Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Yet again Ophelia has melted my heart with all her delightful personality and gentle spirit
She clearly does love kids and goodness knows they love her! She has made an impression on the that they will carry with them all through adulthood. When they have kids of their own they’ll tell the story of this loveable three legged dog who inspired the with her courageous and loving heart ❤️
We all know how easy it is to jump to worst case scenarios on this journey, Hoever, it does sound like Ophelia is just dealing with some arthritis. The vet who did the procedure today seem to confirm that, not only in the leg he was there to treat, but in the other leg and joints too.
Buer you have to alternate the carprofen, but if this injection works it may not be a big deal at all. I had forgotten that Ophelia was on Palladia. A lot of dogs aren’t able to stay on it without strong side effects. So good for Ophelia for continuing to be extraordinary in so many ways!!
Jist curious, how does Ophelia seem to feel about these Vet visits, more scans, etc? Is she has laid back as I woud think or does she tend to dread them now? Shej has such a gentle spirit I sure she has all Vets and staff giving her all sorts of love and attention.
Thanks for the Ophelia fix👍 As always, made day❤️
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy 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!
Thank you. I think that i freaked myself out earlier.
Yes, i think that Ophelia has made an impression on a lot of people during her life. She’s just great with kids too.
She is okay with vet visits but get nervous when she has to leave me. Like when they take her from the room that we are on to do x-rays, or like the procedure today. But from what i hear, as soon as she is away from me, she’s just fine. I’m sure though that she’s nervous. She’s been through a lot. I am trying to keep that in mind and don’t want to subject her to too much. Certainly there will eventually come a time when the vet visits no longer serve a purpose.
So Glad Ophelia did well. I hope you see improvement in her mobility in a couple of days. I read as soon as 48 hours and up to 3 weeks. I'm sure the pain management & onco will come up with what she can take on those days to help. You have an excellent care team for Ophelia.
Thats one thing about this site, or any googling for that matter. When we have an issue, we tend to read the worst-case scenarios. Yes, that is possible, but I can only ditto Sally and what your vet team is seeing and x-rays are showing thus far. I also know that fear. Try to live each day without C clouding your days. Right now, you have evidence its arthritis, and prayers the Spryng helps, and from what I read about it, BE HOPEFUL it will be her miracle. If the scan will help you and Ophelias move furward, then proceed, but do try to live each day w/o C it will rob every gifted day you have. It takes a lot of work, but follow Ophelia's lead.
Oh, Ophelia and the kids, thanks for the smile!!!
Happy Thanksgiving, and hopefully, Ophelia will get some turkey.
Hugs and smooch to Ophelia please
💝💝💝
Oh my gosh she is such a good dog! Not a lot of pups would be so calm around a giggly group of kids. She left such an impression on them, what a great ambassador! Love the snoring video, she's just adorable.
She's getting the best care for her aches and pains. I can't wait to find out how the Spryng works for her. I asked Nellie's vet about it and am waiting to hear back. What's the cost for the treatment? I'd love a baseline for comparing it to up here in Alaska.
I'm sorry you had to have two appointments at CSU. Ugh! Good to know about that. Did they explain what the first consult is for, what it will go over?
As for whether or not her symptoms can mean anything, that's so hard to say without the CT scan. Don't make yourself nuts looking at other cases like Whitney and Ellie's. Yes, things like that do happen and they are so heartbreaking. Generally they happen very, very fast without much warning. But don't let the fear and worry (and time spent googling those possibilities) consume you. That's the only way cancer can win. Focus on the here and now, and having a great time with your amazing Ophelia!
What an amazing girl to be so patient with all of those kids surrounding her! I feel badly for their parents as they probably all went home begging for a Saint Bernard. 😂. I know I would have as a child.
I had never heard of Spryng! Very interesting. That’s something else I will ask about. It sounds like maybe that one requires an orthopedic specialist? I hope the procedure goes well and that it provides her with more comfort.
We are checking in to see how is Ophelia doing. We are hoping you are seeing significant improvement since her Spryng.
Hugs & smooch to Ophelia please!
Hi everyone. Unfortunately i don’t have a ton of time so this update will be brief and to the point.
@Jerry - the Spryng procedure wasn’t cheap. For her initial evaluation plus x-rays of her hind legs and remaining forelimb, and the products itself, it was just under $2500. Another reason why i am a big proponent of pet health insurance.
@Eustacia - i hope that you’re doing better now that some time has passed. To answer your question, no, it doesn’t require an orthopedic doc. Just a vet who is trained with the procedure. The one i used is a pain management specialist.
Ophelia is showing improvement day by day. She went for a check up with the doc who did the procedure and he said that she appears to be stronger than when she first came in. I agree. He also told me that we still have a couple of weeks where we can see more improvement.
THIS concern just came up for me over the past couple of days. I was always suspicious of how quickly Ophelia’s lameness came on. The pain doc told me that it is quite possible for arthritis to do this. Plus, Ophelia had a couple of falls between mid October and the weekend we went to Vail where i really noticed her lameness and lethargy. Did the falls cause the arthritis to flame up, or did the arthritis cause the falls? No one knows of course.
But i began to do a little research a couple of nights ago and found that something called “shifting lameness” CAN BE a side effect of the drug Palladia. “Shifting lameness” is described as being similar to growing pains in a puppy. Lethargy can also be a side effect, which is had already known.
After reading this, i decided to go back and do a timeline of when we began with the Palladia and when she fell, and when i noticed a difference in her stamina and pain level. Besides one fall that I’m pretty sure predated the Palladia, everything else occurred after about 2-3 doses of the Palladia, and got worse after about three weeks on the drug.
I have not yet mentioned this to either the pain management doc or her oncologist but I’ve made the decision to stop the Palladia for the time being to see if she reverts back to her stamina and mobility levels prior to mid-October. If she does, the question will then be if that is a result of the Spryng treatment or removing the Palladia. I will cross that bridge if we get to it but I’d probably add the Palladia back in to see if she then goes back to having pain symptoms.
The downside to this of course is that i feel like I’m not treating for the strong possibility of metastasis of her cancer. However, her quality of life has to be the priority. The Palladia was being used to try and beat back something that may not occur due to the other treatments that she’s already received, ie, the ELIAS immunotherapy. That may be wishful thinking, but i still think that her quality of life has to be the priority regardless.
I am curious what others would choose here. I’m definitely questioning my decision. I am almost positive that her doctors would all agree with me but I’m almost afraid to ask.
here is a video of Ophelia after a trip to the park. 🙂
Im thrilled you, and the vets are seeing improvement each day. That's huge, and yes, there is more to come.🙏🏻
Our vet and I are big on logs, keeping track of meds and jotting down how the day went—food, meds, supplements, anything relevant to the day, and how it was. So you can better see over the course and pinpoint things. It's helpful for you and the vet.
My input is - QOL is always #1 no if and or butts about it. When QOL suffers, we must stop and think about our goal. Are we attacking C with all we have, regardless of how Ophelia is doing? No, it's all about QOL, and yes, we want to continue to kick. C's arse, but there are lines to draw when QOL is affected. We want Ophelia to be happy and live fully, with or without C.
You have given it your all and then some! MAYBE it's time just to be? We can throw everything at C and still lose this battle; we don't want to lose QOL.
I would talk to the vet and let them know you have stopped the Palladia and the WHY and get their input, knowing you have the final say, regardless of the feedback you do get. I would keep them in the loop. If you have this discussion with them, you won't second-guess yourself later.
Thats my thoughts; we support you on whichever path you decide is best for Ophelia.
Thanks for the update, and smooch Ophelia's sweet mug for us, please
Holly, Purrkins, and Saxton in the sky💫
💝💝💝
On my last visit I told the oncologist "The definition of Quality of Life in all these studies is not consistant because people define QOL very differently. I am not interested in turning Nicholas into a dog that just manages to eat and eliminate. My standards for QOL for Nicholas are VERY high." A little on the obnoxious side but it worked! No more arguments from her about my cutting down on dosages. Just saying.... love to Ophelia. She's lucky to have you.
You are doing the right thing putting Ophelia's quality of life first and foremost. I know cancer makes that a much more complex equation than it would otherwise be. You have good reasons and intentions with this decision.
Dittos everyone. Holly really expressed what would be "my thoughts" too.
I think I mentioned earlier that msny dogs have to get off of Palladia because of side effects. I don't recall specifically what they were but your observation and research about the lameness is quite interesting. Keep in. mind that certainly are no guarantees with Palladia anyway. You are doing a good job of figuring out how to connect the dots back to Palladia if that is a cause and effect of the lameness.
Anyway, glad that there seems to be some improvement since she had the injection. Of course, seeing her video will always be the best part pf any posts you make.😎
Yes, you will always make the right decisions for Ophelia and you will always have our support with any path you take.
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 also wanted to add my reasoning for telling the vets about stopping Palladia. Our vets need to know what we are doing to do their job helping Ophelia and for any labs that will be needed in the future. I would hate to see you get in a position where you don't tell them, and then you HAVE to! We need to be a team with our vets for our animals, and that doesn't mean doing all they suggest. It's about having conversations and making informed decisions together as you have been doing and what's best for Ophelia. It may mean pushing back, too. You have a sense and a nagging about the Palladia; thats your gut instinct. LISTEN to that.
They would appreciate an honest discussion, making their job easier. They KNOW you want the best for Ophelia. You are NOT done fighting C a by stopping the Palladia. You are fighting C daily and have gone after it with all you have. As you said, this is preventative, and it's not like this drug is 100%; the other measures you have done have a better shot at kicking its arse Super Stu lived four years and ten months with amputation and chemo; he did not do palladia or immunotherapy, for example. No one has the crystal balls here. What timeline any of us get is a crapshoot. That's the biggest lesson we all learn: making the most of the time, we are gifted.
The definition of Quality of Life in all these studies is not consistant because people define QOL very differently. I am not interested in turning Nicholas into a dog that just manages to eat and eliminate. My standards for QOL for Nicholas are VERY high." A little on the obnoxious side but it worked!
Love this well said!!
I AGREE 1000%, and I disagree on obnoxious;) There is no such thing on QOL
hugs
Hello everyone. It’s been a while since I’ve posted and have to make this one fairly short. Hope everyone had a great holiday.
Ophelia is doing really well (knock on wood). she is now at 6 1/2 months since diagnosis and a little more than 6 months since amputation.
She seems to have regained some of the mobility that she lost in October and November. No one knows the cause. The Palladia? Arthritis? Her fall down the stair? Combination of all of it? But between taking her off of the Palladia and the Spryng injection, she seems to be doing better. She is going to start back up with some physical therapy next week. Under the supervision of the pain management vet for now.
She hasn’t had a recheck of her lungs since the one in mid November, which i posted about. She was cleared then. She did have an evaluation at CSU and they’re more than happy to do the PET-CT scan. I haven’t scheduled that but plan to do that soon and have the scan done on late January. She will be a little over 7 months since diagnosis at the time.
i hope that everyone is well. Here is a video of Ophelia from this morning. It shows that she’s still got a lot of strength and spunk for an almost 10 year old Saint Bernard who has fought cancer and had a limb amputated. 🙂
Nicholas and I are so happy to see Ophelia again. She looks just great!!
Auch a good way to start the New Year....Ophelia is feeling good and doing well AND got to see a fun video!👏👏
That fun video speaks volumes about how good she feels. Love the extra growlies has she was vocalizing telling uiu that was her toy. I do think she was smiling at the same time.😁
Thanks so much for the update and continuing the share the joy of Ophelia and her videos
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!
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