things better for him and reduce risk of fracture. For the past couple days, his walking has not been good. It seems like he has periods of doing a little better then worse and right now we’re on the worse side of things where the head bob is back as he walks. He hasn’t had any running incidents or done anything unusual.
It's awesome he's a good candidate.
Try to remember that there are risks to any medical procedure, from teeth cleaning to spaying and beyond. Life itself has no guarantees. Decisions are required for everything, and sometimes they don't work out, sometimes they do. Nobody has a crystal ball.
What is important is that Honor's pain gets addressed as soon as possible. That head bob is excruciating pain because he is altering his gait to get off that painful leg. I know exactly what you are describing, we recognized it as a pain sign in our Jerry far too late and to this day, I still feel terrible that we waited so long.
Whatever procedure you go forward with, if you do it knowing that you are doing it to help Honor, there is going to be a lot less guilt than if you wait so long it becomes a critical situation.
If it will help I can connect you with the vet and pet parent interviewed in our Cementoplasty discussion. Just let me know.
In this case, I fully understand why this is a hard decision to make. The pros and cons should not effectively cancel each other out.
If you do not opt for the cementoplasty, would you move forward with amputation? It sounds like Honor needs something to alleviate the pain he is in.
I'll also echo Jerry - life is not without risk. Whatever you chose to do, remember you are doing it with Honor's best interests at heart. There is no "right" course of treatment here. In times like this, I think "right" is whatever you can live with the easiest.
I guess this has been the question all along as you think about alternatives to amputation
Mischief said;
If you do not opt for the cementoplasty, would you move forward with amputation? It sounds like Honor needs something to alleviate the pain he is in.
Another great point by Mischief;
The pros and cons should not effectively cancel each other out
One certainly with amputation, 100% guaranteed he pain is removed permently.
I guess the radiation treatment had to help some as I doubt he could go all these months with bone cancer and not succumb completely to the pain.by now. But it looks like maybe it has run it's course and is no longer effective.
You have checked out every possible alternative and have done more research than humanly possible for most human veings👍 You deserve a standing ovation for that!
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!
Jerry, if you could connect me with that dog’s parent and maybe the vet too that would be very helpful! I also sent an email with some questions to CSU since they have been doing cementoplasty.
I guess I’m leaning towards trying it pending what else I find out. I do feel like I’ve been in that horrible state of indecisiveness again where I end up paralyzed. His 3rd chemo is Sept 22 so it would probably make sense to do it shortly before that if I could get him on the schedule. Sally, yes, he’s still even now doing better than he was before the radiation. Things were getting so bad so quickly that I have to think he definitely wouldn’t have made it this long if I hadn’t done radiation or amputation. He hasn’t been holding that leg off the ground or anything like he was before. Yet, he strongly favors his good leg and things are especially bad whenever he first gets up from laying down for some reason.
Mischief, I guess my thinking is try the cementoplasty first, see if it helps then if things continue to get worse, we would need to amputate….assuming his chest xrays are still clear. They haven’t been redone since the end of July when he had the radiation. I’m nervous to have them done but should probably ask if we could sometime soon.
I do have the cementoplasty scheduled. They will do pre-op testing on the 20th. This will be chest xray (which I’m extremely anxious about), leg x-ray and bloodwork. If all checks out ok, the procedure will be on the 21st. I was surprised to find they have to keep him overnight after the procedure 🙁. For some reason, I had it in my head he could come home same day. The staying overnight makes me feel like it’s a more major procedure than I had told myself it was. I booked a hotel in the area and will also stay the night they have him there. It’s only a little over 2 hrs away, but I’d rather be nearby in case of any issue. Unfortunately, the fact he has to stay overnight meant I had to reschedule his 3rd chemo which had been set for 22nd. They moved it to the 25th. He is already on a low dose and a 4 week schedule so I kind of hated to push it out further but thinking 3 days shouldn’t affect much?
I know that anyone who has a dog in this boat probably gets nervous about chest xrays but I feel especially apprehensive because
1. he has had that on and off cough (since right before radiation). It goes away for long periods but then happens again. It sounds like he has something stuck in his throat when he does it.
2. he had that area on his CT scan before radiation that had required a 2nd look and that we never got a definite on what it actually was and
3. He has been panting/breathing very fast at times…not after exercise or anything.
Each of those things can, of course, have a different explanation but it’s hard not to be paranoid.
The coughing, hacking, could simply be an acid reflux type thing or even just a throat irritation from off and on allergies, etc. Same thing for the painting.
Yeah, that surgery didn't sound like an in and out surgery to me so I'm not surprised at all that they're keeping him overnight. How many of these surgeries have they done and what have been the results?
As always, wishing the very best for sweet honor, whatever that might be.
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!
Well, that’s the other thing. Honor will be only the 2nd dog having this surgery at UF….with this product anyway. The Dr said the other dog is doing well but I think she just did it week before last. With the other product, I don’t think they have done many. The risk of thrombus from cement breaking off/leaking and getting lodged in heart or lungs) was something like 7 percent…which I felt was too risky. They haven’t had that complication with this product. I hope I’m not making a mistake. What I’m hoping for is that it will provide some structural support and a decrease in pain.
When I was planning on Ellie getting the MIMIC surgery they were going to keep her overnight, not so much because she needed it, or that the surgery was extreme, but because the procedure is new and they want to keep an eye on her because of that. He stated that he plans on it being an outpatient procedure in the future.
I'm curious if that might be the same in this case. It's a newer procedure in general and then a even newer product so an abundance of caution is warranted, not because it's harder on Honor.
There are no mistakes here, you are making the best decision you can with the information you have.
Thanks Whitney. Yes, maybe that is the reason. I guess it’s good he will be monitored but I really hate the thought of him undergoing such a stressful night and, when you’re in this situation, it’s hard to give up even one day/night of being with them.
Unfortunately, the FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt for those who haven’t read the amazing Be More Dog book) is hitting full force this morning.
This was not helped by CSU responding to my email with questions about cementoplasty telling me they don’t do it there. I had found something on their website which had made me think otherwise, which is why I had reached out to them. So, this concerns me.
And, this morning, I was watching him walk and he doesn’t seem bothered and wanted to keep going. I will post some video. I keep worrying that, in my effort to improve things, I could make matters worse.
(((hugs))) Please know that you are doing everything possible to help him. That leg is not going to stay structurally sound forever, making that decision and taking a big leap of faith with the treatment you've decided on is a move in the right direction.
Seven percent is a very, very low risk. Keep in mind that this procedure is done on humans all the time. It's only new to the canine/veterinary world. Dogs and humans share so much in common physiologically that there's no reason why he cannot do as well as Colt (the dog in our podcast), or any human who's had it, for that matter. The more dogs like Honor who get it done, the more common it will be in the vet world. You and he will be groundbreakers in vet med!
I did send an email to Colt's vet on Sunday, and asked her to see if his mom will reach out to you.
Yes I know the stress of x-rays is really heavy. Just keep reminding yourself that there is no point in worrying about things that have not, or may not, happen. Right here and now, that's where your mind needs to be for Honor.
(p.s. thank you for reading our book, I hope you're enjoying it 
)
What of you wrote down the pros and cons of this.....then the pros and cons of amputation? Include in that outline the pros the Specialiss have said in each scenario as well as the cons. I know there are very few dogs who have had the cementoplasty.....not sure what that says about the procedure, good or bad.
Would also want to make sure that, if you go down this path, that the previous radiation treatment has done nothing to interfere with the bone structure in any way. Not sure if that question even makes sense.
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!
benny55 said
What of you wrote down the pros and cons of this.....then the pros and cons of amputation? Include in that outline the pros the Specialiss have said in each scenario as well as the cons. I know there are very few dogs who have had the cementoplasty.....not sure what that says about the procedure, good or bad.Would also want to make sure that, if you go down this path, that the previous radiation treatment has done nothing to interfere with the bone structure in any way. Not sure if that question even makes sense.
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Great advice Sally! And yeah I'm curious to know if radiation therapy has some impact on cementoplasty. Good question!
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