Canine Osteosarcoma: Amputation and Life Quality
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: April 15th, 2019
Summary
If your dog’s leg is amputated, how does it affect them? Dr. D looks at amputation and life quality for dogs with osteosarcoma.
In my last article we considered life expectancy to help decide about amputation for dogs with osteosarcoma. In this one, we’ll focus on amputation and life quality.
Will My Dog Be Normal With Only Three Legs?
This is almost always the first question I hear when we start talking about amputation.
“But will my dog be able to have a normal life on 3 legs?”
Everyone, the answer is almost always YES.
I know it’s hard to imagine, but dogs are usually up and hopping around whenever or wherever they want within one to three weeks.
That’s right, some dogs start moving totally normally within ONE week.
They really do just fine once their strength builds.
Now, keep in mind, it can be hard to watch them learn to walk, run, and drink their water and chase balls on three legs.
It’s a little like watching your friend try to walk after being on crutches for a long time. It’s not pretty, and you can tell they are working hard.
But I hear often that as depressing as it can be, people just have to look at their dog to realize “Wow … my dog actually seems pretty happy!”
Dogs seem to move on with life and live in the moment. They genuinely do not seem to care about whether they are walking on three legs or four.
As long as they are walking, they’re good to go.
This is a good lesson for all of us to learn from our dogs.
If you doubt this, I highly recommend joining the folks over at Tripawds. There are thousands of other folks with three-legged dogs and cats who can give you a real perspective!
How to Help Your Dog
So, dogs have a great attitude, right?
And a great attitude is the number one predictor of high life quality.
So, they’re already doing well. Now, let’s look at things you can do to help your dog with amputation and life quality.
There are two big things to factor.
Walking Assistance (at First!)
The first thing to plan for is assisting your dog in walking during the recovery period. Your dog’s body is used to using four limbs to balance his weight. Take one of those away, and he’ll figure out how to balance on three — really. However, those remaining limbs need to strengthen to support the extra weight.
During recovery, you will need to help your dog learn to walk on three legs. This is really pretty simple: you just support their weight during walking until they can do it on their own.
The DIY version of an assist is a towel looped under the belly or the chest. You can also purchase commercial slings, which might be helpful if your dog is heavier.
Once you have your dog in the towel or sling, you just lift enough of their weight so they can hop right along. Once they are strong enough, you will feel them take the weight themselves.
If your dog has a lean figure or is young, this might just take a few days. If your dog is older, or overweight, it will probably take longer, weeks, not days.
Pro Tip: Position the towel or sling away from your boy’s sheath, or you will have a wet sling and an unhappy boy after he’s relieved himself!
Address Other Weight Bearing Issues
If your dog is otherwise healthy, you might just find yourself with a happy dog within a few days.
But if your dog has other problems that affect weight bearing (arthritis, hip dysplasia, old ligament tears, back or neck problems) things could get a little more complicated.
Make sure to ask your vet if there are other issues that could slow your dog’s progress during recovery.
For more helpful information and tools, get a copy of the Dog Cancer Survival Guide, and make sure to read the chapter devoted to osteosarcoma
If your girl has complications that affect her recovery, make sure your walking surfaces aren’t slippery. For example, if you have tiled floors, you might put down runner rugs so she has a nice grippy surface.
If there are lots of steps, ramps can help some dogs. There are also ramps made for getting in and out of cars.
Keep Your Dog In Shape
Dogs with three legs will always need a little extra help in the TLC department. For example, keep your dog lean, if you can.
Being overweight has a whole collection of bad effects in dogs with cancer, and bone cancer is no exception.
Extra weight also makes it harder to move around in general. There are also higher risks for injury in the remaining limbs due to increased wear and tear (arthritis, cruciate ruptures, and more).
Dogs Can and Will Be Happy 🙂
Believe it or not, activities that required four legs can always be modified for three.
Dogs learn to live how they can and they adjust, just like we do.
And if you watch your dog, I guarantee you will see him deriving as much pleasure from life as ever.
The limits of dogs can do may change, but not the limits of how happy they can be.
For more thoughts, please see this article by my co-author, Susan Ettinger, DVM, Dip. ACVIM (Oncology).
Best to all,
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.
Mary, your vet misinformed you. OSA is extremely aggressive. Once diagnosed, the cancer almost always has metastasized to another site, & the lungs are often the first major organ to develop metastases. The fact that you had an additional 11 mos with her after amputation is great. Today, I had to put my baby to sleep b/c I could not handle watching her in pain. The cancer on her front ankle was the size of a large grapefruit, the skin was so stretched, it was weeping internal fluid. She was diagnosed with OSA a little more than 2 mos ago. Amputation was not an option for us (she was 240 lbs)… Though in pain, she was so happy to be loved… I’m devastated.
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 $$$………..:(
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 dx with a Hemangiopericytoma in Oct. 2010. Surgery was delayed b/c he had a rash reaction after his needle biopsy. His was tumor removed in Nov. 2010. In Mid-Feb or early March it returned with a vengence. It is now causing him significant pain. My understanding is amputation is the only way to get rid of this fast growing tumor for good and it tends to be a localized tumor. Blizzard is a rescued 10 year old husky-australian shepherd mix?, and weighs 78 lbs. He has a strong, playful, sweet spirit. The vet said after his tumor removal that Blizzard was her hero that she had never seen a dog recuperate that quickly. My husband and I have differing opinions on what to do next. I feel that being 10 years old, it would be unkind to put him through an amputation. My husband feels we should proceed. We took him for a 2nd opinion yesterday and the vet said he otherwise was very healthy that he would probably do well with an amputation since he is already adapting to walking with 3 legs. Do you have any thoughts? I wondered about another tumor removal rather than the amputation but it came back so quickly that I doubt it would do much good and don’t want to put him through that again. Thanks.
Dear Elizabeth,
dogs on three legs are indeed already doing their own physical therapy. Based on this info, I would consider the surgery.
Also if Blizzard were my patient, I would likely advise Apocaps, the dog cancer diet, and the other supplements in the Guide.
Best,
Dr D
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, 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.
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!
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?
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
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
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
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.