Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi group,
Rio underwent amputation of his front limb for osteosarcoma last week. He's recovering well so far. His chest xray was clear and his lymph nodes were not enlarged, so I'm taking that as a good sign. I'm waffling on chemotherapy and I'd like to hear from some of you who opted for or against chemo and why, and what were the results? I don't love the stats that I've seen on survival time, even with chemo, so I'm not sure I want to put him through it.
Anything you can share would be much appreciated. Thanks everyone.
Lorraine & Rio the Vizsla
Welcome! Your future forum posts will not require moderation.
Haven't you heard? Nine out of ten statistics are wrong! 
You will find LOTS of feedback from members about chemo therapy in these popular forum topics:
/treatment-and-recovery/regrets-about-chemotherapy/
/tips-and-resources/costs-of-amputation-and-chemotherapy-what-did-you-pay/
Of course, every dog is different, as is every member's situation. You can use the Advanced Search above to refine more forum search results, or search all blogs here for more feedback from Tripawds bloggers .
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
PS: As a Vizsla lover, you will not want to miss Bart's blog. He is no longer with us, but was a true Tripawd Hero!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Hi Lorraine and Rio!
I love Rio's avatar picture and can't wait to see more!
And yes, great news that his xrays, etc. came back clear!
The Admin Guy gave you some great links. We all need ro go back and update with our experiences. It's such an imlo topic that we all struggle with.
When it comes to chemo, please know there are no guarantees either way and there REALLY is no right or wrong when it comes to this decision! Statistics and timeframes don't mean squat around here either! Rio does NOT have a timeframe stamped on his butt! Go ahead, take a look, it's not there!
I'll give you my own individual thought process for deciding to do chemo for Happy Hannah. One big deciding factor was she could stop anytime if she had bad side effects. Happy Hannah did not mind going to the vet and didn't mind car rides.
The majority of dogs jave no side effects, or very few. The Onco will give you Cerenia should Rio show any signs of nausea. He may, or may not, be lethargic for a day or so and he may skip a meal or two. My Happy Hannah had NO side effects at all. Now, that said, there have been a couple of dogs here recently who had side effects severe enough that they opted out of further treatment. The dogs have all vounced back and living life to the fullest!!
Another deciding factor for me was simply, "Which decision would I second guess the least?" In other words, if I did no chemo, would I be second guessing myself? Conversely, if she did do chemo and had horrible side effects and had limited time anyway, would I regret that?? Ugh! Being human stinks! It really is, in my opinion, a crap shoot!!
My Happy Hannah did four rounds of Carboplatin (some Oncos suggest five, some six, some four) and, as I said, sailed through them. Have noooo idea if that added time or not, I do not know
I do know that we lived in tne moment every single day. I do know every day was a bonus day and we didn't waste one second worrying about the tomorrows. The NOW is all that matters!
Happy Hannah and I had the most glorious bonus time I could ever have imagined! She didn't care about how many days she got all that loving and spoiling, all she cared about was she got it!!
Stay connected. Yiu are not alone! We are right here by your side!
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!
Hi Lorraine and Rio! Jerry and Sally gave great advice, in fact their advice helped me when I was making the same decision. I want to echo Sally's sentiment that if you start chemo you are in no way obligated to continue it if Rio has a bad reaction. That is really what helped me when I decided to do chemo with my dog Murphy. He is so strong and was lucky to have no side effects other than being tired. The same was true through all five of his chemo sessions, and it was comforting to know I could stop at any point if he had a bad reaction. Murphy was also prescribed Cerenia and Flagyl to help with his appetite - that was never an issue for him.
Again, whatever decision you make is the right decision for you and Rio. Best of luck!
Murphy, became a tripawd on August 17, 2015. Went to the rainbow bridge on July 5, 2016.
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