Hi everyone, my name is George and I am writing to introduce myself from Gold Coast Australia.

Just like most of you have been through I presume, me and my partner Emma are just coming to terms with a horrendous weekend and news we never could have conceived of a week ago.

Our big boy Boston had been limping over the past couple of months, but being a big lumbering clumsy type dog he’s always getting limps coming and going over the years which never really amounted to much, and being a very reactive dog (human and dogs) we have always left vet visits to a minimum/ only when we are sure we need to. And a month ago we did notice persistent limping which seemed to be his back legs, so we took him to our vet and had him x rayed. Our vet found evidence of an old slipped disc injury, and subsequent arthritis around that area in his lower spine, so we sorted out a treatment plan and thought that would be the end of that and we could address his arthritis for the years to come. (Monthly Beransa/Librela shots was the main plan).

So yeah we got his first shot of treatment, and had to wait a month before he could get his second one and was told it may take three months before we would see real improvement. However over the next couple of weeks we realised there was more of a limping issue with his front right leg, and we were told by the vet to monitor for worsening but that it could be related and hopefully if he was ok til the next Beransa injection that may help address the limping. It did worsen.

And last week I had just decided it was persisting for too long and I would have to call the vet again, and by the Friday I had just ordered some pain meds while at work (metacam)- and then I got home and everything had changed. Boston didn’t come to greet me and I knew instantly that meant something was up, and we found that his front right leg had gone fully lame and he couldn’t bear weight on it any more. We tried to rush him immediately to a vet but due to being near 6pm on Friday evening, we managed to get seen by a vet in the car park who gave us two injections for pain and recommended we got to an out of hours vet asap as he immediately feared Osteosarcoma of the front leg due to Bostons age, breed and location of some visible swelling. We tried to get him seen that night but frustratingly more urgent cases kept arriving and we had to bail and finally got him in Saturday morning for an x-ray which once again added to concerns of Osteosarcoma but didn’t give us a definitive answer.

The weekend was horrible and his pain definitely seemed to worsen rapidly, and we just managed to get him into specialists yesterday. I think without speaking it to one another, by this point we both thought we may be saying goodbye to our boy that day.. so weirdly, as crazy as it seems to say, we felt the results of the scan were almost as good as we could have ever hoped for.

The first thing was the vet checked for any cancer spread to lungs, abdomen, lymph nodes etc, and the scans did not show any obvious spread (we know that doesn’t mean there’s any spread but took that as good news).

Secondly, the vet checked his spinal areas and back legs, to have an extra look at his arthritis and establish it in his opinion, the big lad would still be a good candidate for amputation and could cope with it. He wasn’t concerned and said if it was his dog, he would certainly go down that route.

The last big bit of news we got from these scans, was that poor Boston had already sustained a very bad fracture high up in his humerus just below his shoulder. He said Boston must be a durable dog to have hidden it up until then and coped as well as he was. Poor boy 🙁 … this news however meant two things, one, he didn’t think an immediate biopsy was worth it, because it meant amputation was now necessary regardless of primary cause for the leg issue, and two, due to the extent of the fracture we were bumped up the urgency list and Boston could be operated on as soon as this Thursday, 2 days from now.

I think deep down, it was a weight off of my shoulders because I had already googled amputation and found an interview on YouTube from the Tripawd founders, and I had watched a few inspiring amputee stories, so in my head I think I was praying the vet would think Boston was a viable candidate to get a second chance. And tbh, anything right now would be better than the day to day discomfort and pain we are living with him with, and the thought of a 2 week waiting period for surgery was just as distressing as all of the info we had just been hit with on our first consultation before he went in for his scans.

So yeah, I found this website, thought it was amazing, and I guess I just wanted to introduce myself, and more importantly Boston.

Sorry for the massive essay I just figured I would add as much of his history in the hope that anyone who went through a similar situation in terms or size and breed and arthritis issues, may be able to lend their wisdom and any advice. I’m here for all of it, any advice or ideas and I guess reassurance that you think our boy is gonna do ok facing this even being a big ol’lump, would be greatly received. Thank you for taking the time to read, I’m sure I’ll have more specific questions come up once things sink in more and we start the process, but yep for now any general comments or advice would be great.

So far, he is on Previcox once and day, and we have Gabapentin which we have been told we can use three times a day but haven’t used it as frequently as that.. he also has the fentanyl patch which I think will have kicked in late last night. My early vibe is that he’s having waves of discomfort and restlessness, last night was bad I barely slept due to his discomfort noises and wanting to help him.. today has been better and he has certainly tried to use his three legs in the garden a few times even with his painful fourth leg getting in the way. I feel like Gabapentin does seem to be a difference maker when we need it. Definitely makes him more sedate but until surgery I’m guessing that isn’t the worst thing??

And as for Thursday, I think Emma and I are both apprehensive, but at this stage are hoping he’s going to feel instantaneously better to not have the painful leg anymore.. and I have already ordered a harness recommended for front limb amputees which should arrive in time. Are there any other things I might have to think of to have our house prepped and to be prepped for the next weeks to come. Thanks everyone, glad to have found this forum. Anyone with similar stories please point me in the direction of them I would love to read them.