Deciding the fate of an older dog with cancer.

In My Humble Opinion
1

Over the last couple of weeks, my 11-year-old greyhound started going lame in her already game back leg. I took her to the vet, and x-rays show that she has a large tumor on her femur that is most likely osteosarcoma (bone cancer).

Additionally, she previously had broken that femur in two and had it repaired with a metal plate. It looks like the some of the screws of that leg plate broke free allowing the femur to fracture again at the location of the tumor. The plate is still holding the bone together, but the vet recommendation is to amputate the leg within the next couple weeks as the stability of the repair is compromised and it may not heal properly.

They cannot be 100% certain the tumor is osteosarcoma until they perform a biopsy, but since the recommendation is for the leg to be amputated regardless, they will wait until the leg is removed. If it is cancerous, her post-amputation life expectancy is six to twelve months with chemo.

I am questioning quality of life issues post-amputation with an older dog, who is quite used to running free. I realize that amputation would most likely provide pain relief, but the drastic surgery and follow up chemo is not exactly a walk in the park.

She was prescribed a whole selection of painkillers in the meantime.

So what would you do? Or, if you have been in a similar circumstance, what did you do?

2

YMMV, and I may get flamed for this.

I’d put her down. Chemo is awfully rough on humans, and this poor puppy won’t understand what’s happening to her.

We had to put down a German shepherd due to prostate cancer, and a factor for us was cost. We had two young children at the time and we couldn’t afford to spend all that money on care for the dog, especially since there was no guarantee of a successful outcome.

If you have the time and money, then by all means, treat her. Just keep in mind what her quality of life will be.

I’m so sorry you have to make this decision.

3

I agree that putting her down is a strong option. Eleven is pretty old for a dog that size (although she could very well live to 13 or 14), how would her hips survive amputation or her body survive chemo?

And if her life expectancy is 6-12 months with chemo, what would it be without? I think my golden lived at least 8 months with un-treated cancer.

If you’ve got the money and the time and the patience for taking care of a large, elderly, 3-legged doggy then yes I think it’s always worth it to do the best you can do for your faithful friend. Taking care of a dog at the end of its life is a job unto itself, even without these severe health problems. But if it’s going to break you financially or if she will just suffer while your bank account drains, it would be very hard for me to choose chemo at this point.

Know in your heart that you have no regrets about the life you’ve given each other, and that will help you have peace in your heart about whatever decision you make.

4

I’m sorry to hear that, J.

We faced a similar situation a couple of years ago with our Doberman. We opted to not do the amputation (doesn’t sound like you have that option), nor any chemo. We gave our girl painkillers and told each other we would let her go when she wasn’t enjoying life any longer.

The trouble was, we could always tell ourselves she was enjoying life, as long as she was eating or didn’t seem to be in pain. Looking back on it now, I wish we had gone ahead with the amputation, and certainly we should have let her go earlier. Surely she was in pain, though she seemed stoic. All I can tell myself about that time is that we agonized over that decision every minute and did the best we could do.

If the amputation isn’t going to buy you much time, I guess I would say spoil her rotten for a little while, and let her go as soon as you can. It’ll be the best for her.

5

It’s hard to let go of an animal when they are like family but she is getting up there. I would let her go with love. They have a 10 to 15 year lifespan. She is already in that zone.

6

That’s the hardest part about having furbabies…part of the immense responsibility is knowing when to say goodbye.

7

Amputation now is my recommendation. It’s got to be hurting her. Other decisions can be made after that, when you have more information. You don’t know yet that it is cancer. I frequently see 3-legged dogs. I can’t say that your dog would adapt, but many dogs do.

I would also seek a second opinion on any cancer diagnosis and treatment from an oncologist or, if you have one close enough, a vet school. It may be that you decide not to treat the cancer (if it is cancer) and simply enjoy your remaining year, based on what you learn. It may be that you learn that a relatively simple drug will help tremendously for several months (this happened with me and my dog - prednisone of all things).

At this point, I would say: take it step by step. Do your research. Keep your dog comfortable. It’s really hard to hear the word “cancer”, but you have time yet to figure out the best thing to do. {{{hugs}}} and come back with questions, and to let us know what is going on.

8

Wow, I’m sorry to hear this. I have greyhounds too, and also know the tragedy of osteosarcoma. It’s very much between you, your family and your girl. I can tell you that osteo is extremely painful. Even with pain meds, the chemotherapy to fight the cancer will make her feel very sick and miserable. If it was me, I would not go that way. But that’s me.

I lost my male greyhound last year to osteosarcoma in his spine, the first one or two thoracic vertebrae. It had never occurred to me to have them check there because cancer usually shows up in the long bones. But that’s what it was, diagnosed just minutes after he collapsed in paralysis and agony, and minutes before we had him compassionately euthanized. The decision to euthanize him wasn’t difficult in that situation, but what preceded it was horrendous and the worst day of my life.

9

I’m sorry to correct you on this awful topic, but regarding the bolded part above, not always. Not with osteosarcoma in greyhounds. It’s often very fast progressing. When my greyhound got it, he’d been showing hard-to-diagnose pain in his spine (we couldn’t tell if the pain was closer to his head or tail) for only a couple weeks. I noticed the hard lump on his back on Thursday night, he was paralyzed Monday morning. The cancer had blown out his vertebra to the size of a baseball and smashed his spinal cord.

10

Sorry to hear about your shepherd. :frowning:

You touched on the dilemma I am facing. If surgery and chemo could assuredly fix what ails her, then damn the cost–it is worth it. If it ends up condemning her to a year of limited mobility and sickness, just so she remains by my side, then that is another matter.

11

Those were some of my thoughts. Although still agile, she is already slowing down due to age. How well would an 80-year-old human recover from having a leg removed?

Assuming a positive biopsy, off the cuff post-amputation numbers from the doctor were around four to eight months with no chemo, six to twelve with chemo. I cannot imagine those estimates are particularly exact.

12

I feel for you.

And honestly have no good advice.

We are facing similar right now.

We have an Olde English Bulldogge and he is 9. He was diagnosed last year with a hip issue. They recommended surgery, but he would not be able to do stairs for 6 months, that is impossible with our house, so they suggested just treat with anti inflamatories and pain meds. Recently he has been diagnosed with kidney issues. We started him on a special diet. He is not eating well, he will not drink much water. The anti-inflamatory might be making the kidney issue worse.

He appears to have an eye infection, and he has done a round of anti-biotics. And now it appears he may have had a stroke. He is walking oddly, he can barely negotiate the stairs, he is drooling more on one side and that side just looks “off”.

I don’t want him to suffer. But I am not sure I can take him to be euthanized.

Just typing this is making me tear up.

Bless you in whatever decision you make.

13

Thank you for correcting me. I think what I meant to convey was that once they knew for certain it was cancer they could make a final decision. I did not realize that cancer could move that fast and take the decision away.

Since you have so much experience with greyhounds, is it reasonable to suggest doing the amputation to get a final diagnosis and make her more comfortable, or given the breed history and her age (and the pain she’s in) would another course be kinder?

{{{hugs}}} to you as well. It’s so hard to lose a dog.

14

Thanks for that.

It is a hard choice, certainly. If only they could provide some feedback on how they were actually feeling, it would not feel so arbitrary.

15

I am sorry to hear this, I just wanted to send a hug.

16

I am so sorry to hear this.

I’ve had two Greyhounds with osteosarcoma (and with Greyhounds, any bone tumor is almost certain to be that) and the decisions are really tough.

We did amputation and chemo with our first one – he was 9 and otherwise in good health. He lived another 3 years and was put down due to a liver tumor (likely not related to the osteo; we didn’t do a biopsy).

The second one was only 7, but had other physical and mental issues, and it also took several months to get an accurate diagnosis on him since the tumor was at the top of his left shoulder and didn’t show well on x-ray. We put him down when we finally found out that it was a bone tumor.

From what you’ve written here, I’d be thinking about amputation or euthanasia, depending on what else you know about your girl. Our boy that we did the amputation on really did very well – it was a front leg, and he even learned to do a two-point stance to pee on bushes just like he always had. Greyhounds tend to be lean and athletic enough that they can manage pretty well with amputation as long as they don’t have any other orthopedic issues.

Another thing I’d think about is who would do the amputation – if you have an accomplished surgeon you trust at your disposal and a good vet clinic or vet school to help with support, that matters too.

As far as chemo, one factor to consider there is whether this cancer has spread to the lungs – that’s where osteo is most likely to spread and it often does that early. If the lungs are clear, you can think about chemo after the amputation is over and healing from that is well on the way. If there are lung nodules, it’s too late for chemo to be effective.

Chemo in animals is not the same as it is in people. In people, it’s generally done in an attempt to cure. In animals, the goal is remission, so the doses are lower and the side effects less. Our boy got 6 carboplatin treatments and did well. He seemed tired by the time the last one came around, but the good news was it was the last one. He never lost his appetite or hair or anything like that. And if you can get a remission (as we did) of a year or more in a dog that might only live 12 years otherwise, it’s a worthy goal if you can afford it. Of course there are no guarantees.

I did a two-part series on osteo treatment for Celebrating Greyhounds Magazine that outlines options. If you are interested, here’s a link to the first part of it.

Again, I’m sorry you have to do this. It always sucks, no matter what.

17

This was more less the vets recommendation. Amputate the limb now and make other decisions later. She will be in pain and have risk of further damage (and potential cancer spread) as long the limb is attached.

The problem is she is already 11 years old, and losing a hind leg is not like having a tooth pulled.

Thanks for the pointers.

18

This isn’t meant to be a plug, but there’s an organization in Wisconsin (they’re on Facebook) called Gunnar’s Wheels that loans out carts to mobility impaired dogs, cats, rabbits, goats and, just recently, a pet opossum. If you decide to take the leg and keep her around a while longer, look into them; the videos of these critters using their carts are, for the most part, astonishing.

I wouldn’t do chemo for my beasties, especially with the dismal estimate in Post #11.

I just lost my 9 year old rabbit because I couldn’t see giving him twice-daily insulin shots for the rest of his life. Which probably wouldn’t have been much longer regardless.

Hope this helps in some way.

19

Thanks for that.

I was asking for opinions, it sounds like you gave an informed one.

I am sorry to hear that. It does sound terrible. What was it that brought you into the vet to get x-rays?

Oddities: Since my dog’s leg was always a little lame due to her fracture, it is most likely that her tumor had been growing for a while, and was never noticed. Had the bone not re-fractured at the tumor, it probably still would be undetected. And, if she did not already have a plate in her leg keeping her bone together, that new fracture would have most likely been a critical injury and would have required immediate amputation of the leg.

20

I am tearing up reading what you have typed. I feel for you and your Bulldog as well, and hope you can find the strength to do what needs to be done when it is that time.