Caring for a Three Legged Dog or Cat
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Hello all,
Of course we will ask our oncologist at the next appointment, but in the meantime, I am hoping some users may be willing to share their experience and what we might expect moving forward.
My dog was diagnosed with osteosarcoma in late March/early April. I can't remember exactly at the moment. He had the affected leg removed and just had his 4th chemo appointment last week. He also had his first x-ray since starting treatment and his chest looks clear for now. We are hopeful for his future but we are emotionally weighed down by the diagnosis. Anyway, our question now, as he approaches the end of chemo, is what comes next? Is that it? Is it a waiting game at that point until the end? I'm not sure what other treatment options there even are at that point or if I want to put him through anything else.
Thanks for your input.
Hi Chris, welcome! Your future post won't need to wait for approval so post away.
Tell us more about your dog. What kind of breed type, age, personality, etc.? We would love to learn more!
So the diagnosis sucks, we get it. There is so much worry about what will happen and how things will play out. But you know what? Our dogs don't worry! They keep living just as they ever did, only a little differently because of their new life on three legs. They do worry though, when they see us consumed with all those what ifs that steal our time away from them, from being in the moment together.
I bring this up because really, the thing to expect now is that it will take all you have to stay present, be with your dog in the moment, and don't let cancer dictate how you look at him or view his future.
Yes, osteosarcoma eventually comes back in one way or another, usually the lungs. If you want to do all you can to delay the onset, studying up on nutrition and the latest cancer vaccine news to see if he qualifies for treatment can help you feel like you are doing something to help. I recommend the Dog Cancer Survival Guide as a way to get to know what a good dog cancer diet looks like, and to stay up on things with the Dog Cancer Blog and Podcast. Knowledge is power and the more you know the more you can feel good about the decisions you make. It doesn't mean you have to try everything, but just by staying up on health and wellness for dogs with cancer you can feel better and know you left no stone unturned to do what you can within your means, and keeping his quality of life in mind.
Your vet will also recommend follow-up x-rays/scans, but those are totally optional. You need to ask yourself what you will do with that information if you do find out that he has lung mets at some point. Some folks do the regular scans every six months or so, some don't. There are no right or wrong choices.
I hope this helps!
Is it a waiting game at that point until the end
Jerry answered this so well:
the thing to expect now is that it will take all you have to stay present, be with your dog in the moment, and don't let cancer dictate how you look at him or view his future.
It is sooooo important to stay fully present each and every moment yo u have with your pup. He does NOT have a timeframe stamped anywhere on his vutt. Take a look....do you see a timeframe stamped anywhere?? No! No one knows how mich time any of us have in our earth clothes. Dogs do not count days on the calendar. They fully live in the now.....in the present . That is the lesson they teach us. The only way this piece of crap disease "wins" is if we let it interfere with each and every moment we have with our dogs. That's the one regret some have expressed......they spent too much time worrying about the tomorrows instead of rejoicing in the todays.
Is it a waiting game at that point until the end? I'm not sure what other treatment options there even are at that point or if I want to put him through anything else.
It's a very personal decision what, if anything, anyone wants to pursue beyond chemo. FWIW after my Happy Hannah had her four rounds of chemo Carboplatin, I didn't pursue anything else. If I recall, I think I continued some supplements, Apocaps , K9 Immunity Plus. I made sure every moment was the best moment ever and we just got on with living life to the fullest, No more Vet visits ., no more xrays, no more poking and prodding, just lots of spoiling and loving and treats and some watermelon and some ice cream!
Stay connected and, as Jerry said, we would love to hear more about your preci boy.
Hugs
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 Chris, I have faced bone cancer five times now in the past 14 years with four of them being osteosarcoma. I suffer horribly from anticipatory grief. Support from this group is so important sometimes. Stay connected.
I did lung xrays every three months at first for my boy Nixon and it never spread to his lungs. I cannot tell you how anxious I would be before his appointment and sometimes days before. Nixon lived 26 months post amp and was weeks away from his 12th birthday. He died of liver failure while in remission. I blogged in his voice to help me through it all. He passed in 2015.
What I did learn from Nixon is how to be present. How to let go of the worry and just focus on enjoying the moments. Nixon was never shy about letting me know what he needed or if something bothered him.
I do think that dogs need to have a bit of diva in their personality to really thrive as a tripawd. The two of you will bond quite a bit as you develop new rituals to accommodate life on three legs. Mostly getting in and out of the car can be different and many are a lot more thirsty when you do things out and about.
Do not sit around and wait for the end. Live. What are your dogs favorite things? Make sure you are doing them as often as time and resources allow. Learn to do nose work. Try food puzzles but make sure to keep him lean. See a rehab vet ASAP and check in with them every six months. Do your physical therapy at home to keep him limber and strong.
I am kind of out of the loop on current research as my last round with OSA just ended on Tuesday but Allen was a very anxious dog so I was limited with what I was going to put him through. We did turkey tail mushrooms, Chinese herbs, joint supplements, and acupuncture every three weeks for the past two years. Allen was too anxious to try chemo.
We have to be real and financial stresses have to be considered too. I spent $7k just trying to figure out what the tumor was, wanted to do radiation but the bone was too far gone by the time we realized we were never going to figure it out. He had life threatening genetic disorders that caused his amputation to run another $7k or so. We all want what is best for our dogs but we are all at different ages, income streams, family dynamics, etc. Just because someone else is doing a certain treatment does not mean it is the norm or that you have to do the same.
I was not broke but running out of money in my emergency fund (Sorry Dave Ramsey but I am my pets steward and providing medical care to the best of my ability is part of the job description) and prices of the vaccines were looking prohibitive. I didn't have a vehicle that Allen fit in comfortably nor could he get in and out I'd it comfortably so I bought him a used minivan instead of further treatment. I do not regret this decision at all.
Allen was adopted September 30, 2020 and his amputation was in May 2022. By the time all the restrictions lifted, Allen was set in his ways. I tried to do things I did with my previous dogs and he said no.
We live in a small town of 600 that has a surprising number of tripawds and Allen was just happy staying in our one stop light town. He knew every car all of our neighbors drive. He let strangers know they were not from around here. He loved the Amazon deliveries and had to sniff every package that arrived. We checked the mailbox three times a day and he had to sniff every letter. He wanted to go for a walk at three am because the newspaper lady came through the and she had milkbones in her car. He would never eat milkbones from anyone else but she was wonderful for having them. If you stopped once to say hi to him he expected everyone to always stop.
Congrats on finishing chemo. Celebrate each day you have together. Count the months going forward, not backwards. The hardest part for the humans is that we have no idea how this ends until we reach it. Do not dwell on it, just live each day fully, do not put off taking the picture or anything. Always do it now and right now.
Two weeks ago, I didn't snap a cute picture of how my dogs were looking at each other after being separated for 10 minutes thinking I would have another chance to get that look. Nope. Two years ago, when my horse turned 26, I wanted to get a photographer out to celebrate her birthday but decided to wait a couple of months until she shed out her winter coat. She was died two weeks later. Lesson learned is do not wait for the perfect moment, right now is always perfect.
When Nixon died, I was so proud of my Rockstar for trusting me and making it 26 months post amp. He was almost 12. I put myself through hell waiting/dreading for metastatic cancer that never came.
There were times that we could have done more if I was not stuck counting down the months left. I did hire a photographer who specializes in hospice pets to do a wonderful photo shoot with Nixon because I was told he would only live 11 months being a male greyhound (male greyhounds get OSA more than any other breed of dog and more than female greyhounds and life expectancy is less but I think it is because so many greyhound owners just give up and chose no treatment at all). He lived another 18 months but those pictures are amazing and even though I was not in a good place mentally when we did them, they bring me so much joy now.
When my girls got osteo at 14 and 12, I was OK with it because we had lived full lives together and no one was going to rob those memories from us. Allen lived the same amount of time as Nixon did post amp but he was only 6 when he died. I cherish every single day we had together but I would be a liar if I didn't say I am so angry right now and feeling robbed. My boy was just a baby compared to all my other dogs. The bright side is I was not crippled with anticipatory grief this time and I know that helped our pack.
Thank you for all of your responses so far. Apologies if I'm slow to respond.
Hermes is an 85 lb husky mix and will be 8 in a few months. He can be a difficult dog to impress, receives love on his own terms, is extremely loyal to his pack, and despite how stubborn he can be, he is a very loving dog who expresses his happiness and affection through licks. He has a big personality and is 100% a momma's boy. We have a strong bond, but he is closer to my wife.
There are a few things so far that have really resonated with me. Living in the moment and not letting the cancer impact my day-to-day with him is tough for me. He's still a young dog to me and I feel like this diagnosis has robbed him and us, but I'll have to be better about this. My wife handles it better than I do. I try not to let him sense it, but it definitely clouds the way I see him and interact with him. I was so anxious for the results of his x-ray last week I cried when they were clear. I joke with my wife that after his appointments I don't even know if they've given him chemo because the side effects have been so minimal so far. You wouldn't know he had cancer if we didn't tell you, but he seems less energetic after this last round of chemo and can't go as far on his walks. He keeps going, though. We have been taking him new places, bringing friends over to interact with him (he loves when people come to see him), and trying to find ways to make him happy and giving him reason to "want" to live as much as a dog can.
We'll have to be better about his diet, too. We've reduced his food intake since he isn't as active as he used to be and gets tired quicker now that he has 3 legs, but it's hard not to spoil him with treats and human food while we can. We did took him to a rehab appointment to learn how to stretch him and keep his limbs limber and strong thanks to this forum.
Hello and welcome.
I'm sorry you have found yourselves here- I'm glad your boy has recovered and is handling chemo well.
I want to share my story with you, I hope it helps.
My Pug Maggie was diagnosed with a mast cell tumor in her knee and amputation was recommended. I somehow thought the amp would be curative since the cancer wasn't seen anywhere else prior to surgery. When the path report came back it was devastating. Her prognosis was poor, WITH chemo I was told she had 6 to 9 months. I fixated on the calendar, sure she would soon be gone. I also spent lots of time mourning the things I knew she couldn't do anymore.
Meanwhile, Maggie was figuring out how to do what she wanted to do. She didn't care about the prognosis, she didn't miss the things she couldn't do anymore. I was so fortunate that I had time to realize that she was still my girl, that she was the same, obstinate (actually more obstinate!) Pug she had always been. She was enjoying every day like dogs do... one day at a time. We were also fortunate that Maggie outlived her prognosis and in fact did not pass from mast cell cancer. Not everyone is so lucky but it does happen.
I learned from the first cancer journey to ignore the prognosis and instead focus on my dog. Be optimistic until there is a real reason not to be. Enjoy and treasure every moment in every day. Try and live like dogs do- in the moment.
Unfortunately Maggie developed a second, unrelated cancer. I tried to use the lessons I learned from the first cancer. While I knew time was short I didn't ask for a prognosis. I determined what the minimum quality of life was for her and used that as my guide. I made sure everyday was her best day. It wasn't easy but when we got to the end I knew we had made the most of our time.
Karen and the Spirit Pug Girls and Boy
Tri-pug Maggie survived a 4.5 year mast cell cancer battle only to be lost to oral melanoma.
1999 to 2010
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