Comments on: Canine Osteosarcoma: Amputation and Life Quality http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/ Dr. Demian Dressler, DVM, the dog cancer vet blogs about canine cancer Sun, 05 Sep 2010 18:36:54 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.1 By: Mary Brown http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-3170 Mary Brown Wed, 25 Aug 2010 14:22:45 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-3170 This is all a Lie of bull... 11 months ago my Siberian was diagnoised with cancer in her back left leg, the told me the only way to say her was to amputate... AND he said IF we did this it would be gone!!! Yesterday she was diagnosed with lungs full of cancer and has about 2 weeks to live. I am devistated... The just make their $$$...........:( This is all a Lie of bull… 11 months ago my Siberian was diagnoised with cancer in her back left leg, the told me the only way to say her was to amputate… AND he said IF we did this it would be gone!!! Yesterday she was diagnosed with lungs full of cancer and has about 2 weeks to live. I am devistated… The just make their $$$………..:(

]]> By: Lacy http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-3152 Lacy Wed, 18 Aug 2010 21:29:04 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-3152 My dog was diagnosed with osteosarcoma yesterday and I just want to make sure that I am making the right decision in putting her down. This is devestating to my family as she is such a sweet girl and a part of our family. She is a St bernard, great pyrenese and weighs 167lbs. I was told about the option of amputation, it is on her left front leg, and I am afraid she will have a very hard time getting around, and really do not want her to suffer from pain. I am having a hard time accepting the idea of putting her down because she is so loving and she is still mobile, with a limp that varies in severity. She is only 5 years old and I still see her as a baby. Is it the right decision to have her put down so that she does not suffer? My dog was diagnosed with osteosarcoma yesterday and I just want to make sure that I am making the right decision in putting her down. This is devestating to my family as she is such a sweet girl and a part of our family. She is a St bernard, great pyrenese and weighs 167lbs. I was told about the option of amputation, it is on her left front leg, and I am afraid she will have a very hard time getting around, and really do not want her to suffer from pain. I am having a hard time accepting the idea of putting her down because she is so loving and she is still mobile, with a limp that varies in severity. She is only 5 years old and I still see her as a baby. Is it the right decision to have her put down so that she does not suffer?

]]> By: suzy http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-3034 suzy Wed, 07 Jul 2010 00:08:24 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-3034 Dr. Dressler,Its been over a year since my Rottie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma. Since last May I chose surgery to remove that horrible cancer. My choice for amputation was the best choice I ever made.He No way was ready to be put to sleep. My dog will be 10 this month.We have had some issues, he has overcome. However, again, now he has such a hard time getting up, although once he is up, he goes out, sniffs, does his business. and comes in, sometimes he lays like he is sick, and may not feel good, othertimes, ears out, wrinkles in the forehead to say lets go. Im confused with the outcome of this type of surgery, Originally, His blood tests and chest Xray said no cancer elsewhere, Im curious about the outcome for this cancer, Can it resurface in other limbs? Even after the films came back clear? Again, I know you have not examined my dog, Can you please enlighten me on this Osteosarcoma and typically the outcome? Dr. Dressler,Its been over a year since my Rottie was diagnosed with Osteosarcoma. Since last May I chose surgery to remove that horrible cancer. My choice for amputation was the best choice I ever made.He No way was ready to be put to sleep. My dog will be 10 this month.We have had some issues, he has overcome. However, again, now he has such a hard time getting up, although once he is up, he goes out, sniffs, does his business. and comes in, sometimes he lays like he is sick, and may not feel good, othertimes, ears out, wrinkles in the forehead to say lets go. Im confused with the outcome of this type of surgery, Originally, His blood tests and chest Xray said no cancer elsewhere, Im curious about the outcome for this cancer, Can it resurface in other limbs? Even after the films came back clear? Again, I know you have not examined my dog, Can you please enlighten me on this Osteosarcoma and typically the outcome?

]]> By: suzy http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-3021 suzy Sat, 03 Jul 2010 00:12:31 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-3021 Dr. Dressler, May 2009, I had my 8 year old Rottie's leg amputated because of osteosarcoma, As I have posted, he has had some problems that we have overcome, He is still my strong boy today, loves his food, alert, watching, ect. however, this evening, I was outside with him, he was sniffing, looking around, when suddenly he let out a cry, a cry I remember well. I checked him, and now I see, his right front leg is very weak and very limp. As you can imagine, Im worried. I know you cant tell me what is up with that, because you have not examined him, but I want to ask you, have you seen this and can it be more osteosarcoma in the front leg now? Thank you Dr. D. Dr. Dressler, May 2009, I had my 8 year old Rottie’s leg amputated because of osteosarcoma, As I have posted, he has had some problems that we have overcome, He is still my strong boy today, loves his food, alert, watching, ect. however, this evening, I was outside with him, he was sniffing, looking around, when suddenly he let out a cry, a cry I remember well. I checked him, and now I see, his right front leg is very weak and very limp. As you can imagine, Im worried. I know you cant tell me what is up with that, because you have not examined him, but I want to ask you, have you seen this and can it be more osteosarcoma in the front leg now? Thank you Dr. D.

]]> By: Maria http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-2713 Maria Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:02:22 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-2713 PLEASE HELP --- front leg amputation??? I found out last week that my 7 year old Rottie has OSA. We took him to a specialist and he gave us our options. The only two I am considering, are amputation plus chemo, or keeping him comfortable and have him live out his life. He has a bone tumor in his front left leg, and the leg would need to be amputated just under the shoulder blade. I've read a lot of comments on here, and most of the amputations are of back legs. He is very tall for a Rott and he weighs about 130 pounds. He limps pretty bad, and once in a while I will see him do a little hop and not even use that bad leg. This dog seriously means everything to me. At first I wanted to do the amputation, but then I spoke with some family members and they all thought his quality of life would be poor because he wouldn't be able to get around that well on one front leg. So in the past couple of days I thought I had made my decision to not amputate. Now that I am reading everyone's comments, I am even more lost. Almost 2 years ago I lost my 48 year old mother to non hodgkins lymphoma. She was given 12-18 months to live or to try a bone marrow transplant. Well basically we went for the transplant, and it was a slow and painful 6 months until she died. I don't want to go for the amputation and have him be miserable and it be unsuccessful. THe oncologist said by the looks of the x-ray, his bad leg will probably break within a month, and at that point we will need to put him down. Other than a little bit of grumpiness due to the pain, he is still himself! I can't imagine putting him down like that. Two factors I must consider (besides how incredibly expensive this will all be) is that last summer he had a toe amputated because of carcinoma. The vet said his OSA is unrelated. I don't want to go through all of this for him to only get a 3rd cancer in a couple of months. Also, he hates going to the vet's office. He gets anxious and nervous, and he basically hates being away from home, so I can only imagine how stressful being in the hospital and then the chemo visits will be for him. Basically I need some advice on how his quality of life will be with 1 front leg. I need to make my final decision pretty soon! PLEASE HELP — front leg amputation???

I found out last week that my 7 year old Rottie has OSA. We took him to a specialist and he gave us our options. The only two I am considering, are amputation plus chemo, or keeping him comfortable and have him live out his life. He has a bone tumor in his front left leg, and the leg would need to be amputated just under the shoulder blade. I’ve read a lot of comments on here, and most of the amputations are of back legs. He is very tall for a Rott and he weighs about 130 pounds. He limps pretty bad, and once in a while I will see him do a little hop and not even use that bad leg. This dog seriously means everything to me. At first I wanted to do the amputation, but then I spoke with some family members and they all thought his quality of life would be poor because he wouldn’t be able to get around that well on one front leg. So in the past couple of days I thought I had made my decision to not amputate. Now that I am reading everyone’s comments, I am even more lost.

Almost 2 years ago I lost my 48 year old mother to non hodgkins lymphoma. She was given 12-18 months to live or to try a bone marrow transplant. Well basically we went for the transplant, and it was a slow and painful 6 months until she died. I don’t want to go for the amputation and have him be miserable and it be unsuccessful. THe oncologist said by the looks of the x-ray, his bad leg will probably break within a month, and at that point we will need to put him down. Other than a little bit of grumpiness due to the pain, he is still himself! I can’t imagine putting him down like that.

Two factors I must consider (besides how incredibly expensive this will all be) is that last summer he had a toe amputated because of carcinoma. The vet said his OSA is unrelated. I don’t want to go through all of this for him to only get a 3rd cancer in a couple of months. Also, he hates going to the vet’s office. He gets anxious and nervous, and he basically hates being away from home, so I can only imagine how stressful being in the hospital and then the chemo visits will be for him.

Basically I need some advice on how his quality of life will be with 1 front leg. I need to make my final decision pretty soon!

]]> By: Dr. Dressler http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-2706 Dr. Dressler Tue, 06 Apr 2010 04:47:08 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-2706 Dear Kristy, although it is true that over 90% of the dogs with OSA have mets (often micrometastasis) at the time of diagnosis, it does not mean that your dog will have them. Sadly we do not have a test for these. Most of the time diagnosis by X-ray is adequate, especially if you are dealing with an experienced clinician. I believe you would be well served to use all of the tools at your disposal, from the conventional side, diet, supplements (as usual I use <a href="http://www.apocaps.com" rel="nofollow">Apocaps</a> in my patients), stress management and life quality enhancement, touch therapies, sunlight and so on, once your Dane is up and going again. Wishing you the best, Dr D Dear Kristy, although it is true that over 90% of the dogs with OSA have mets (often micrometastasis) at the time of diagnosis, it does not mean that your dog will have them. Sadly we do not have a test for these. Most of the time diagnosis by X-ray is adequate, especially if you are dealing with an experienced clinician. I believe you would be well served to use all of the tools at your disposal, from the conventional side, diet, supplements (as usual I use Apocaps in my patients), stress management and life quality enhancement, touch therapies, sunlight and so on, once your Dane is up and going again.
Wishing you the best,
Dr D

]]> By: Kristy http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-2692 Kristy Fri, 02 Apr 2010 02:53:52 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-2692 We just got the diagnosis today of osteosarcoma in our 6yo Great Dane's right front upper leg (humerus). We initially noticed a slight limp, which quickly progressed to severe pain & lameness ~2 months ago, but initial x-rays were negative for tumors and fractures. She has no history of any limb fractures/surgeries and even very little arthritis damage was seen on the x-rays. She underwent a course of Lyme-disease meds and then 2 anitbiotics when the pain returned after the first round of meds. No progress was made - she began using the limb again for ~2 weeks, but stopped again ~2 weeks ago and has had severe pain around the shoulder. A return trip to the vet today including a consult with an orthopedic and x-rays under sedation were repeated. This time the x-rays showed the beginnings of a tumor at the upper humerus - but still not as obvious as in some of the x-rays I have seen online. X-rays of the lungs came back clear, but since it has been 2 months (with significant pain & lameness) what is the liklihood that there are micrometastesis in the lungs even though the tumor is just starting to show now?? The vet (& many online posts) say that by the time dogs are typically seen for this, the cancer has likely already spread, but is true even if the actual tumor was not yet obvious on the x-ray? (Meaning, is our dog hypersensitive & showed more severe signs of pain earlier than others might?) Is there significant merit in getting a blood screen to check levels of 'alkaline phosphatase' as a marker for better/worse prognosis? Any other enzymes/etc. that can be screened to give an indication of (micro)metastasis? How necessary is it to get a pre-amputation bone biopsy? Our dog seems to have classic symptoms & with the x-ray change, is that enough to diagnose OSA? We just got the diagnosis today of osteosarcoma in our 6yo Great Dane’s right front upper leg (humerus). We initially noticed a slight limp, which quickly progressed to severe pain & lameness ~2 months ago, but initial x-rays were negative for tumors and fractures. She has no history of any limb fractures/surgeries and even very little arthritis damage was seen on the x-rays. She underwent a course of Lyme-disease meds and then 2 anitbiotics when the pain returned after the first round of meds. No progress was made – she began using the limb again for ~2 weeks, but stopped again ~2 weeks ago and has had severe pain around the shoulder. A return trip to the vet today including a consult with an orthopedic and x-rays under sedation were repeated. This time the x-rays showed the beginnings of a tumor at the upper humerus – but still not as obvious as in some of the x-rays I have seen online. X-rays of the lungs came back clear, but since it has been 2 months (with significant pain & lameness) what is the liklihood that there are micrometastesis in the lungs even though the tumor is just starting to show now?? The vet (& many online posts) say that by the time dogs are typically seen for this, the cancer has likely already spread, but is true even if the actual tumor was not yet obvious on the x-ray? (Meaning, is our dog hypersensitive & showed more severe signs of pain earlier than others might?) Is there significant merit in getting a blood screen to check levels of ‘alkaline phosphatase’ as a marker for better/worse prognosis? Any other enzymes/etc. that can be screened to give an indication of (micro)metastasis? How necessary is it to get a pre-amputation bone biopsy? Our dog seems to have classic symptoms & with the x-ray change, is that enough to diagnose OSA?

]]> By: Dr. Dressler http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-2662 Dr. Dressler Sun, 28 Mar 2010 11:43:57 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-2662 Dear Andrew, I would lean towards the specialists' advice in general, and the more experienced the better. Look to the qualifications of the person giving the advice, the numbers of cases they have managed and so on. Best, Dr D Dear Andrew,
I would lean towards the specialists’ advice in general, and the more experienced the better. Look to the qualifications of the person giving the advice, the numbers of cases they have managed and so on.
Best,
Dr D

]]> By: Andrew http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-2656 Andrew Sat, 27 Mar 2010 18:38:13 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-2656 Hello, My dog, a 70# lab/hound mix does not nave cancer. However, I am facing the decision to do a partial (radial/humerus) amputatin versus a full amputation of his foreleg secondary to a partial brachial plexus injury. He seems to use the leg to swim, run and dig as well as climbing onto the sofas, and into the car. Unfortunately he is chewing on his paw and it needs to be removed. He injured dislocated the other shoulder int he accident and had to have it surgically repaired and the elbow on this side had been fractured before we rescued him and had healed badly. So he is using a not so good leg to stand on. I am thinking that a partial amputation with the use of a prosthesis will allow him to use the leg to take up some of the strain on his other leg. The regular vets are pushing towards a complete amputation including the scapula and shoulder. The Orthopedic / Rehab vets are recomending the amputation be done lower some are recomending a mid shaft ulna / radius and some say to leave them intact. This would be followed by a prosthesis. I know this is not cancer, but cancer seems to be the main cuase for amputations so here I am for advice and counsel.. Also, we are probably going to get an EMG test to determine specific nerve root issues. Thanks for anything Hello,

My dog, a 70# lab/hound mix does not nave cancer. However, I am facing the decision to do a partial (radial/humerus) amputatin versus a full amputation of his foreleg secondary to a partial brachial plexus injury. He seems to use the leg to swim, run and dig as well as climbing onto the sofas, and into the car. Unfortunately he is chewing on his paw and it needs to be removed. He injured dislocated the other shoulder int he accident and had to have it surgically repaired and the elbow on this side had been fractured before we rescued him and had healed badly. So he is using a not so good leg to stand on. I am thinking that a partial amputation with the use of a prosthesis will allow him to use the leg to take up some of the strain on his other leg. The regular vets are pushing towards a complete amputation including the scapula and shoulder. The Orthopedic / Rehab vets are recomending the amputation be done lower some are recomending a mid shaft ulna / radius and some say to leave them intact. This would be followed by a prosthesis. I know this is not cancer, but cancer seems to be the main cuase for amputations so here I am for advice and counsel.. Also, we are probably going to get an EMG test to determine specific nerve root issues.

Thanks for anything

]]> By: debbie http://www.dogcancerblog.com/canine-osteosarcoma-amputation-and-life-quality/comment-page-1/#comment-2435 debbie Tue, 23 Feb 2010 03:50:16 +0000 http://www.dogcancerblog.com/?p=138#comment-2435 Dear Dr Dressler I had my 5 yr old great pyrenees leg removed 6 weeks ago. he was doing really well. Running around and his spirit is really good. Today is just started to be able to barely walk. Is it possible that the osteosacoma has alos spread to the other rear leg. Dear Dr Dressler
I had my 5 yr old great pyrenees leg removed 6 weeks ago. he was doing really well. Running around and his spirit is really good. Today is just started to be able to barely walk. Is it possible that the osteosacoma has alos spread to the other rear leg.

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