Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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This is going to be a long post and I'm not sure what I'm looking for. Maybe reassurance? Not sure.
My 11 yr golden retriever had a front limb amputation in November of last year (osteosarcoma). He adapted really well, went through 6 rounds of chemo and finished in March with no signs of cancer. He was doing great - playing ball, running around in the snow, loving life. About a month ago I noticed he was straining to poop but thought is was arthritis. Then over the last few weeks he was having a harder time getting up and walking. A few weeks ago, something happened where he was in so much pain, in his right hind quarter, he urinated and ran a hid. They couldn't find anything at the ER but didn't X-ray; he wasn't presenting like he was in pain when we were at the clinic.
He was pretty good after that but over the last week or so, he was falling coming up a small step and having trouble standing/walking. He went downhill fast to where he couldn't stand at all and would lay down immediately and shake uncontrollably. That started last night. He was in pain and couldn't stand or walk to go out a relieve himself. It's like he was suddenly paralyzed in his back right leg.
I had him euthanized this afternoon...and I'm wondering if I made a rash decision, but I couldn't have gotten him in the car to take to the vet without causing him a ton of pain, more than I think he could tolerate.
Is it common for senior, front limb amputees to lose the ability to use their back legs, rapidly? Should I have researched and found a way to get X-rays.?
I'm struggling with my decision because he was alert and still eating - he just couldn't stand and walk outside to relieve himself and standing caused him so much pain...I'm so, so lost and so incredibly heartbroken.
I'm so sorry for your heartbreaking time. We're at the same point you were at last winter but I know we'll have the same decision to make sooner or later. I can only hope we are as observant and unselfish as you were. He had wonderful happy months with you, joyful Golden times, with just a short period of pain. Just what he would have wanted, but so very difficult for you to let him go.
YOU DID THE RIGHT THING FOR TUCKER.! YOU DID THE RIGHT THING!
Our hearts break with yours and our tears fall with yours. So very, very sorry you had to release Tucker, but again, you did the right thing!
Hopefully this will put your mind at ease and give you a little bit of peace with your decision to relieve Tucker of pain. Certainly not a Vet, but Tucker most likely was experiencing the pain of cancer in the spine. While it usually manifests to the lungs, it seems the spine is the other place it shows up sometimes. And so you can push the "ifs only" aside, often xrays do NOT detect spine cancer anyway. . The fact that he was eating wasn't the way to measure quality in this case. He couldn't walk, he was in pain, he could not be the Happy Warrior Tucker anymore and he was not going to get better, only worse and quickly.
If you have a good relationship with Tucker's Vet and one who knows Tucker, I'm sure a conversation would confirm you did the right thing for Tucker.
As Suzanne said, his experience with pain was very short compared to all the wonderful Happy times the had with you for al,pst a uesr of being pain free and being loved by you.
We know how much you loved Tucker and the feeling was mutual. He k ew you loved him enough to release him. He knew his earth time with you was full of more love and more fun than anh dog could ever hope to experience.
We know your grief will be painful and the void will hurt like heck for awhile. We also know, and you know too, Tucker wants you to remember all the wonderful times the two of you shared.
We are here for you. And remember, we have the TRIPAWDS HELPLINE 1-888 tripawd staffed by volunteer members who understand the depth of love our members have for their dogs and cats and how difficult this part of the journey is.
Stay connected, okay?
Love
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 so very sorry. It sounds like you gave Tucker some amazing extra months of time with you. I know I would be tormenting myself with the same thoughts you’re having. I think it’s just what we do to ourselves after losing someone we love so much. From the outside looking in though, I don’t see that you really had any other choice to make. I can’t think of anything not very serious or correctable that would have caused those severe symptoms and, in the context of the osteosarcoma, it certainly sounds like it had spread elsewhere (as someone else said, possibly the spine) and that was causing the symptoms you were seeing. With large dogs, there is the very real problem of not being able to move and transport them (especially if in severe pain). Had you found a way to do so, you likely would have been faced with making the same decision to have to say goodbye…but at a vet’s office after the fear, struggle and likely more pain for him of getting there whereas it sounds like you were able to say goodbye to him at home; where I’m sure he would have much rather been. Please try to be kind to yourself and remember all that you did for Tucker, the happy times you shared and rest assured that you came through for him at the end in the best way possible.
Jenn,
I unfortunately can empathize quite a bit with your situation. I had to let my Ellie go on the 24th as well. I'm here to offer my reassurance that I don't believe you remotely made a rash decision, but did what was best for your pup.
Ellie hadn't shown any pain signals or issues except for a small incident on sunday morning. On monday she wasn't paralyzed, but in a lot of pain. I did go to the vet and I did get x rays and they offered zero answers. It was traumatic getting her into my car while she was in that much pain and even though she was given lots of painkillers and was sedated for her xrays she wasn't remotely comfortable. I found out that that this is actually pretty common with osteosarcoma, to have it come up pretty quick like this because it often times spreads to the spine undetected. xrays don't really show spread to the spine well and it is such a sensitive area that even a little is really really painful.
Obviously, I can't say for sure that's what happened to either of our dogs, but it's very possible and there really isn't much to be done except medicate and that is a type of pain that is not really able to be well managed.
I am so incredibly sorry for you loss and I mourn with you and your family. Tucker will be in my thoughts along with Ellie, I am thankful they are both pain free and hopefully they were able to carpool together on their way to the other side I'm sure the became quick friends 
Also wanted to add- Ellie ate her weight in treats while we were at the vet on monday (and got brownies too which she absolutely marveled over)- this process has proven to me that just because they eat doesn't mean everything is ok
Thanks for the replies.
Whitney - so sorry to hear about Ellie. Tucker was a handsome dude so I'm sure they became fast friends.
I talked to the oncologist yesterday and she said it sounded like it was the Osteosarcoma. It's the only thing that makes sense because the pain was so incredibly intense, and he declined so rapidly.
His behavior changed last week too. He wasn't sleeping on my bed or in my room, he wasn't enthusiastic about breakfast - I knew the inevitable was on the horizon. I just didn't realize how close.
Know I grieve with you. Someone said to me "with great love, comes great sorrow". No truer words could be spoken.
Take care of yourself however you can.
Jenn
In my daily, obsessive research, I came across this. It was written by a vet. It sounds so similar to what happened to both Ellie and Tucker. He had gone to great lengths to extend her good quality of life with him (and he did), but he also clearly saw this as a final progression of the disease from which there wasn’t going to be any medical intervention that could reverse it and he also had to say goodbye so she wouldn’t suffer. I hope this helps some with any of the “what ifs” that can cruelly plague us. I know it won’t help with either of your grief and emptiness right now and I only wish I could offer something to help with that.
Thank you - that was a great article and sounds strikingly similar.
I am a HUGE advocate of pet insurance. I've had it on both my Goldens, that both had cancer, which is sadly SO common in this breed.
With my first Golden, I probably would've ended up bankrupt without pet insurance. It's a must have for me.
♥️♥️♥️Whitney♥️♥️♥️. To be here suppporting otherss you struggle with your seemingly unbearable grief speaks volumes avout who you are in Spirit and on a Soul level.
Jenn, I sincerely hope you are at least finding some comfort in knowing this was not a "rash" decision, but one out of love and selflessness for Tucker.
(((((((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!
Jenn, I sincerely apologize for missing your post and the sad news about Tucker. I am so sorry things went downhill so fast. This is the kind of rapid decline we hope and pray won't happen when we get that awful news that our dog has osteosarcoma, and my heart breaks for you. Plus knowing that you and Whitney both went through the same situation so close together is especially sad.
Based on what I've seen here, this situation does happen exactly as you and Whitney experienced. Is it common? Not exactly. Usually this cancer decline happens because of lung mets. A pet parent usually gets more warning in that instance, a few weeks and sometimes months, but none or very little when it happens with spinal or other skeletal mets. It's sudden and it's brutal when it occurs. Plus, since usually only CT scans can confirm skeletal mets, the cost keeps most people from doing this diagnostic. Instead they choose to release their dogs from the pain without knowing for certain the cause. I would do the same, especially since nothing can change the disease progression at that point. I do think your oncologist is correct, it was likely the cancer spread that did it.
I hope you can take comfort in knowing he didn't suffer or leave this earth in any more pain. You did the best you could under crappy circumstances and he knew that. The gift of release from pain is so hard, but so necessary for our loved ones to transition in peace.
I hope that in time you can find comfort in the good days before cancer, since that is something this disease can never take away.
Rene thank you for clarifying. I should have said with the sudden onset of pain like Ellie (and possibly Tucker) had, it's common to be because it spread to the spine not that what happened to Ellie is common in regards to osteosarcoma as a whole, about 80% of dogs will succumb to lung metastasis. I can't actually find any numbers on spine- maybe because if often times doesn't actually get diagnosed since it can only be confirmed with more extensive diagnostics, which don't make sense to do once it gets to that point.
Sorry for the accidental fear mongering.
I just came across this thread and it’s caused me some concern. My Ophelia has had a somewhat drastic change in her mobility over the past 3-4 weeks. She’s up and down, meaning one day she will be okay, and the next day she just wants to lay in her bed and sleep. She is able to walk but she stops and rests much much sooner than she did even a month ago.
She had her regularly scheduled lung x-rays 9 days ago and they are clear (knock on wood) and her oncologist said that she is shifting weight from her left hind leg to her right. She thought maybe a ACL partial tear.
i took her to a pain management vet and he did x-rays. He found that she has degenerative arthritis in her left hind hip and in her left carpal in her remaining forelimb. His opinion is that is these two things causing her “chronic pain”. He recommended a pain management plan that started with an injection of Spryng. That’s a product that create a cushion in the joint.
the reason that I’m posting here is that I’m wondering if maybe I’m missing metastasis in her spine. The thought did occur to me but none of the doctors have even brought this up without me asking. Neither said that they think that it is related to her osteosarcoma but now I’m worried that we are all missing something.
Ophelia’s decline has been over a period of weeks and she not debilitated. So maybe it’s not as severe as what you all described here? I’m probably asking for some reassurance more than anything.
Michael, not sure Whitney or Tucker’s Mom wil see this, so just wanted to add my two cents. Based on your recent post about Ophelia’s CONFIRMED arthritis in both eggs, joints etc, and not having intense and severe unrelenting pain, her situation seems very different. Ophelia doesnt seem to be displaying something as severe as spine Mets. Of course could be wrong as could be the Vets you( mentioned it too who dismissed it. And arthritis all by itself can hurt too (I know)
Anyway, Just wanted to put out my two cents until others reply.
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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