Good morning,
Natasha, our Newfound was diagnosed with bone cancer in her left rear leg about 3 months ago. She immediately under went radiation and within a week she was walking much better. She started chemo and a bone strengthening regiment and things seemed to be progressing well. Late last week she was playing with her brother and within a day or two notice a limp and immediately took her to the doctor. They could not find a tractor anything else wrong. We put back on a full dose of gabapentin and Tylenol with codeine. She showed no signs of relief and is limp just as bad as before the radiation. She would not even get up to eat or drink. She would get up to pee and poo but we have pretty much been serving meals and water while she is laying down.
After speaking with the doctor he feels we may have to move to the next step which maybe amputation but he is concerned that a giant breed dog may not do so well with a rear leg amputation without a great deal of assistance. While I respect his medical opinion, I would like to get some advice/knowledge from experienced giant breed dog owners.
I would love to hear back from the community about whether or not their giant breeds have done well with amputation and recovery.
Thank you,
Chris
Welcome and thank you for sharing Natasha’s story. Your future blog posts and pages will publish immediately without requiring moderation.
You will find much more help and feedback in the discussion forums or by searching the member blogs. Start here for help finding the many Tripawds Resources an assistance programs.
Popping in quickly to give you another link that will five you lots of reassurance about “big dogs” handling life on three jist fine!
Check out https://tripawds.com/forums/size-and-age-matters/and scroll through some of the posts from bigger dogs. You’ll see a thread about Osin, 185 lb Mastiff. In the comme t post, you’ll see a reply from our “Colunteer Vet” who first came here years ago because her big Mastiff named Tazzie needed amputation.
More later, but just wanted to add this link to help get you more com with the idea that bigger dogs can do very well pain free on three!!
Hugs
Sally and Alumni Happy Hannah and Merry Myrtle and Frankie too!
Chris, it is so important to get another opinion asap. The best vets tell us that size alone should not determine if a dog is a candidate for life on 3. Please please please visit our Size and Age Matters Forum topic and post so we can help you better OK?
Thank you Jerry. I will look for another opinion. Thank you for the link.
Hi Benny, Thank you for the link as well. I really appreciate the quick response from you.