My Dog Has Osteosarcoma: Should I Allow Amputation?
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Updated: May 15th, 2024
Summary
Is amputation a good idea for dogs with osteosarcoma? Dr. Dressler looks at this decision from two perspectives. In this article: life expectancy.
Osteosarcoma is a common dog cancer in large breeds, and it most often affects the long bones of the legs. It’s very aggressive. That’s why most of the time, as soon as a veterinarian sees the lesions on an X-ray she will recommend amputation.
(Most dogs with this kind of cancer do not survive beyond a year with amputation alone. Editor’s note: To read more about canine osteosarcoma including the numbers and stats, see this article by Dr. Susan Ettinger, DVM, Dip. ACVIM (Oncology).)
The idea of removing your dog’s leg probably kicks up strong feelings. This is a hard choice.
So, should you allow an amputation? Or should you let your dog keep their leg and try to cope?
This is a heavy duty question. You probably want to prevent pain and suffering in your dog, so it’s a good idea to carefully contemplate this so you can cope.
I recommend considering at least two factors: Life Expectancy (how long life is), and Life Quality (how good life is).
In this article, we’ll look at life expectancy, and in the next, we’ll look at life quality.
What’s the Average Life Expectancy for Your Dog?
I know it sounds harsh, but realistically, dogs live much shorter lives than we do. I know that your ten-year-old dog might not seem old to you, but for some breeds, that’s a really advanced age. Particularly for large breeds, who tend to have shorter lives in general.
So, as you contemplate amputation, it’s nice to get an idea of the average life expectancy of your dog. There is an excellent review of dog life expectancy here.
Now, be careful with these numbers. These numbers are just averages, just like they are for people. The average man might live to 72, but that doesn’t mean any one individual man will die on his 72nd birthday. The same is true for dogs.
Now, What’s YOUR DOG’s Life Expectancy?
Once you have ascertained what your dog’s potential life expectancy is, you need to weigh what that really means for your dog. Your vet can help with this by discussing the impact of your pet’s individual health problems.
For example, if your dog is otherwise healthy, your dog’s life expectancy might be a little longer than if she were diabetic, or had heart disease. Just like a human, right?
So, basically, you need to talk to your vet to see if your dog is near to or past the expected length of life given everything else going on.
For example, if your dog is already close to what we would expect for his breed and health condition, amputation might not be what you want. You will have to carefully consider whether the payoff will be what you expect.
On the other hand, if your dog is not close to her life expectancy, you might want to go ahead.
Get a copy of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide for more helpful tools and information, including an entire chapter on osteosarcoma.
What’s Your Dog’s Personality?
So far we’ve focused on numbers to determine life expectancy. But an intangible factor that you must consider is your particular dog’s personality.
Some dogs just have this will to live. I’ve seen very senior dogs fight and spit and claw for life. I’ve seen young ones so passive that they don’t seem to much care one way or another whether you poke or prod.
If you have a dog that just wants to keep going, that’s a really good sign. These dogs are driven.
This will to live, this tenacity, boosts lifespans. That’s for sure! So, remember to consider this factor too.
If your dog is a fighter, they may be a good candidate for amputation, maybe even if they are at the end of their “expected lifespan.”
Remember There are Other Things That Can Be Done, Too
In addition to amputation, there are chemo protocols, covered in the osteosarcoma chapter in The Dog Cancer Survival Guide. But beyond the conventional tools, many osteosarcoma clients have seen benefits with modification of diet, lifestyle, life quality boosting and addition of nutraceuticals like Apocaps (I’m biased since I formulated it), plus other supplements or comfort care medications.
In addition, I highly recommend joining the TriPawds community for more information on amputation.
Don’t Forget to Consider Life Quality
Looking at life expectancy is the first step in determining whether to amputate your dog’s leg or not. Next, we look at life quality on three legs, plus a little about the surgery itself.
Regards,
Dr Dressler
Dr. Demian Dressler is internationally recognized as “the dog cancer vet” because of his innovations in the field of dog cancer management, and the popularity of his blog here at Dog Cancer Blog. The owner of South Shore Veterinary Care, a full-service veterinary hospital in Maui, Hawaii, Dr. Dressler studied Animal Physiology and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of California at Davis before earning his Doctorate in Veterinary Medicine from Cornell University. After practicing at Killewald Animal Hospital in Amherst, New York, he returned to his home state, Hawaii, to practice at the East Honolulu Pet Hospital before heading home to Maui to open his own hospital. Dr. Dressler consults both dog lovers and veterinary professionals, and is sought after as a speaker on topics ranging from the links between lifestyle choices and disease, nutrition and cancer, and animal ethics. His television appearances include “Ask the Vet” segments on local news programs. He is the author of The Dog Cancer Survival Guide: Full Spectrum Treatments to Optimize Your Dog’s Life Quality and Longevity. He is a member of the American Veterinary Medical Association, the Hawaii Veterinary Medical Association, the American Association of Avian Veterinarians, the National Animal Supplement Council and CORE (Comparative Orthopedic Research Evaluation). He is also an advisory board member for Pacific Primate Sanctuary.
Our dog (a husky/sheppard mix) was diagnosed over 4 months ago with osteosarcoma in his front leg. We opted to just do pain management. He is currently on 4 meds, a total of 16 pills a day – when he’ll take them. He too has become incredibly picky about his food and somedays refuses to eat. He’s also had a few bouts of diarrhea. It is getting very painful for him to even get up to eat or go outside. I would recommend amputation to anyone who is at the early stages and given the options. It’s been so hard to watch my dear friend in such pain. It’s also very scary to know that at any moment, your dog could take a step and fracture their leg. I worry about this every day….. I just hope we can let him go peacefully, before something traumatic happens…… Good luck to everyone else. No matter what we all chose to do, it won’t be easy to lose the pets we love so much.
My beautiful 5 year old Great Dane was diagnosed with cancer in his right leg 6 weeks ago.
There were no signs at all until a limp on the Tuesday, tennis ball size swelling by Wednesday, Vet on Thursday, XRay and diagnosis on the Friday.
Merlin weighs 95kg and amputation is not an option and our Vet recommended pain killers and anti inflammatories and a prognosis of 3 to 6 months.
He will not dring water since we started the tablets only milk.
We have tried the lactose free milk but he wont touch that I figure what the hell and he has full cream milk.
He is also very fussy about his food and will only eat raw meat or cooked mince.
He is not limping and seems happy but sleeps a lot.
I am so scared of him breaking his leg when I am not at home (12cm of bone had been destroyed on original xray).
I am not going to get any more xrays as he has to go under to get any taken.
I just hope I get the timing right on this one as there is no way I want him to suffer.
Thinking about all of us going through the same thing and sending love.
My 4 1/2 year old Yellow Lab was just diagnosed with Osteosarcoma in her left rear leg. Xray’s were taken and there is no sign of it spreading to her other limbs or lungs. The doctor has given us several options:
1. do nothing and she will live 4-6 months
2. Amputate the leg and she will live maybe 6 months
3. Amputate the leg and do Chemo and she could live 6 months to 3 years
4. Put her to sleep
The amputation would cost us $1500, we have already paid $500 for the xrays and tests, the Chemo would cost around $2000. We really don’t have the money to do this although could make it happen if necessary. My thoughts are if we did do the amputation and chemo what would her quality of life be. I understand that dogs do well with only 3 legs but I have read that the chemo is hard on them. It sounds like she would be sick for several month after the amputation and checmo treatments to only them MAYBE survive a few more months to a couple of years. We love our dog very much and this decision is a very hard one but we are leaning towards puting her to sleep as we feel it is the best and most humane thing for her. Does anyone have any other thoughts that mights change our minds?
Thank you
My 9 yr old rottwieller slipped on a rug 3 months ago and her rear elbow instantly swelled. tookk her to the vet immediatlly. took xrays. bone looked cloudy above the joint suspect of osteosarcoma. needle biopsy done. inconclusive. decided that we were not going to put her through another. began treating her w/ rimadyl 100mg bid. 1 1/2 months later take her back to the vet. her joint is now the size of a grapefruit. xray shows no change in the bone. Doc claimes that the “mass” is cartalidge. says that its not “acting” like cancer but is treating it as such. outside of “licking wounds” which I am now doing wound care and put a tubbie grip over the wound ( which is stoping the licking) she appears to be compfortable and in no pain. have tramadol 100-125mg prn q 8-12 hrs. am not currently useing because she leads w/ the leg while going up or down stairs. also puts all wieght on that leg when peeing on trees. should I get a second opinion. could it be something else? I may be grasping at straws but I hate to think that it could be something treatable and I just dont know about it. Please help Im despirate for answers.
Dear Barbarjean,
I am sorry to hear about your lady Rott.
You need to get a biopsy of this to know how to handle it. what it is determines what you do to deal with it properly.
Best
DR D
Is there anything we can do besides amputation? My poor 2 year old chow mix puppy has Osteo, we think. I cannot even afford the 400 plus dollars to verify the type of cancer. It’s in her rear knee bone and her leg is getting huge and it’s hard as a rock! Right now we have her on pain medication, but I wonder if there is anything else we can do. I can’t even afford to buy your book used! Do you think I should try Morinda Tahitian Noni Juice and your supplements? Is there anything that will hep the swelling go down some? I am all for beating the odds, I just need some answers. Can you please help me?
Dear Michelle
Talk to your vet about Neoplasene as a salvage procedure:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/neoplasene-as-a-dog-cancer-treatment/
I hope this helps
Dr D
My Great Dane is about 7.5yrs and is 160lbs. With the cancer in her back paw we can no way remove her leg since she isn’t the type of dog that can walk on 3 legs. We she was first diagnosed she could barely walk. It was so aggressive to start. The lump went from a pea to an egg size in a couple of weeks and it was in her chest when we took the X-rays. We thought she had a sprain toe when we brought her in since she was running around two days earlier. They didn’t think she would make it more then a couple of weeks. They put her on an anti-inflammatory and she is like a new puppy. Rough playing with the other dog and doing wonderful. That was three months ago. I’m so glad we didn’t do the treatment in our circumstance since she is truly enjoying her life playing, we did it different we would have 6 month recovery with the surgery trying to walk on 3 legs and chemo. She would be in much more pain. I think everyone has a different outlook on what is best for their dog. She loves to travel in the RV and just came back from another trip, loving her life. We are lucky for every good day she has. She is an amazing dog that someone left in the shelter for us to find.
I am debating on getting her leg amputated since she has only had cancer noticeable for a month. She is very healthy and I have never had any medical problems with her. I am just scared to put her through the pain of amputation and then me having to put her down soon after she heels because of the cancer spreading. I am very confused and heartbroken. I don’t want to loose my precious Dottie but I don’t want her to be in any pain either.
Dear Shell
I am sorry to hear about this.
Once month is a long time for a dog to have a cancer. Cancer in dogs can and does kill them, make no mistake, and I would encourage you to act quickly and take action if you are going to. These cancers spread internally without you being able to tell as most dogs appear healthy (“act fine”) and then they don’t. There are steps to take after the procedure to help with remaining cancer cells in the body. I would educate yourself on the statistics concerning your dog’s cancer with surgery, with chemo, and with any other steps the vet or oncologist brings up. The treatment plan analysis section of the Guide will help you-you should read it. Here is a short version:
https://www.dogcancerblog.com/blog/what-is-treatment-plan-analysis/
Best,
Dr D
Today my 5 year old Great Dane was diagnosed with bone cancer of her front left leg. The vet has given me the option of amputation. After reading different articles I am confused on what to do. I do not have the money for chemo and radiation. If I do get her leg amputated how long will she be able to live without any further treatment?
My standard poodle has been limping, licking his foot, whimpering in pain even though the vet prescribed 2 pain meds. I am going to pick up his x-rays and take them to another vet. She said she didn’t see anything and 300.00 later sent us home with nothing more than pain meds. Is it possible she missed cancer on the x-ray. He is 6 years old. Anyway I am taking him to another vet hoping for some answers. The vet I used to go to by my home retired and someone else examined him and she was very flippant about the whole thing, kept ordering more x-rays, even on his stomach.
4 years ago my other standard poodle had osteosarcoma and I did have her foot amputated. But she was 14 and they didn’t give me any other treatment options. She was OK for about 6 months, but then became ill again. I chose to keep her as comfortable as posible, she actually was unable too walk and had went from 40 pounds down to 21. DogGone pain herbal medicine helped her tremendously.
In reading the stories, I hope people understand that osteosarcoma is very aggressive in dogs and it most likely has already spread and it cant be seen in xrays because cells are small. Chemo is also not giving in the same strength or dosage that humans recieve which means that you arent always killing all the cells. I wont amputate my dogs leg because I wont put her thru thing that wont cure her….they only buy her her a few mths at best. Its a hard call but for me I want her to be as comfortable as long as she can be ..she will die from this very aggressive cancer….I pray for all who is going thru this because its hard….
My 10 year old great dane was put down today. She got excited about going for a ride, did a hell mary off my landing, and broke her leg. Ran her into the vets and come to find out she had bone cancer (which is incidentally why the bone broke). They gave me 4 options…1 I could put her in surgery and have the bone pinned, but though the healing the cancer would spread to her lungs and they gave her 4-6 months…2 fix her leg and put her in kemo, causing her much pain and unneccesary suffering for best esimate a year, 3 amputate the leg and hope the other one didnt have cancer (since one was broken they didnt want her to lay on that side to xray the other) along with her being able to support herself on 3 legs (she could stand on 3, but because of her size she couldnt get up from sitting or lying positions)…and the 4th…put her to sleep. We opted for the humane choice and put her to sleep. At 10 years young she took her last breath today at 3:52pm today and fell into the deep sleep. Hope to see her again when my journey here is over…untill then may she forever rest well.