Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello again Tripawds,
My chocolate lab (13 yrs old) was due to have her leg amputated on Oct. 30th because of osteosarcoma in her right front leg. The morning of her scheduled surgery the vet did pre-surgery bloodwork and x-rays.....he found pretty severe arthritis in the elbow of her good front leg. She also has pretty severe arthritis in a back leg from an ACL tear a few years ago. He made a last minute decision to cancel the amputation based on the fact that 2 of her remaining legs were arthritic. I agreed because I didn't want to have her on 3 legs and have her only good front leg not be able to support her. He also thought she was not reacting as a typical Osteosarcoma patient....he xrayed her tumor again and went back to look at her labs/reports from April 2011 when she had a toe removed on her tumor leg. That tumor was a adenocarcinoma. He strongly feels that the tumor she has now is also an adenocarcinoma. His explanation made sense and he told me that almost all bone cancers are osteosarcomas, but in her case, the cancer from 2011 has come back in a tumor in the same leg, another adenocarcinoma. He told me the positive news is that adenocarcinoma does not metastasize as fast as osteosarcoma and is not as painful. She is on Tramodol and we are starting Predzinone on Monday. Would love any comments/experiences about this situation. Also discovered that celery and asparagus are good snacks for dogs with cancer? True? Thanks for your help even considering Nellie is still a 4 Pawd.
Weeeeeell now, how 'bout them apples? If this isn't a "twist and turn" joirney going on with Miss Nellie, I don't know what is!
I jave no i sight to her parricular situatin. applaude your surgeon for reallh being diligent avouther prognosis on three legs. Good for im. And then to re-examine her history and re-evalutae her dianosis.....what an "adventure" you have been on!! STANDING OVATIN TO EVERYO E!
And, overall, to even get a "better" prognosis AND keep her leg!!
And Nellie..and you...are family here regardless of how many legs eachof you have!!
I'v heard that Bok Choy is also good for dogs with these "challenges".
A lot of us here give our dogs K9 Immunity and Apocaps . Check out the nutrition and the supplements lkk nere, you'll fi d a lot o fo.
Will be nterested to see ifothers here have sight to yor specific situatiin.
I know you've been n a crazy roller coaster, but hopefuly thi gs will balance out for you now and you can proceed with so e alternatrive treatments
Keeping all paws crossed over here fr you. Remember, we are famiky!!
Sally and Happy Hannah
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 Nellie and family, it's good to hear from you. Of course we're here to help even if your amputation got cancelled I hope you don't mind but since you're a mature gal I put your post here in "Size and Age Matters" because of the age-related conditions that are affecting your situation.
From the reading I've done about adenocarcinomas it appears that this type of tumor is a glandular one. I'm not finding anything about them occurring in a limb here with other members or in general.
I'm not a vet but I'm curious if your vet performed any kind of biopsy or other tests to ensure that it is indeed an adenocarcinoma that you're dealing with? If I were in this situation I would feel better about further treatments of any kind if I had a firm diagnosis from a pathology report and veterinary specialist. If you're confident with your vet's diagnosis, then I would want to know what to expect with the prescribed treatment (side effects, etc). I'd also want to know what the prednisone is for and why it's needed.
As for diet, you can check out this Tripawds Nutrition Blog article, The Basics of a Good Anti-Cancer Diet. You might also want to download this free Dog Cancer Survival Diet Guide that's an awesome introduction into helping Nellie eat healthier for life especially as she copes with this diagnosis.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thank you for the replies. I have faith in my vet that this is an adenocarcinoma.....he's been her vet since Day 1 and is regarded as the best vet in the practice. We switched her from Ramadyl to Predisone to better help with pain and inflammation. The Predisone seems to be working well and she's getting around better and we even took a leash walk tonight. I have been researching a holistic treatment called Neoplasene.....has anyone heard of this or have any advice/experience? Also, are Apocaps a better alternative than Predisone? Thanks for any help/advice you can give.
Glad she's feeling better.
Prednisone is a completely different type of approach than using Apocaps or Neoplasene. If you're interested in that type of approach I'd recommend tuning into our Tripawd Talk Radio show tomorrow because we'll be discussing those types of remedies.
As for neoplasene, here is an article that an oncologist provided to us.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
My vet and I decided against Neoplasene. She is doing very well on Predsione, but we discussed Apocaps and are considering giving them a try. The vet told me we would have to carefully ween Nellie off the Pred to start Apocaps and may not get the same good results as with the Pred....any thoughts on this? Experience with Apocaps ....I do have Dr. Dessler's book and have read positive results with Apocaps .
Hey Sweet Nellie!
Souds li,e yo are doing well and your human has a plan foryou!
AIf you search The Dog Cancer Blog, Dr. Dressler addresses using cortisteroids with apaocaps. He says when usng prednisne , he deceases the Apocap dosege by 1/4 to 1/2 AND under veterinary supervisio !!. Check itout for yourself. Obviousy I'm not a vet and I could jave misunderstood the blog.....so please double check. In the same blog he also talks aboutthe benefit of takingpred. for sme camcers.
Let us know how things go. Sounds like Nellie has a very diligent paw parent!
Please give Nellie a hug for us, okay?
Sending you the best wishes for continued good health!
Sally and Hapoy Hannah
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!
So glad you made a decision with your vet's help. Sounds like a really open-minded individual. Yay!
Thanks for that info Sally! You ROCK!
I would have to agree that Pred and Apocaps wouldn't have the same results but that's because they work in much different ways and do different things to help the body stay strong. Either way you roll the dice and hope that it works. Personally I would start with the most benign form of therapy, which would be Apocaps , and if necessary, go back to something stronger, but then again I'm not in your and Nellie's shoes/paws.
But I'm real curious to see how it works for you so if you'd like post an update in "Eating Healthy" and let us know OK?
Good luck! Many hugs to you both.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
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