Background and Diagnosis
Reeses is our 7 year old Rottweiler. She’s full blooded, however, pretty “small” considering her breed at 80 lbs.
In January she began to limp. We let it go a few days thinking she just jumped to hard somewhere in the yard or slept wrong on it in her kennel. The limp didn’t go away, so we saw our vet.
He thought it might be a stress fracture, though we weren’t sure how that could have happened considering she doesn’t really jump on things (besides the couch!) and we have no stairs. He asked that we give her Previcox for 2 weeks and see if it heals itself. if not, bring her back in and he’d do xrays.
2 weeks later the limp was even worse, so brought her back into her Vets office. He took an xray, and told my husband it looks like bone cancer. It was located almost to the shoulder of the front left leg. He said he would get a collegue of his to take a look at the xrays and give us a call within the week. That day came, and the conclusion was the same.
He asked that we get more xrays to ensure it wasn’t in the lungs. We also wanted to see about hipdisplasia since it is common in older dogs of her breed. Everything came back very clean, however, noted it might be a nasty infection now instead.
The amputation was first scheduled for Thursday, February 23rd, but instead was put under a 2nd time for a biopsy. We couldn’t bear the thought of doing the amputation if it was something we could fight with antibiotics.
Over that weekend the limp was even worse, and now the leg was 25% larger than her good leg. We immediately called our vet again and he suggested the amputation even though the biopsy results were n’t back yet. He set the appointment up with his collegue on Tuesday, February 28th.
The biopsy results did indeed come in time that morning, to confirm the osteosarcoma diognosis and dead cells within the biopsy. we were making a good decision.
Reeses on day 3 post amputation
Day 5 post amputation
Fast forward to today, and we have a energetic Rottie who will not sit still!
Her incision had to go to her chest, where at first they thought was part of the bone – was actually a tumor growing seperately. We are now getting another biopsy on this per the onocologist we were referred to to make sure its the same cancer, and not another type at the same time.
We are confining her to her kennel since last week. Everytime she moves, she leeks fluids. She has also managed to form a nice little pencil eraser size hole from the stitches, of which the vet said she is fine and it’ll scar over eventuatlly. she has internal stitches as well, so isn’t a large concern.
Other parts of her incision look very nice. She looks silly with the red net and cone head! She will non-stop lick at it if we let her otherwise, and the net will help with the fluid buildup and seeping. We hope by day 7 we can have the net off again.
We have a hard time keeping her relaxed, she just wants to do her thing! She was up and at ’em pretty well on the first full day following her amputation. My Husband helped her outside with a leash, but she didn’t seem to need it. she’s been running in the yard a bit to do her business, and has been eating quite well. Of course, treats are an all time favorite!
Next Steps
Chemotherapy was highly suggested from the vet that did the surgery. We’ve already had a consultation the day after her amputation. They let us know she was looking fantastic, however, therapy is NOT a cheap thing. Without the chemo, they gave her 3 months. With therapy – they say a year or so.
We are not the richest people in the world, but are lucky enough to have paid our credit card bills off 2 years ago – so we will be putting everything on this for now, and pay as we can. We love our tripawd girl and will do all we can for her to be happy while she’s still with us.
To give you an idea, our chemo will be costing between $750 and $850 per session. She needs 6 sessions. She may also need additional xrays to ensure it hasn’t spread to her lungs as she goes through the process.
Stitches will be out in another 5-8 days, of which will also be her first chemotherapy session at the specialist. We hope for a speedy recovery for her, and no further issues with the cancer!
Welcome Reeses – What a beauty your are!
I’m glad the surgery went well. My experience is that surgeons almost always recommend chemo – other vets may or may not. Follow your heart on that.
Baby was very leaky for a couple of weeks. I think larger dogs sometimes are more drippy. My vet said the space left inside is large and collects fluids. We just covered our family room with towels and puppy pads and let her leak. For us it was easier than getting her in an out of a kennel and it let her move around more to get used to using her good leg. Again- whatever works for you is the key.
Get lots of rest – this is a stressful couple of weeks. Luckily, our furbabies don’t worry about things the way we’ll do, so she’ll sleep fine.
Sounds like you’re terrific Pawrents. Best of luck with the 2nd tumor results.
paws crossed!
Wags and Slobbers
Judy and Baby
welcome reeses and family – sorry you had to find us, but it’s a great place to be when you are facing these challenges. sounds like the recovery is going well – we went with a t-shirt over gayle, as she was just determined not to wear the cone…the shirt did keep her from licking and fussing with the stitches, so it’s something to consider. we did five rounds of chemo, and have no regrets about it. once the stitches are out and reeses is off of the pain meds, you’ll see a major improvement.
charon & spirit gayle
Welcome and thank you for sharing Resses’ story. These are the kind of details that will help others going down the same road, and the reson we started the Tripawds Blogs.
Best wishes for a speedy, complete recovery!
Thanks for the well wishes. She is pretty important to us and we are committed to her well being. The leaking and open wound is troubling, although she is doing great, and each doctor that has seen her says she’s doing fine. I really think this has been harder on us than our pooch.
One thing that is very nice is that everything she’s gone in for and each doctor that has seen her has put on the top of her paperwork just how good a pooch she is.
People keep saying to go with our heart, I think I feel positive about the chemo, especially after looking at the evidence, the price is what’s hard to feel good about.
We possibly have options that the surgeon may be able to administer the chemo with one of us attending. He is much lower cost than the specialists office we went to, but the specialists are highly recommended by our vet and the Dr. said that she would have a better chance with the specialist than the surgeon. Funny to say something like that because I’m not really sure what’s different.
Either way, she’s got another week or more for the stitches, the 1/4 in open wound is the hard piece to deal with. All of the rest seems to be fine.
Anyone have experience with skin conditions and routine shots just post op? She’s due for shots and is forming an irritation above the surgery site.
Thanks again.
after the cancer diagnosis, gayle did not have any further vaccinations. with the cancer compromising her immune system, it didn’t seem prudent, and all three of our vets agreed that it wasn’t necessary to put the extra stress of vaccines into the mix. our ‘regular’ vet was able to administer the chemo for us, and it was less expensive than going to the oncology dept at the vet school.
as for skin conditions, our english shepherd, sam, came to us very itchy and such…we use Honest Kitchen Sparkle, which is an herbal suppliment sprinkled on his food daily. it really helped beat the itch, and it’s all natural.. just a thought. of course, i’d run all changes in diet/suppliments, etc by your vet to make sure everyone is on the same page. check the forums too, for more info on chemo and suppliments.
charon & spirit gayle
Hi Reeses & Family, we’re glad you found us. I like the methodical way in which you approached the amputation and follow up care, you’re doing great!
I agree with etGayle as far as vaccinations go. There is no need to further compromise a dog’s immune system when it’s already stressed. If you haven’t seen this book already, The Dog Cancer Survival Guide has more information about why it’s not really a good idea. We didn’t know any better when we started our cancer journey, and we didn’t stop all vaccines, but if we had to do it again, we definitely wouldn’t do them.
Good luck this week with everything. Hang in there, the fluid will eventually stop flowing (limiting her activity will really help there). Keep us posted.
An update:
Today her remaining front leg appears to be a litle swollen. The leakage hasn’t stopped, but it has slowed considerably. The stitches though seem to be pulling apart more so we’re going to the place we are thinking of doing the chemo at in the morning.
Regarding the chemo I have a call out to the vet that performed the actual surgery. When I talked to our primary vet he stated that Reeses longevity could be improved receiving treatment at the specialist. I understand that they have the resources at their fingertips, will run a blood panel during each visit, and will also adminster a pain med each visit, but I’m not sure it’s all necessary, nor am I sure that having the process performed there will improve her longevity.
However, I may go there for the first round or two, and then see if Reeses responds well and then see if there is an alternative place to perform the procedures on a going forward. I really am not sure or certain, and that is stessing in and of itself.