Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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You may remember that last week, Shyla (11 month old Labrador) was found to have a lump on her ulna (and she was limping). X-rays showed a "lytic lesion". We were sent to CSU (we live a couple of hours from there) for a bone biopsy yesterday. As it turned out, the CSU vets did not want to put Shyla through a bone biopsy yet. Based on her age, they think that OSA is a low odds diagnosis, and they don't want to do anything invasive to her bone unless it is absolutely necessary.
Instead, they did a series of less invasive tests to look for ancillary signs of infection or cancer. Her lungs were clear on xray. Her bloodwork was perfect (but the lack of white blood cell count elevation doesn't rule out an infection - it is possible for the infection to be "isolated" to the bone and not show up in her overall bloodstream). The final test isn't back yet - it's a urine test for antigens that would indicate a fungal disease. Although I live in Colorado, Shyla came from a part of the country (Ohio) where a couple of kinds of nasty fungal infections are possible. I adopted her 2.5 months ago, and she had big puncture wounds from a dog bite when she arrived (a route for bad bacteria or fungi to have gotten into her).
A final possible diagnosis is an injury (a hairline fracture or a blunt force trauma) that is healing. I'm a little confused about that because I think that I would've known about a "blunt force trauma" (and I certainly didn't see trauma occur) and because I didn't think that there would be "lytic" (bone-eating) activity in that case.
If all of the tests are clean, then we'll wait 2 wks and x-ray again. If the lesion is getting smaller, then we'll assume that it was trauma. If it's getting bigger or staying the same, we'll do a bone biopsy.
If a vet expert reads this, I'd love your opinion about the issue of lytic activity after bone trauma. Do osteoclasts eat away the injured bone before more bone is laid down to "heal" the injury? Thanks in advance.
And, thanks to all of you for your help and kind words. I know that "odds" say that Shyla doesn't have OSA based on her age... but I won't rest easy until we are more sure that she doesn't have it.
K, an 8 year old chocolate lab, was diagnosed with osteosarcoma of the radius and ulna on 12/23/11. She had stereotactic radiation to kill the bone tumors, and 3 rounds of carboplatin. On 3/16/12, lung mets were found. We tried several different kinds of chemotherapy to slow the lung mets but none worked. Finally, mets appeared at other sites, including her spine. She earned her angel wings on July 15, 2012. K changed my life, and I'll never forget her. Our/my journey is chronicled at romp-roll-rockies.blogspot.com.
Wow, you've definitely covered all of your bases, CSU is a great place to do that. I'm sorry you had to travel so far though, it had to be difficult to be there after all you went through with K at the same facility.
Just bummed for you that no real answers were given yet. I can't blame you for being cautious at this point, the not knowing for sure can make one just crazy with worry. Two weeks can seem like an eternity.
Paws crossed that it's NOT osteosarcoma. Keep us posted.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Well, I'm taking all this as really positive news, and I must admit that I'm glad she didn't have to undergo a bone biopsy. It sounds to me like osa is sliding back down the list of possibilities. When do you get the results back from the antigen test? We are going to continue with our positive thoughts and we look forward to hearing more good news soon.
Scout: January 31, 2002 to November 7, 2011
Scout's diagnosis was "poorly differentiated sarcoma"; amputation 1/11/2011. Scout enjoyed 9 fantastic years on 4 legs and 9 glorious months on 3 legs. If love alone could have saved you…
I hope the urine test comes back with the answers so you don't have to do the bone biopsy and so you can rule out OSA!
Fingers and paws crossed here for good news!
Jackie, Angel Abby's mom
Abby: Aug 1, 2009 – Jan 10, 2012. Our beautiful rescue pup lived LARGE with osteosarcoma for 15 months – half her way-too-short life. I think our "halflistic" approach (mixing traditional meds + supplements) helped her thrive. (PM me for details. I'm happy to help.) She had lung mets for over a year. They took her from us in the end, but they cannot take her spirit! She will live forever in our hearts. She loved the beach and giving kisses and going to In-N-Out for a Flying Dutchman. Tripawds blog, and a more detailed blog here. Please also check out my novel, What the Dog Ate. Now also in paperback! Purchase it at Amazon via Tripawds and help support Tripawds!
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