Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi....my Golden Retriever Buddy has a likely osteo sarcoma in his left front wrist. I say likely because the vet and a radiologist that also reads every xray are sure that's what the xray shows, but there is a small possibility...and it sounds like it is very, very, small, it could be an infection. Only way for sure is biopsy. Anyone else choose to biopsy or not and why? I'm torn...procedure is painful. He's in some pain now. I noticed him limping last Wednesday and was headed out of town. He boards at vet so had her take a look and she noticed the wrist was swollen (how I missed this I have no idea, because I can't stop looking at it now!). He's limping worse now than last week. I just hate to put him through this procedure and have him be in more pain (plus knocked out) when we likely (highly likely) already know the outcome. (As a an important side note....I am not going to do chemo. I know I would need a biopsy if chemo was in play).
As for amputation...I feel like I have to do that....he's at much to great a risk to break that wrist with any downward pressure. I can watch him 99.9% of the time...but it's that .01% that will get us. And I know he will go from managed pain to agony the second that happens. But, I live in a raised ranch...stairs everywhere! Additionally, I have another Golden, Sarah, who is very hyper. She spins in circles when you get ready to let her out. She spins in circles when she sees me. I can try and get her to calm down all I want, but she just doesn't. And she will knock him over. She goes under him and high centers him all the time now as it is...she just has to be first. They are the best of friends in spite of her hyperness, but I worry how he is going to be able to take her crazyness with only 3 good legs. Am I going to have to keep them separated?
Also, What about the nasty mid-western winter and snow we are coming up on. What am I really up against? What else am I not thinking about?
Hello and welcome! Your future posts won't require approval so I promise no more delays in getting yours to appear. Sorry for the possible diagnosis, it packs a whallop that's for sure.
OK, to answer your questions as best I can, here's my take.
Only way for sure is biopsy. Anyone else choose to biopsy or not and why?
You're correct, bone biopsies are so painful. Usually they are only performed if there is a large amount of doubt over the diagnosis. I think everyone who is in your position gets told about the small possibility of a fungal infection...us included. But most will wait to do the biopsy until the leg is removed. The question you want to have answered by your vet is: does the leg have to come off anyways to help her feel better? If it's severely destroyed and there's no hope for a fungal infection cure of that bone, then why put her through two painful procedure?
I am not going to do chemo. I know I would need a biopsy if chemo was in play).
Yes you are correct.
But, I live in a raised ranch…stairs everywhere!
Are the steps slippery? If so, adding a traction strip will solve that issue. We had 18 steps to go in and out of our apartment. We helped Jerry for the first two weeks by using a Ruffwear Webmaster Harness and after that he did great on his own. That didn't keep me from having a heart attack each time he went down them but it was scarier for me than him.
Additionally, I have another Golden, Sarah, who is very hyper.
Members here who have multiple dogs can give you better advice than I, but I will tell you based on what I've seen here is that the pack always finds its own order and they work it out.
Also, What about the nasty mid-western winter and snow we are coming up on. What am I really up against?
Again, members here who live in that climate can tell you how they coped. In general it's a matter of using tools like traction booties, harnesses to assist and just being a little more careful. You will be very surprised at how well he learns how to balance!
I hope this helps. Stay tuned, others will chime in soon. Thank you again for joining. Keep us posted!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Oh here's a post I found for ya:
Tripawds Gear Blog: Your Best Advice for Living with Snow and Ice
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Buddy hasa "melt your heart kind of face! Imin love already!!
Jerry has really answered everything spot on as usual!
Michelle will alson chime in. She has some good first hand experience with biopsies with her beloved Sassy and why it was a negative for her.
Just want to add that, even though this is such a scary time and you probably feel like y o u are stuck in a nightmare, please remember we are all here for you. You are not alone, okay?
Buddy is not worried ab o ut a thing. He could care less about any stupid ole diagnosis or statistics...or even ab o ut tomorrow! Buddy is living in the moment and just loving being with you!
Try and chunk things down. You have a lot on your late right now. Deal with making a decision about amputation and recovery. You can then focus on future treatments.
I did NOT do a biopsy with my Happy Hannah before the amp. I DID do four rounds of carboplatin (chemo) and she sailed through it. Its all pretty much a crap shoot...some dogs do chemo and seem do get great extended time....some do not......and some do NOT do chemo and get great extended time...and some do not.
My Happy Hannah and I had one year and two months of THE most GLORIOUSLY happy and loving time ever!!! We consider ourselves very, very lucky.
Another suggestion....load up on chocolate...lots and lots of chocolate!! When the stress starts to take you out of living in the moment with Buddy...eat three Hershey candy bars and a bag of Peatnut M&M's!!!
Keep us posted and be sure and post more pictures of sweet Buddy! He looks like such a snuggle bug! And yeah, he and Sara will work it out. And o nce recovery takes place Buddy will be doing zoomies right with Sarah!!
Hugs to all
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle 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!
Hi,
So sorry for this possible diagnosis, but welcome to Tripawds......you will find tons of experience and knowledge to help you out here, not to mention great emotional support. Your Buddy has a very sweet Golden face for sure !!
I personally do not have experience with OSA, but with another type cancer in my Polly......but I can give my experience with the "second pup that is hyper" thing, and with snow in winter with a Tripawd.....
When my sweet 9 year old yellow Lab Polly had her amp, we also had and have, a very active black Lab pup that was almost 8 months at the time. I was afraid of the same thing, but young pup Pearl sensed a difference in Polly when she came home from her surgery, and like Jerry said, things did work out quite well between the both of them. Pearl bumped Polly around accidently at times but she never knocked Polly down at all.
About the snow, my Polly absolutely HATED a harness and would not move in one, so we settled for traction boots for outdoors. I used Mutt Luks.....there are other booties out there but I already had the Mutt Luks and they were great. She did let me use an Easy Rider car harness on her in the snow for the most part on very slippery surfaces, but otherwise, she did very well in the soft snow. It's the ice that is concerning....gotta always make sure it isn't icy for them.....we would clear spots outside the door down to the grass to let Polly go potty without fear of her slipping on icy snow cover, and we would carry her outside if we had to. Just always kept in mind things that would keep Polly from getting hurt is what we did through bad weather.
Best wishes for your upcoming journey with Buddy, we are all here for you if you need anything, and please keep us updated on him....
Bonnie & Angel Polly
P.S. Sally's chocolate ideas work wonders for the soul.....trust me.....!! We do the peanut M&Ms as well, and Rolos have become a favorite.....!!
I'm so sorry that Buddy and you are having to start this journey but this is a wonderful site with lots of folks willing to lend advice and support.
I don't have experience with cancer as my Leland lost his left hind leg due to a severe infection from a failed TPLO procedure to fix his knee. I know you mentioned stairs in your home and we live is a split foyer so stairs everywhere as well. We just helped Leland up and down the stairs after the first 2 weeks (we lived out in our office so he only had 1 step to get up to get in the house). We used a belly sling for him but since Buddy will be a front amp a harness such as the Ruffwear Webmaster that Jerry mentioned would work best.
And we get some nasty snow/ice over the winter months here and my husband and I had just decided that we'd use the belly sling to help Leland outside till he found a spot to potty. Sadly, though we had to let Leland go at the end of June so we didn't get to see how we'd really manage through the winter months.
Wishing you and Buddy the best and hoping he has a safe surgery!
Sahana and her Angel Leland
November 17, 2009 - June 30, 2014
May you finally be healthy and running free at the Rainbow Bridge. Until we meet again my sweet boy!
Oh Buddy, you have the sweetest face! I chose not to biopsy before surgery. We spent months trying to diagnose the poor boy. I our and the vet's defense, he had metal plates in that leg that we thought were the root of the problem. When removal of plates and screws did nothing, we did a synovial joint draw to check for infection/ cancer. Came back negative and the pain he was in was intense. So when xrays at the specialist showed what was most likely Osteosarcoma, I opted to do the amp and have the leg biopsied off of him. It was a Histocytic sarcoma. I think that is right. You will be surprised at how well your other dog behaves. I have a Corgi who is crazy. She became Ty's nurse. She was so gentle and would not go outside until she gently nudged Ty to take him with her. my 11 year old border Collie/ Golden mix just pretty much tried to stay out of his way. It is like they just sort of know. As for the snow, I live in PA. We had the worst winter in like 50 years last year. I just kept a "potty path" cleaned out for him. He actually managed outside quite well. I just tried to keep places where there was no ice. The biggest thing you have to watch is when they come back inside. Ty missed the rug a couple of times and took a face plant
I just put down more rugs. Everyone has mentioned chocolate, don't forget the wine. Hugs from Lori and Ty
TY GUY, Best Black Lab ever! Diagnosed and had amp in January, 2014. Kicked MRSA's butt. Earned his angel wings on April 16, 2014. Run Free my boy and don't forget a shoe. Ty is a proud member of the " April Angels". Ty sent us Daryl, a Tripawd rescue in Sept. of 2016. Daryl is 5 +or -. We are also Pawrents to Chandler, a Border Collie mix who is 15 and 1/2, Lucy, a Corgi who is 7, 2 minis, 2 horses, and a feisty cat named Zoe. Zoe had a non skeletal Osteosarcoma removed in July 2015. No Chemo, she was at least 16. She is going strong although she is now completely blind. She is now close to 20 and her hobbies are eating and sleeping in front of her personal heater.
I am sorry to hear about Buddy. Sally said I would chime in. Me personally with what I went through with Sassy, if they say it looks like Osteoscaroma by an xray I will go with that now. We did 2 different biopsies. The 1st one came back inconclusive said not enough sample. We did another one which was more painful and we had further problems with that. That also came back inconclusive for Osteoscaroma. In fact that one came back positive for Osteoporosis (yes, what humans get). We proceeded with the amputation and did the complete biopsy that way and that is where we got the diagnosis Spindle Cell Osteoscaroma.
I live in Iowa. We get snow. Sassy did fine with the snow. I used a sling to help here down the steps when it was icy. Her amputation was Nov 14, 2012. I probably was over protective about that but she was my baby.
Wishing you good luck with the surgery
Sassy is a proud member of the Winter Warriors. Live long, & strong Winter Warriors.
sassysugarbear.tripawds.com
07/26/2006 - Sassy earned her wings 08/20/2013
05/04/2006 - Bosch, Sassy's pal, earned his wings 03/29/19 fought cancer for 4 months.
"You aren't doing it TO her, you are doing it FOR her. Give her a chance at life."
Sorry to hear about sweet Buddy. Is a fine needle aspiration an option for the biopsy? Theo had that procedure, and while it definitely made the wrist more swollen, it didn't carry the same issues as the major bone biopsy. Theo's x-rays were very inconclusive so we pretty much had to go with some sort of biopsy to be sure, but he also had very little bone destruction at the time so I think that helps from a risk standpoint.
There is always that small fungal infection chance, but from what I've heard unless you guys have traveled to the southwestern United States the chances are slim to none.
Hope this helps! Stay strong regardless, and also remember it can't hurt to ask the vet what they would do if it were their dog!
Welcome to Tripawds! I also have a Golden boy, he is younger and a front-leg amp.
My "saga" was similar to Michelle´s with Sassy, and I do not recommend a surgical biopsy, especially in older dogs because of the anesthesia. It is also surgery, and in my dog´s case the biopsy wound took more time to heal than the amputation, can you believe this? We did two biopsies plus the surgery, which meant putting Johnnie through three anesthesias. He is 6 years old, so he did fine.
The first biopsy, surgical, came back inconclusive - which meant the dog and the dog´s mom suffered for nothing. The vet was NOT convinced of the lab result, because the x-ray was so clear (lytic lesion, there was almost no bone left). Fortunately, we decided to pursue a second biopy, fine needle aspiration during CT Scan, and this one confirmed the osteosarcoma. The CT scan was very useful because it also scanned for mets, which fortunately were not present.
If your vet can get a sample through fine needle aspiration, great, go for it.
Regarding options for treatment: if osteosarcoma is confirmed, the #1 treatment is surgery. If you decide not to pursue chemo, there are good options with immunity boosters like K-9 Immunity , which many of us have been using, nutraceuticals like Apocaps and others, chinese herbs like Artemisinin , and holistic therapies. Your vet will probably suggest a high-protein low-carb no-grain diet. This is very important if the diagnosis is confirmed.
Jerry has already given you a good reading list, but I particularly like Dr. Dressler´s book because it is a comprehensive guide, all-in-one.
Daniela & Johnnie
Our awesome Golden Boy was diagnosed for OSA in April 2014 in the proximal humerus, front-leg amp on 05/20/2014. Finished chemo (Carbo6) on 07/10/2014. Ongoing treatment: acupuncture + K-9 Immunity Plus ( 3chews) and home-cooked no-grain diet. Stopped Apocaps because of liver issues. Liver issues: controlling altered enzymes with SAM-e and Milk Thistle. October 17: started having seizures. Taking fenobarbital for seizures. April 18: started prednisone.
Thanks to everyone for their replies....As many of you pointed out, with Buddy here asleep at my feet, I'm glad he's not worried. It is great to be able to find out other people's real life experiences. Lots to think about....but, of course, not much time....will keep you guys posted...and, again, thank you, thank you, thank you for your input. I am so glad I found this site as I can't imagine having to go through this without the benefit of other people's knowledge and suggestions.
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