Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
Tripawds is your home to learn how to care for a three legged dog or cat, with answers about dog leg amputation, and cat amputation recovery from many years of member experiences.
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Cheeto and I are newbies here and we are 2 weeks post-op. His was not cancer but I can tell you this boy, if possible has more energy then before. Maybe it was pent up being in the crate while recovering but he is acting like a puppy, forgot all his manners lol. He only took pain meds for a week. I am amazed at how fast he has recovered. We were playing ball(albeit a shorter version) 3 or 4 days after he was home!
Welcome Janel and Ally!! So sorry that you have to experience this very difficult and scary decision. When I first found out that my Great Dane Valentina had OS in her front left leg I was totally against amputation. I thought it was a horrific thing to do. My vet said that I could control Valentina's pain with meds until it got too bad and then we would have to put her to sleep. He never gave me any other options. I did some research on my own but I didn't really realize that there are some other options available besides amputation or euthanasia. Maybe the costs of other treatments were too costly and he knew I couldn't afford them or they didn't do them at their office or maybe Valentina just wasn't a candidate for other treatments. I'm not sure but if I have to deal with this again I sure know alot more. Within about 5 weeks of trying to control Valentina's pain with the meds it was very clear that they were no longer working and during those 5 weeks I had done some research on amputation and I came to the conclusion that I wanted to try it. I was still very scared but I couldn't bear to put Valentina to sleep when only her leg had a problem.
So I scheduled the appt. and Valentina had her amputation on July 5th 2011. She made it through the surgery great and she had to stay at the vet for about 5 days. She did initially have some trouble being able to walk but she was doing good enough to go home by day 5. It was really rough when she first came home. I had trouble because she was a 150lb Dog and it was hard to support her weight with the sling at first. The first two weeks is kind of like taking care of a newborn baby and it can be exhausting. You may be up with them throughout the night and things like that. Usually most Dogs seem to do much better after the first two weeks or so and things start getting back to normal. Valentina did have some complications and she took longer than usual to heal. It was about 5 weeks. So we had it a little rougher than most.
After Valentina was healed she was so much happier. So was I because I knew that she wasn't in pain anymore and we got back to our usual routines. She started chasing her toy again and was able to do most of what she did before the amputation. I was so delighted with her. She amazed me so much. I was so happy that I chose the amputation and I was able to have this extra time with her.
Seven months after Valentina's surgery she became unable to walk because of severe spinal arthritis, slipped discs and nerve compression and we had to put her to sleep. I didn't imagine that was how it would happen. However I am grateful for every single minute that I had with Valentina. Seven months doesn't sound like very much but if I hadn't done the amputation I would have had to put her to sleep back in July. To me those months were glorious. I loved her so very much that any amount of time I could have was precious. I also think that she was happy to have been able to be with us longer than we thought. Even considering the difficulties it was completely worth it. To see Valentina happy again and out of pain was a joyous experience.
Hoping so much that you can come to a decision that you are at peace with. I know how hard it is. Hoping that Tripawds can help you come to that decision as you share your story and your feelings. Just talking it out with others that know what you are going through is a huge help. Whatever your decision we are all here to support you and help you any way we can. Praying for you and Ally.
Hi Ally and family
Sorry you went through the surgery to fix the bone before you found out the OSA diagnosis. Don't sweat it too much. Sometimes our dogs end up with a few surgeries for different reasons. Look at poor Lincoln who takes the cake - brain tumour and a long history of other deep doggy doo, but he has sailed through life since amputation over two years ago! Who woulda guessed. (Check out his blog for inspiration!)
If you can get another opinion from a high end vet such as Ohio State or the phone consultation service at CSU, that is great. If I were going down this road again and caught OSA early, I'd probably check out the radiation at CSU (is it SRT, I keep using the wrong iniitials). At the same time, it might mean repeated visits which is kind of difficult if you live far from there.
While the CSU radiation sounds good, my totally uninformed hunch is that it might not be appropriate given Ally already had a fracture - the bone might not be in good enough shape. Amputation might be the best option. Of course you don't like to do another big surgery, but if she is still bright eyed and bushy tailed, it might be the best option.
kbear said
I am simply citing what the CSU oncologists told us. They said that their current patients had a 5-10% chance of primary tumor recurrence after stereotactic radiation.I don't mind you asking the critical questions! I'm a physiologist/biologist by training so I'm used to it and even like it.
KB
Thanks for understanding KB, I hadn't heard that before. We have never seen a case of an OSA tumor recurring at the stump, at least here. Not saying they're not out there but I can't recall seeing any here.
This is good material for future articles and discussions with veterinary oncologists, I'm going to look into that. If you can find that paper I would be grateful.
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I remember reading about Timberkins, who did SRT a few years ago since he had OSA in both front legs (yucko). He had a few treatments during the year, but did make it for about a year, which is pretty darn good - amputation or not.
One thing possibly in favour of SRT - do they have data showing rates of mets if the leg is not amputated? I don't really want to bring up this topic again (but here I go anyway): The spread might actually be less than if the leg is amputated (this is a discussion we had a long time ago and seemed to be backed up by some vets - I don't know if it has come up recently, and by recently I mean in the last year or so).
KBear says SRT can sometimes be used after a fracture - wow - I am a bit surprised. Unless you live near there, you'd have to find out the practicalities. Is it a one-time treatment or is it periodic? Timberkins had to go for SRT about 3 times that year.
Kbear - I love your avatar
I am so sorry to hear about the diagnosis.
We didn't deal with osteosarcoma; but we did deal with cancer and amputation. (Spencer had an aggressive fibrosarcoma, a soft tissue tumor)
We found his tumor and one week later had the leg amputated. In that week we had him have a surgery to try to see if the tumor could be removed and do a biopsy. It came back as cancer and we decided there was no question that we were doing the amputation. During that week I went through a wide range of emotions. Spencer was young - only 4.5 when diagnosed. He was VERY active and I worried that he wouldn't be able to get around. We have lots of stairs and I worried that he wouldn't be able to handle that. I just worried.
He had the leg amputated on Wednesday, I picked him up on Thursday and by Sunday I was having to work to keep him from running. In the end the amputation and chemo only bought us 6 months and 2 days. I don't for a SECOND regret the amputation. I'm pretty sure that had we not done it he would have died within a month of us seeing the tumor. I'm not sure if I regret the chemo. I don't think I regret the first round - 15 weeks; but I have mixed feelings on us doing more chemo once we found the lung mets.
Once we knew we were dealing with an aggressive cancer I just wanted it off of him. I wanted to try to do whatever we could to reduce the chance of it spreading through his body.
I'm pretty sure that if a future dog gets diagnosed with any type of aggressive cancer and amputation is a consideration that a vet will have to convince me not to do it if they don't think it is the right move. Never again will I have to be convinced TO do amputation. The recovery was not bad at all, his quality of life was very high and I know that it was absolutely the right thing to do. I do wish that I had seen the tumor much earlier and had the amputation done earlier; but there is no changing that.
((hugs))
Jac and Angel Spencer. Spencer was 5.25 years old. He fought a grade 3 fibrosarcoma, started on his shoulder. Left front leg amputated in August 2011. 15 weeks of chemo finished 12/22/11 (mytox and adria). Lung mets found on x-rays 12/28/11. Started carboplatin 1/6/12. Went to Heaven on 2/27/12. I miss him like crazy every day. See his blog here: http://spencer.tripawds.com/
To answer you question about pain. I understand about the post op and how scary it is.
But all I can tell you is that bone cancer pain is off the charts! (google bone cancer pain in humans and you'll find out)
Surgery pain is nothing compared to bone cancer pain. And unfortunately she has bone cancer so she is in pain which will get worse with each day. And it's already broken so, you should have your vet immediately remove the leg. Who cares if it heals, it's painful and it's going to break again because it's already broken! And quiet honestly I'd have the vet do it at a cut rate for fixing a cancer leg that he or she should have noticed on a xray. That was the vet's bad call, not yours. Not a vet, but I would assume when he visually saw the bone when he opened her up and he should have been able to tell. As a matter of fact, you should be angry!
So, if you are worried about pain she has it more now than what she will have with surgery pain.
I'm sincerely sorry you are going through this with your furbaby. It's so heartbreaking and you got a really bad deal.
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
If I were going down this road again and caught OSA early, I'd probably check out the radiation at CSU
Tazzie before you jump on the radiation band wagon, one of our moderators went through it personally and it's horrifically painful in humans and it continues to be painful at the site. (maybe she'll write about it one day) And also, privately someone I know has a dog at their vet right now that went to CSU and had radiation for OSA and has a gaping hole that won't heal and the dog is suffering but has lung mets and now it's too late for an amputation.
I'm just telling you what I've heard about it...
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
My dog doesn't have cancer but rather his front leg was broke by trauma. While my baby has alot of other issues he is trying to overcome I can tell you we initial did the surgery to fix his arm. They put pins in to stabalize his arm and 1 week later the pins started to back out (he was a very young puppy in rapid growth stage which pushed the pins out) that 1 week was hard, recovery seemed like it was never going to happen. Once we amputated (1 week after the initial surgery to repair) His pain after the amputation surgery was very obviously less than with the repair. So in my experience I would say they heal faster from the amputation surgery. One reason that may have been so for my baby though, is the break was in between the shoulder and elbow joint so the vet just took the leg at the break. So no more sawing/drilling etc. That could be why it was less painful and quicker recovery. Just wanted to share my experience with having the two surgeries close together.
Hi Everyone,
Jerry asked me to clarify a few things that I wrote about SRS (stereotactic radiation). This may be more detail than our friend Ally and her mom want... but I'll just add a few things here.
I went through my careful notes from our meeting with the oncologist before K had SRS. The vet kept emphasizing that SRS was an excellent choice, as good as amputation, *for K's tumor* because it was small and it was on small bones in the forelimb (radius and ulna). She quoted a 5-10% chance of recurrence of the primary tumor, based on statistics from their clinic. Due to the configuration of K's tumor, she thought that the chance of recurrence was even lower for K. There's also always a chance of fracture at the radiation site but, the vets have learned to offer SRS only to dogs in whom the tumor has not substantially weakened the bone, and consequently, the rate of pathological fracture is dropping really fast.
Finally, please remember that this is a really new technology, and improvements are happening really fast. The odds of a bad burn have gone way down. My personal experience was that my dog's only pain from the procedure was a moderate radiation burn that lasted about a week, and it really didn't slow her down. As far as I can tell, the former tumor site doesn't hurt her now. But, I'm sure that this procedure isn't equally easy for everyone. I saw CometDog's comment, and that sounds very different from K's experience. (my heart goes out to that moderator).
I have been searching for the primary research article that I read at the time that confirmed what the oncologist said about the primary tumor recurrence rate but I haven't found it yet (I'll keep looking). I have read in the articles that I've found, however, that SRS is rarely used on the bigger bones of the front and hind limbs (humerus and femur). Also, if Ally has already suffered a fracture at the site, there's a chance that the vets would not think that she's a good candidate for SRS due to its bone-weakening side effect.
During my search, I did find a good article outlining the options for osteosarcoma that others might find useful.
I am thinking of Ally and her mom... and all of you out there who are suffering with this awful disease. I don't mean to be "pushing" SRS - I simply want to convey our good experience. It was right *for K*.
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.
Cometdog,
Glad you point out the pain issues, for that is what we want to avoid the most. I was en route to CSU for SRS (or SRT???) with Tazzie in Dec 2009 (so I guessed I jumped on the bandwagon previously). His met (lump on a leg) was really too advanced and we did not complete the trip because of that. I am actually glad we did not get to CSU -- well, obviously I would have preferred he survived -- because it is good he did not end up going through more treatment at that stage. I think one of the CSU oncologists saw it was too late but kind of bit her words. But in the fall, 9 months before it was diagnosed, I recall him nibbling on that spot on his leg a lot. At that very early stage if they could have even seen it in an x-ray, it might have been right - who knows. If I ever end up in this situation again, I would look into it as a possible option. But I think finding out from humans as well as dog owners about the consequences of radiation is a great idea. My heart goes out to those people and dogs suffering such effects as you describe.
T
kbear said
Hi Everyone,Jerry asked me to clarify a few things that I wrote about SRS (stereotactic radiation).
Pawesome explanation kBear! We appreciate your taking the time to clarify, this does make a lot more sense now that I see the reason why she was a good candidate.
We know you're not "pushing" this type of treatment, don't worry about that. Heck this is great information to have and I appreciate your adding to the discussion. And we will be writing more about it soon in the News blog .
Everyone wants to do what they can to ensure that our dogs have a good quality of life based on the treatment we pursue, whether or not it results in amputation. We hope nobody ever thinks we're "pro-amputuation". Our goal is to provide support to everyone who needs it, whether or not they've decided on a treatment. We want to make sure we know all we can about every option available before making that big decision, so thank you!
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
Thanks for the information kbear! I'm very glad your experience was tolerated well.
Tazzie, I was too new to remember why you were headed to CSU - I came on actively after you were on the road. Let us hope you don't have to face it again!
Comet - 1999 to 2011
She departed us unexpectedly January 23, 2011 at the age of 12 1/2.
She was born with a deformed front leg and a tripawd all of her life.
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