I want to give a huge thank you to Tripawds creators and contributors for such a wonderful resource - I have found so much helpful information.

Our 5.5 year old Alaska husky is dealing with osteosarcoma, primary tumor in the left distal radius.  It seems like a fairly classic presentation - an unresolving limp since late March and not improving with conservative treatment (rest, ice, NSAIDs), swelling in the wrist and progressively less weight bearing on that limb, a highly-probably finding of OSA based on xrays, and then amputation 6 days later (4/27).  We received post-surgery biopsy results back today with the definitive diagnosis.  No lung mets as of the 4/20 xrays.

So far she is a trooper and learning to get around on 3 legs pretty darn well. We couldn't believe it when we picked her up the next morning and she came slowly hopping into the exam room on her own 3 legs!  While we were wondering how to help her into the car she simply hopped up on the back seat as she usually does!  We only have 1 step to manage into the house and have followed all suggestions for traction and baby gates to block off the stairs.

We are really pleased that our vet has provided good pain management , seems to be very much in line with the guidance given here.  After an overnight stay on Fentanyl drip they sent her home with daily Simplicef (antibiotic), daily 60mg Galliprant (~NSAID) and 300mg Gabapentin to give as needed 1-2 every 8-12 hrs (surgeon said 12h, we have varied it from 6-8-12 hrs after reading experiences on Tripawds and also this helpful article about maintaining adequate serum levels of gabapentin).  We are starting to taper the gabapentin down at day 10, we were finally able to get some 100mg capsules from the vet so we can be a bit more flexible with the dosage.  It's been very effective at sedating (a desirable side effect; Trazodone doesn't work for us at all) but also makes her hopping a bit clumsier and it's nice to see her perk up as we back off.  For the last few days she has even been laying on her incision side with no obvious discomfort.  Any tips on how long we should take to taper down to 0?

We have no vet oncologist in state but our vet has a telephone consult scheduled so we can discuss what chemo options they may be able to provide.