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Do NOT, NOT do a biopsy. They are excruciatingly painful, (more than the cancer, which is already awful) and can accelerate the cancer growth if it is cancer. I've seen it happen. A competent canine radiologist can tell by x-ray if it is cancer, as bone cancer has certain characteristics on X-ray. ParallellJJcat is right, if it is cancer, by now the "seeds" of it have lkely spread elsewhere. I would not put a large ten year old dog of mine, through ampuation, with the pain, the recovery, and the adjustment for amputation for bone cancer which is already likely to reappear somewhere else. I'm so sorry. Bone cancer is a HORRIBLE thing.
Do NOT, NOT do a biopsy. They are excruciatingly painful, (more than the cancer, which is already awful) and can accelerate the cancer growth if it is cancer. I've seen it happen. A competent canine radiologist can tell by x-ray if it is cancer, as bone cancer has certain characteristics on X-ray. ParallellJJcat is right, if it is cancer, by now the "seeds" of it have lkely spread elsewhere. I would not put a large ten year old dog of mine, through ampuation, with the pain, the recovery, and the adjustment for amputation for bone cancer which is already likely to reappear somewhere else. I'm so sorry. Bone cancer is a HORRIBLE thing.
My Panda was only a year old when he lost his leg; I would imagine adjusting to life as an amputee would be more difficult for an older dog. Sadly, that is something that should be considered.
So sorry for your furry child as well as you. My poor Aspen developed a tumor in his right shoulder to the point of looking like a hunchback. It ended up sticking out about 5 inches and was growing. He fell off the stairs of the porch and screamed like a dying animal and COULD NOT get up. Luckily I was home and ran out to lift him. He continued to slip and hurt himself more indoors. My 167# baby just became too much for me to help. At 9 years I had to think of his quality of life versus my desire to keep him near. We miss him every day and compare every dog to him, he was perfection.
thanks everyone for your responses. Unfortunately, follow up xrays did show that my "puppy" did have some sort of aggressive tumor, but his chest xray was still clear, so I opted to amputate the leg that day before it spread any further. Sadly, 4 days after we amputated the leg and he was just starting to learn how to get around, he somehow fell and broke his other front leg, and when I rushed him to the vet, they not only confirmed he's broken his leg but a biopsy came back on the leg they amputated and he indeed did have osteosarcoma with a mitotic index of 17, so had to make the decision to let him go ... I am devastated and heartbroken at how all of this turned out, but appreciate everyone's suggestions and concern.
I'm so, so sorry for your loss! We lost our last male rottie to bone cancer in his leg. It was just a limp for a couple days which we thought was a pulled muscle or something from playing with the other dogs. After he didn't seem to get any better in a few days we took him in and he was diagnosed with bone cancer. It was so fast spreading that the vet said all we could do was control the pain and give him the best couple weeks we could. And that's what we did. After the two weeks the Rimadyl didn't control the pain anymore and the only humane thing we could do was let him go. Bone cancer in dogs is just horrible. I so wish you'd had a better outcome for your guy.
I am so, so sorry to hear what you all have gone through. We are going through the same thing right now with our beautiful 8 yrs. old Samoyed. She had been diagnosed with Arthritis 3 mos. ago & even sent her x-rays & blood work out to the Un. of Colorado to an Oncologist for confirmation. They concurred with the original Vet. This past week her hind leg blew out double the size, she had the Biopsy this past Thursday. There is a Tumor in the muscle that cannot be operated on. The Vet said b/c it was caught so fast the rest of her Organs are fine. Now, we are waiting for the results to come in the begining of this week & then some decisions will have to be made. My only wish is that she was able to tell us what she wants.
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