Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hi everyone. I brought Tasha in for her bone biopsy and blood work yesterday and she is back home resting tonight. The blood work came back with nothing remarkable so they have ruled out multiple myeloma. I need to wait for the results of the bone biopsy to know if it is osteosarcoma for sure. I have scheduled her amputation for next Thursday and my head is completely spinning so I come to all of you veterans for advice!
I am so worried about the amputation...that Tasha just won't be the same afterward or won't be enjoy the things she used to like hiking and swimming. The doctors at Tufts (who have been amazing) assure me that dogs do really well with losing a limb, as so many of you can attest to. I worry will she be able to walk okay since she is going to lose a front leg or how will she get down the stairs in the house or will she be depressed that she only has three legs???
Then I think about the cost. This whole process has already been expensive and there is much more to go. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love my dog and would do anything for her. But she is almost 9 and the doctors say the median for a dog with amputation and chemo is 9 months to a year...at best. I know many of you have defied those odds. Some people say it's only a dog and I can't believe you are going to spend that much. But I believe you make a lifetime commitment to your pets through good and bad and do all that you can for them. I am struggling with spending so much money knowing that the outcome isn't good and that she may possibly live for only 5 to 6 months instead of 5 to 6 years. At what point do you say who am I doing this for? But I don't know if I could live with myself if I didn't try to do everything for her.
I just feel like I can't catch my breath because it is so overwhelming and there are so many decisions. I guess I am just looking for some advice from those of you who have been down this path.
Thanks in advance!
Tasha was a German ShepherdBorder Collie mix who was diagnosed with OSA at age 8. On December 29, 2011 she had her front right leg amputated and received 4 rounds of chemo. Sadly and suddenly Tasha became sick and we discovered she had liver cancer that had spread to her lung. After almost 19 months, Tasha earned her wings on July 17, 2013. No regrets and never forgotten.
You have come to the right place for support! Cancer sucks and amputation is scary. It's ok to have lots of questions. Tasha is lucky to have such an aware paw rent.
Amputation is a major surgery and the recovery time can be difficult. However, after the first few weeks, most dogs feel a lot better. Bo was a front-amp too. He was going up and down the stairs days after surgery. There is some gear that you can get to assist her with mobility, like a harness.
It's hard not to think about numbers and weighing the worth of the surgery. For us, the bottom line was that Bo was in pain. Amputation enabled him to live the rest of his life pain free. We looked at quality of life instead of quantity. We did not do chemo, just amputation. It was expensive and emotionally taxing at times. Bo lived for 3 pain free months post-amp and I do not regret the surgery. We learned so much from our dog in those months and found a new outlook on life.
Whatever you choose will be right for Tasha because you are making a decision out of love for her. Please keep us posted and ask as many questions as you need to. Good luck!!
PS-Bo was swimming 17 days post-amp. We could never keep that dog out of the water!
take a moment...roll tasha over...look at her belly, look at her butt...is there a date stamp there??? is there a 'good until' date?? no. the nostradamus numbers are 'best guesses'. they are not tasha's number. gayle was ten when she lost her right front leg, she weighed almost 70 lbs...they gave us a 60% chance she'd make it a year. gayle loved life for almost 22 months, and would have kept going, had it not been for a second cancer that was extremely invasive and took her after a year long battle. she had an excellent life, enjoying the same pleasures she loved prior to losing her leg. she may have lost a little speed, but she never lost her lust for life.
what we're trying to get at is, there are no guarantees in life, for any of us. if tasha is in pain, and you can end the pain with amputation, then well, there you go. yes it's expensive, and sometimes there are options we can not pursue because we just can't afford it. that's just another part of life that we must accept.
as long as you keep loving tasha, and make your decisions out of love for tasha, then you are on the right track. this is so very scary and we know it can be overwhelming....kinda like trying to eat an elephant... but take it one bite at a time.
we are here for you, you are not alone. tufts is an excellent school. you love tasha. take it bite by bite.
charon & spirit gayle
Life is good, so very, very good!!! Gayle enjoyed each and every moment of each and every wonderful day (naps included). She left this world December 12, 2011 – off on a new adventure.
Love Never Ends
Those feelings going through your head are entirely normal and nobody here will judge you about second guessing your choices, so speak what's on your mind and we'll be here to help as best we can.
First, like Gayle's Mom said, there are no guarantees, no expiration dates, nada. The statistics doctors give are medians based on dogs in studies. They do not take into consideration your dog. So while those figures are good guidelines, they are by no means a prediction. I didn't have chemo, and I lived 24 months post-amputation up to the age of 10. Many of us here make our doctors look verrry silly! The best part about amputation is that no matter how much time Tasha has left, you will be helping to get rid of the awful pain of bone cancer.
I do want to warn you as I"m sure the doctors have, that with every major surgery, there are risks. A few dogs do not make it through surgery due to an unforeseen blood clot or something like that. However, with her being at Tufts, those risks are incredibly minimized. She couldn't be in better hands.
Next, you do need to consider the cost. It's only fair to your pack, because if you're stressed about what it takes to pay for the treatments and all that, nobody is happy. Do what you can afford to do so that Tasha's life is filled with love and happiness, not fear and worry. Nobody says you have to do chemo, which is the most expensive part. Many of us here didn't have it (search our news blog for "Eisen"...he was diagnosed at the age of 9 and is still kickin' cancer's butt at age 12, without ever having done chemo!).
Finally, take things one step at a time. First, deal with the amputation. Take each day of recovery step by step, hop by hop. Be strong and know that if your girl has a zest for life to begin with, that will help her tremendously as she recuperates. Yes, your life will be different together and you will have a new normal, but that new normal will be filled with so many great lessons and moments that teach you about what really matters in life, like facing adversity without fear, guilt or worry and never taking the next day for granted. Tasha won't be afraid, so just follow her lead, you'll be fine.
{{{{hugs]}}}}}
Tripawds Founders Jim and Rene
tripawds.com | tripawds.org | bemoredog.net | triday.pet
I think my first post I wrote on this site was alsmost exactly the same as yours! My dog Levi was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma sometime the beginning of July. After sobbing our eyes out and researching and talking to at least 5 vets we decided to not do amputation and Chemo. It seems like I was reading more horror stories than good ones (this was before I found Tripawds). And most of the vets we talked to said there was really nothing we can do...Also, Our dog was extremely active. He ran 14 miles with me once this spring...And then of course there were all those people that thought "it was ridiculous to spend that kind of money" etc. etc. My husband didn't want to spend the money, and all the reason's to NOT amputate go on and on. So we kept Levi comfortable with all kinds of pain meds and I was a constant train wreck every morning wondering if today would be a good day or a bad. I couldn't focus on work because I had to be home to give Levi his pain Meds. This goes on til October. The pain meds stop helping and "it's time"...I pretty much have a nervous breakdown at a Friend's birthday party on a Saturday night. I'm so mad at myself for not at least trying to save him. I was mad at myself for listening to everyone else. THis is my dog and I wanted to do what I wanted. I got my husband on board with me and we set the appointment with the oncologist. If the cancer had spread we were going to put him down. If it hadn't spread we were going to go through with the amputation. The cancer hadn't spread so he went for surgery the next day. Recovery wasn't fun for 2-3 weeks. But then, the next thing we knew he was chasing a tennis ball and walking a few miles with me at the dog park. And now only 8 weeks later he is trail running with me. We're up to 4.5 miles. He wrestles with our puppy, goes up and down stairs like it's nothing, chews bones with his one front paw. Life is almost exactly as it was. I would say the big difference is he can't run with me for long periods of time on a leash. He does much better off leash. He has had three round of Chemo with zero side effects. The point of my long story is don't put yourself through hell and back 10 times like I did over the last 5 months. If I could go back I would just do the amputation and start the chemo. All you can do is hope for the best from there! Watching them limp on that leg for months was a 1000 times worse than having a tripawd. Plus, the leg can break so that was a constant worry. I know not every dog is going adjust as well as Levi but I just wanted to share our story. You know what's best for your dog and I respect everyones decisions either way because we had NO CLUE what to decide. The first two weeks I still didn't feel like I did the right thing...but watch this! 5 weeks post op
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Hope this helps! By the way Levi is a 6 year old Doberman. Left Front leg amp.
Levi was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma 7-7-11
Ampuversary 10-14-11
Lung Mets Discovered 1-4-12. Chemo seemed to not be working so we switched to Artemisinin and other supplements. In May, Levi developed a sinus infection and started having seizures. The cancer had moved to his brain. We let him go 6-26-12.
I don't have a lot to add to what others have said except to say that the amputation, in general, is much harder on us humans than it is on the dogs. Again, in general, once the dogs recover and get their stitches out and are off the pain meds, they are pretty much back to their old selves. I will definitely second what Levi's mom said - it's much easier afterwards to walk/run our dog off leash than on leash, but for the most part Abby went back to doing everything she did before. Assuming everything goes well, Tasha will be able to get back to the things she love - and she'll be doing them pain free.
Of course you do need to consider the financial side of it. You should not feel guilty for considering that side of it. I know we all want to do whatever we can for our pups, but like Jerry said, being stressed and in debt is not going to be a good way to spend your time with Tasha.
There are no guarantees for any of us as to how much time we have left. We are almost at 14 months post-amp with Abby. We probably don't have tons of time left with her due to new complications, but she's had an amazing 14 months. Even if you got less time than that, you can still have lots of good times ahead with your girl. (And when you consider that a year to a dog = ~7 years of human life, then 6 months = ~3 1/2 years, 3 months = almost 2 years to a dog. That's a lot of extra happy time that your dog will get to spend with you!)
Whatever you decide - we're here to help and support. There are no wrong decisions because YOU know your dog best and you know what she can handle.
Keep us posted! Hang in there! I know it's all very overwhelming, but you'll get through it.
Jackie, 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!
I agree with what everyone else has said. My boy was 8 years old at the time of the amputation, weighed in at 117, and is a front amp too. Now he is at 16 months cancer free and still loving life. I hate math anyway, so it is easy for me to say statistics are just numbers. We are loving every minute we have together, it has made us so much closer and life is so much sweeter. If you can afford to do this (I am paying down this debt every month so I know that is a challenging factor) then I recommend you don't count the time as being enough or not enough, live in the moment. Every moment with my boy Sammy is priceless, he is the one that makes me feel loved and happy and eases my day every day. It was worth it, even to get just one more moment with him.
That is just my take on it, you should take what you want from what I said and discard the rest 🙂
Elizabeth and Sammy
Diagnosed with osteosarcoma in the right front leg 8/23/10,
leg fractured 8/27/10,
leg amputated 8/30/10
http://sammyand.....pawds.com/
I couldn't begin to say how special Sammy is to us. Living and laughing with and loving this wonderful boy is priceless.
I really don't have any advice to offr on this. Mercy lost her leg to an accident before I adopted her. All I can do is offer you my best wishes for Tasha's speedy recovery and my assurance that I've yet to discover anything that Mercy can't do because of her amp.
I am curious about something, though. How close do you live to Tuft's? I ask because Mercy and I live in Grafton. Maybe once Tasha is recovered we could get together for tripawd day at the dog park!
Well, this is a place full of those 'crazy' dog people!! We don't have discussions about 'it's only a dog'.
That being said- you do have to consider finances, don't feel bad about that. It doesn't mean you love Tasha any less, it is just the reality of the situation.
My pug didn't have OSA, she had mast cell cancer. I also thought that there must be a date stamp somewhere on her once the vet said she had 6 to 9 months. She lived almost 4 years after her amp- and passed from a second unrelated cancer.
Maggie was as obstinate as any pug I have ever met, she hated change to her routine. She was not a happy pug for about 4 or 5 weeks after her amp surgery- longer than most pups you read about here. I was convinced I had made the wrong decision by choosing amputation. She took her time, but eventually came back to herself and was the happy (and still obstinate) pug I had always known. She was 7.5 years old at the time of surgery.
It is all about doing what you can for Tasha to give her the best quality of life. You make your decisions with love for her and you can't be wrong!
Karen and the pugapalooza
Thank you so much everyone for all your stories and advice. It really is great to hear from people who have been through this (unfortunately) and can understand all the emotions that come with it and can offer their experiences.
I have to say Levi, looks amazing! Both of your dogs are absolutely beautiful. It's so inspiring to see him getting around on his 3 legs as if he never had four. In fact he makes it look easy. Thank you for sharing the video. I am trying to take bite by bite on the elephant. Take each day and obstacle as they come and not think too much in advance or worry about the statistics.
Crazydoglady, we are down in the Foxboro area but I am sure once Tasha has recovered she would love to meet another Tripawd!
This site is amazing and a life saver...you have all been so nice and supportive. Again, thank you to everyone for the advice and sharing your stories. I'll keep y'all updated on Tasha's progress. Fingers and paws crossed!
Kathy and Tasha
Tasha was a German ShepherdBorder Collie mix who was diagnosed with OSA at age 8. On December 29, 2011 she had her front right leg amputated and received 4 rounds of chemo. Sadly and suddenly Tasha became sick and we discovered she had liver cancer that had spread to her lung. After almost 19 months, Tasha earned her wings on July 17, 2013. No regrets and never forgotten.
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