Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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My boy has just been seen by an amaizing referral vets. Cat scans has clearly shown what appears to be Synovial cell sarcoma in his rear knee joint. He has had biopsies taken from the bone and fluid to confirm their suspicions for which I am waiting for the results. They have offered me 3 options. 1) Amputation 2) A straight implant (for which he will not be able to bend leg) 3) To wait a month for the vet to design an implant with a moving joint. With option 2 and 3 even though he could keep his leg I am worried about complications and reducing his life expectancy in case they do not remove all the cells. The only thing I am worried about with amputation is, will he have the strength in his other leg? He is a slightly overweight Bullmastiff. At Christmas he was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, which has made his muscles a bit weaker. Seeing this sight and all the other tripawds has given me a lot of hope. It's such hard discussion to make.
Hi Bigboy and family, welcome. Your future post won't require approvals. I hope you don't mind that we moved your post here, to "Size and Age Matters" but this is a great place to read up on other giant breed dogs who've faced similar challenges and decisions.
It sounds to me like you're getting great care by specialists? If so, that's awesome. Yes, these are hard choices to make and only you know him better than anyone else. It soundsl ike he's otherwise in great shape and the vets think he's a good amputation candidate? Weight is easy to deal with, dogs lose weight faster than people so that part is easy, he wouldn't be the first slightly overweight Tripawd (better to get started with the weight loss now though, see our Nutrition blog).
I think what it comes down to is, what can you afford to risk, financially, and what do you think Big Boy is capable of recovering from? If you are able to cover the costs of both the implant and an amputation should an implant not be successful, then it might be worth taking the risk. Who is the clinic designing the implant? And of course, most importantly, is Big Boy capable of handling two recoveries if that becomes necessary?
I wish I would tell you what to do but only you can answer that part. However you can lean on us no matter what you decide, we're here for you. Stay tuned, I know others will chime in soon. Meanwhile search through this forum for more stories and examples of giant breed dogs.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you. I am pleased I found your site as it has made me feel more positive. He is already on a diet luckily as he has already shed 12kg with the help of thyroid medication.
The vet he is under is Proffessor Noel Fitzpatrick and it's his company Fitzbionics that would make the implant. They are in Surrey, England. However this would be a first moving knee joint he has done. I have loads of faith in him as I have seen his work on telly called the Bionic Vet. I just don't want to put my dog through a lot of pain.
I will search through this forum and hopefully feel more confident about my decision.
I'm so glad we could be of assistance!
Sounds like you have a fantastic vet there, how very cool, that's someone you can have some confidence in! I'd love to find out more about his work, never heard of him before.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I am really lucky. Have a look at his referral centre http://www.fitz.....itzpatrick his work is amaizing and interesting. If you are interested you may be able to watch his most recent series on http://www.chan.....et/4od
WOW. I wouldn't hesitate to have him work on my animals for a procedure like this, that's a pretty impressive CV (board-certified in two countries?!), no wonder they call him the Supervet! Thanks for the scoop on this doc, we never would have heard of him otherwise. I'll be following along with his practice to see more of these procedures he does. Very exciting stuff.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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