How Much Longer After Bone Cancer Diagnosis

[RobinM]

I am so sorry. I lost my very beautiful Polli to OS after amp & chemo . She made it just 5 short months. It just broadsided her.

 

[Batmom]

My heart goes out to you and your beautiful girl.

[Guest CDNgreys]

I'm so sorry.

 

It was a matter of days for us. The vet originally thought he had hurt his back. A few weeks later I noticed a big lump on the inside of his rear leg. Cancer was confirmed and we had to say goodbye 3 days later. Our boy was on pain meds but he was clearly in distress.

I haven't read many stories where it's happened this fast.

 

 

Pets and their owners have a way of unspoken communication, your girl will let you know when she has had enough.

Take care

[cowpantslady]

first sending hugs

our morty was 13 when he was diagnosised no chemo or amputation he lived 4 months his was very rapid and he was an awful eater even before he got sick so we couldnt do much

saullie our miracle boy diagnosised no chemo or amputation just high doses of artiminsin, no carbs and lots of love

one year, even osu was amazed by him

what helped us the most was an email i got

better a day to soon then a day too late

we miss our boys so much it was a year in december since we lost morty and june 19 will be a year for our saullie

it still hurts

[Guest 4baddogs]

My heart goes out to you.

 

As you can see, there are so many of us here who, unfortunately, have been where you are.

 

For us it was 2006 and Flash was limping on March 17. He was x-rayed on March 18 and it was thought he had an old racing injury. Two weeks later he'd gotten much worse; panting, crying, the limping was worse. On March 31 he had a full body scan and osteo was found head to toe. The only bone he didn't have it was his right elbow. We were in shock, but we had no choice for our sweet big boy. We spent a long time with him in the doctors office before letting him go. It was the hardest thing I've ever done in my life and I still cry often about it. He was 2 weeks away for being 12 years old.

 

Spend every second you can loving your girl. You'll know when it's time.

[Guest snaphappy]

I fortunately have not had to deal with Osteo, but I've had to euthanize pets for other reasons. One thing I've discovered is that they always tell me when it's time. I know it may be hard to imagine, but the look in their eyes changes. I believe that you'll know.

 

Many hugs and prayers to you and your baby.

[Guest Energy11]

I am sooo sorry! Our Max, 12.5, had Osteo in his from leg. He was diagnosed VERY early, ... so I had him a lot longer then most. Almost three months after diagnosis, but that is because it the extremely early diagnosis. I worked at a vet, and when I saw a slight limp, we got the x-rays done.

 

He was on Deramaxx, twice a day, and Tramadol, three times a day. He was eating Chicken Soup for the Dog's Soul/senior canned, and when he stopped eating that, I used Science Diet A/D, which is prescription and used for VERY sick dogs and cats.

 

When did I "know"? It was on a Friday. He can in HOPPING on three legs, panting, and spent the weekend just lying there, heavily sedated. We sent him to The Bridge that monday morning.

 

IT IS AN UGLY DISEASE, no doubt. YOU KNOW YOUR GREY, if you think he is suffering, then, it is "time." NO, I also do NOT believe in amputations. To ME, it puts the dogs through too much, and buys "us" time.

 

Hugs and prayers ... Dee and The McKimmey Five Hounds

[iluvgreys]

The vet gave me Rimadyl twice a day and Tramadol 6-9 times a day. What finally made the decision for you?

 

Sounds like a good combo of meds. With my hounds, profound swelling gradually occurred at the site of the OS. Then overnight, the whole leg swelled up horribly and they couldn't weight bear at all. My vet thought that it was either a failure of the lymphatic system or microfractures of the bone. At any rate, their eyes told me it was "time."

 

Could your wife use a sling under the tummy of your girl to help her up and down the stairs? That might eliminate the need to carry and worked with mine when I had a two-story home. Even just a bath towel looped under the stomach can be enough support.

[Guest trevdog]

I think I'd opt to stay downstairs with her, you could also hurt yourself carring her up the stairs. OS is very painful and you don't want to chance the bone breaking either. Sending lots of prayers, it is truly a horrible disease.....

[Bill419]

They will let you know when it's time. Tipper woke me up a couple of times one night crying in pain even with the pain meds. I wouldn't allow her to live in pain although it broke my heart. She was my 1st greyhound and she was only 8 1/2.

[gracegirl]

oh how sad and hard this is for you, I can say, it is better to put her down a day too early than a day too late...I had to make that decision not too long ago, I thought of it like this, when the dog can no longer enjoy what makes them happy its time to let them go...my old girl ginger loved to eat and take walks, when she lost her appetite and laid around the house depressed, I knew it was time...its a very hard but necessary thing to do as a final act of love

I am so sorry to hear the sad news about your beloved greyhound. I have promised both Grace and Fenway that when the time comes I will let them go one day early instead of hanging on to keep them around one extra second for me. I agree with the folks that say to make a list of three things your dog loves and when those things no longer bring joy, it's time to say goodbye. I'm so sorry you have to face this decision at all.

[Guest HeatherDemps]

I'm so sorry that you and your hound are facing this..... Osteo sucks terribly. My grey first limped the weekend after Thanksgiving 2007. Trip to the ER vet for some Rimadyl for a few days and the limp went away for a month. The Friday before Christmas, the limp came back and x-rays showed a lesion in one of the front legs. Dempsey was 11.5. I loved that boy more than anything and was devestated by that diagnosis. We were blessed in that we probably found it early and were able to amputate and treat with chemo. We had him 8 months after diagnosis and had to put him to sleep for something unrelated. My boss had to put his greyhound to sleep 1 month before Dempsey was PTS, also due to osteo. He was told by his vet they'd have a couple of months but the pain became uncontrolable and they had weeks instead. You know your baby best and I think you will know when it is time....

 

As others have said, the pain management is crucial. Dogs don't think the way we think- they don't know the difference between one extra week or an extra day, etc. They just understand right now. Enjoy each and every moment that you have left together. The lesson I learned from osteo was to really, truly not take our babies and loved ones for granted, to appreciate every little snuggle, roo, zoomie, etc because it's not infinite. Take lots of pictures of the two of you together.... we had family pictures done the month prior to Dempsey's death and I cherish those so much today.

 

Heather

[Guest wjastrzab]

Wow! This is hard! My girl was just diagnosed last night. She's been limping off and on for a couple of months although has not done the stairs in our house for a couple of months longer than that. I initially thought it was her sight until she started limping. As one person noted, when sh'es laying down she looks fine and the limping has come and gone with meds, but it comes back while still on the same meds. Other than this she is healthy and is still eating, but just within the last 24 hours her walking ability has gotten really bad. It's a hind leg and because greys are so thin at the back end, she loses her balance very easily and her spine looks out of alignment (I just saw that last night).

 

I too don't want to go the amputation route. I have friends that lost a grey like that and they said they'd never do it again. Wicker (my girl) is 13 and she is on pain meds & I was thinking about checking out a research trial as I live right near the University of Penn's Vet School, but I am really wonderinhg how much longer I should try to hang onto her. Her spirits are amazingly high considering the amount of pain she must be in. But then, greys don't seem to be the complaining type, at least Wicker isn't. She is so laid back sometimes you can forget she's there, but she is so loving. I am close to crying now so will sign off.

 

I wish all the support and sympathy to all those that are going trough this right now, especially these amazing dogs that have had to deal with so much in their lives and now they have to deal with this. Yet somehow they manage to do it all so gracefully. We human animals need to take a lesson from them.

[Guest MnMDogs]

We lost Matty after 6 short days. I can't believe it - she didn't start limping badly until this past Sunday (3 days after the xray). She was let go Wednesday night. I can't believe how quickly she was gone, and the pain she must have had for quite some time. She didn't give into it until the end. We miss that girl so much, and my heart goes out to all of you who are dealing with, or have dealt with this.

[Guest Pipi5]

My Gogh was diagnosed on January 20th & I had him put to sleep on February 16th.

 

I fortunately have not had to deal with Osteo, but I've had to euthanize pets for other reasons. One thing I've discovered is that they always tell me when it's time. I know it may be hard to imagine, but the look in their eyes changes. I believe that you'll know.

 

Many hugs and prayers to you and your baby.

Exactly, you'll know. Its a connection between you & your dog...the connection is in the heart.

[Fudge]

I'm so sorry to hear about Ebony

 

I agree with all the others, when they stop enjoying the things they love.

 

For my angel Smokey it was 3 months from the day of diagnosis. He was 14.

 

 

Was Smokey limping very bad and did you have to lift him up and down stairs?

 

I'm sorry I just read your post asking me. No he was not limping badly but you could tell he was in a lot of pain. Smokey was too big for me to lift up and down the stairs. A very good friend gave us a humongus dog bed and we slept downstairs on that until he no longer wanted to go on walkies or eat and looked very sad.

[Guest HersheysMom]

I'm so sorry you are going through this. My first greyhound, Starlight was just over twelve when she began limping. From the time she started limping until the time she was put to sleep was two months, however, she was initially misdiagnosed, making the time of diagnosis until the time we put her to sleep only about six weeks. The problem with the dog running is that it is easy for the bone to break in it's weakened condition. From the time of her diagnosis, I was always petrified of that but fortunately it did not happen to Starlight.

 

For pain meds we combined Tramadol with Deramaxx (similar to what you are doing) When it got to be time for stronger pain meds, we were also given both Buprenex and a Fentanyl pain patch. Buprenex put her in a fog, the pain patch made her extremely restless. We were in the ER on Christmas Day removing that patch. I had wanted to put her to sleep sooner than we did before we had to go to those other drugs, but my husband wouldn't let her go sooner.

 

I do think it's very important to have time to say goodbye - spoil her rotten. Please be careful with the running, though. I think when you need to move on to stronger pain meds it is probably time - but YOU know your dog better than anyone. I'm very sorry for your pain and having to make this difficult decision.

[gryhndsr4us]

I'm so sorry to hear about your girl. We just went through this with our boy Clark. He started limping March 6th and was let go to the bridge on April 2nd. I slept downstairs with him on a air mattress. We knew it was time when he didn't get up to meet me at the door and was dragging his leg.

[Guest shelbygirl07]

sorry to hear about Ebony.. my thoughts are with you

[iluvgreys]

Wow! This is hard! My girl was just diagnosed last night. She's been limping off and on for a couple of months

So very sorry you're having to deal with this too. My heart goes out to you and your baby girl.

[Guest slade]

Slade started limping today. He broke his leg racing and it is a little odd looking between the back right knee and ankle. What did yours look like. Could you notice any change? I going to take him to the vet tomorrow and have it checked out. I'm so worried. He plays so hard with my son's weimer puppy, maybe he just injured it today.

[Guest Speedhoundz]

I'm so sorry to hear about Ebony. I'm sure you've gotten a lot of good responses. I thought I'd chime in because I am going through the exact same thing right now and am thinking this week may be the week I have to let my boy go. It's a very personal decision. What my oncologist told me is that if he is limping, he's hurting. If he's not using the leg at all, he's hurting a lot--even if he is otherwise acting like himself.

 

All I can say is, for me, I can't bear to see my dog suffering. We have been able to control Kane's pain with meds for 3 1/2 weeks now, but last night he started limping really badly and is on the verge of not using the affected leg. I've also watched his tumor grow larger and larger with each passing week. He has a fantastic spirit and is a tremendous fighter, but I know he is hurting and I don't just want to pump him full of pills because I know the pain is only going to get worse. I also fear he will break his leg and I'm trying to prevent that from happening.

 

Just my 2 cents...if you can, don't let him do stairs, and definitely don't let him run. The bone is so weak with osteo that routine movements can cause the leg to break, and the broken leg cannot be repaired. Try to keep walks as short as possible--quick potty walks only.

 

Many hugs to you. Enjoy every moment you have with Ebony, be it days or weeks.

[turbotaina]

Aw, Beth :grouphug