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!