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  1. #11
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    I'm sorry, this will be a tough thing to decide. My neighbour's Doberman had a front leg amputated and she did very well moving around just the remaining three. But a year later they found the cancer (sorry, don't know which cancer) had spread and she was PTS. The man told me he is glad they were able to give her another year.
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  2. #12
    Senior Dog windycanyon's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by janedoe View Post
    My understanding was that dogs carry 2/3 of their weight on their back legs. I know it's not bone cancer but I found this which talks about weight distribution:

    Bone Cancer Dogs

    All good thoughts. These things are difficult. Two of ours have other types of cancers. Major procedures like this are definitely case by case. You know best.

    Actually 2/3 of the weight is on the FRONT legs in our breed (think chest weight), so it's harder to lose a front leg. I had a friend w/a young Golden ~10 yrs ago have to have his front leg amputated due to bone cancer and he did quite well for many years until the cancer caught up to him in a different form.
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  3. #13
    Real Retriever BogeyBaby's Avatar
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    I had a lab that got cancer in his right front leg at age 8. We did amputate and he did exceptionally well with that, the only thing he couldn't do was get on and off our bed. We bought a large upholstered chest as a step and taught him to use it, but I think it was too hard for him to get comfortable on the bed and he decided the dog bed in our bedroom was more comfortable. Anyway, we did a year of chemo but it didn't work. Two months later a chest xray showed metastasis in his lungs. Funny thing is (if anything can be funny when dealing with cancer), it wasn't the cancer that made us put him down. Either it was the chemo or the pain meds (Metacam) or a combo of the two that gave him kidney disease. We finally put him down when he refused to eat anything and I blame that on the kidney problems.
    Anyway, his regular vet said to me once, animals are born with three legs and a spare. My dog ran circles around other dogs even without his right front leg. Oh, and, yeah, Tripawds is an excellent forum for advice.

  4. #14
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    Sorry to hear, fingers crossed she still has a good amount of quality time left either way. I cna only echo what others have said.

    Quote Originally Posted by oshkoshparrothead View Post
    They have told us that if they can get a good 'margin for removal' she should be cancer free and the prognosis seems to be pretty good as the cancer has not spread. We are going back to our regular vet for her opinion now that the CT and biopsies are back. I didn't know if anyone on this board experienced this with any of their poochies.

    Thank you all for your support!!!
    This is positive information. Would make me lean towards operating depending on the following:

    Quote Originally Posted by SunDance View Post
    I'm sorry to hear about the diagnosis...and your tough choice.

    My biggest concern...not mentioned by you....is the overall condition of her hind legs. Any hip dysplasia? Knee issues? Spinal stuff? If she has anything at all "going on" back there, I'd not consider amputation. I wouldn't do it for my two...HD, some knee on occasion, Sunnie/spine...even with Dan being only 8 1/2. My two are also anxious/nervous dogs (Sunnie's worse) and I doubt very much if they'd accept the change (Dan already comes to a complete stop if he steps on something that feels funny).

    Good thoughts headed your way for whichever course of action you choose.
    This is a really big question. Many dogs do terrific on three legs but if the dog is already weak or struggling I'd lean towards not putting them thru it.

    Quote Originally Posted by windycanyon View Post
    Actually 2/3 of the weight is on the FRONT legs in our breed (think chest weight), so it's harder to lose a front leg. I had a friend w/a young Golden ~10 yrs ago have to have his front leg amputated due to bone cancer and he did quite well for many years until the cancer caught up to him in a different form.
    Yep! 80% on the front. I just had Rocky at the physio (doggy one) who said this. And right now Rocky is about ALL on the front end so I am working hard to get back to some balance. She said he is like a wheel barrow, ALL the weight in the front. But many dogs do loose a front leg and do well.

 



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