Osteo in St Bernard

[Guest mysweetbigboy]

My st.bernaed has been diagnosed with osteosarcoma in front leg nothing showing in lungs yet. hubby wants palliative radiation therapy and immune system building. I'm not so sure this is the way to go instead of amputation. Have never dealt with this cancer or any for that matter. Any input would be greatly appreciated. I meet a lady at OSU that gave me this

groups name. I am so sorry that I can't remember her name because she made me feel a lot better about being there and the help my Barney would get there.

Edited May 23, 2009 by mysweetbigboy

[NancyB]

I'm so sorry to hear about Barney. My greyhound Marvin had osteo in his front leg. When we first found out we didn't want to do an amputation. We did do palliative radiation at first and it did help him for six weeks with pain control but then at that point we decided to do an amputation and chemo. You don't want that bone to break. Even though Marvin had his amputation and only had one more dose of chemo left to do he broke the back leg, same side as his amputation and we had to let him go. We had no idea the cancer had spread to his back leg.

 

If you would like to see what an amputation looks like (pictures are disturbing) and his progress you can click HERE. Then you can click on each picture to read the caption.

 

Sending prayers for your boy.

[Burpdog]

Sending lots of prayers.

 

What does OSU say about amputation for a St. Bernard? Is he hopping now or using the leg?

 

 

[Guest greyhound1]

:hope

[Guest Energy11]

Sooo Sorry to hear about your baby!

 

My Max, 12.5 (greyhound) had Osteo of the left front leg. ME? I don't believe in amputation, just palliative care. BUT, that is not to say amputation is wrong, or not good. JUST MY feelings about it.

 

Max never broke his leg, but we decided to let him go when he started hopping on a Friday ... doubled his pain meds over the weekend, and he went to The Bridge on Monday.

 

It is really A VERY HARD decision to make, whether to go with palliative care or amuptation. Before amputation, I'd be sure the cancer hadn't spread to the lungs, though.

 

GOOD LUCK, and we are praying for you here! Dee

[2hounds]

I am so sorry to hear this! You are in my thoughts.

[RobinM]

So sorry to hear about your baby. What does OSU say?

 

We opted for amp and chemo after our 9.5 year old tripped on the steps and severely fractured her left front. We had no options but to amputate or put her down right there. That wasn't an option.

 

We didn't even have 5 months (1 day short of) when the cancer had spread very quickly to her lungs and we had to let her go. She went from being a crazy silly happy girl to within a week- gone.

 

Wishing you the very best for you and Barney.

[Guest MnMDogs]

We just lost our girl to oseo in her back leg. For personal reasons, we decided against amp, and she only had 6 days after diagnosis until we let her go.

 

My understanding (from both my vet and OSU) is that the amp takes away the pain, not the cancer. So it's generally done in conjunction with chemo. I think the median survival is about 12 months or so. But I know that I've seen shorter times here, as RobinM just noted But also a few longer.

 

Thinking of you - whatever you decide you know will be out of love for your dog.

[RobinM]

Direct quote from OSU website " Limb amputation alone results in typical survival times of 3-4 months. Postoperative adjuvant chemotherapy prolongs survival times to 12-18 months in most dogs. As of now, it appears that survival times in Greyhounds treated by amputation and conventional chemotherapy are somewhat shorter (8-12 months). "

 

Unfortunately these are "averages" and as I had mentioned above, my Polli left us one day short of he 5 month anniversary of the amp but who knows how long she really had the cancer prior to the fracture. She was limping severely one year earlier on the same leg and the x-rays we did showed nothing. It was brewing all that time.

 

Here is the whole page for your viewing.

 

http://vet.osu.edu/2096.htm

[GeorgeofNE]

How old is your St. Bernard?

 

I think a lot depends on that. The giant breeds have notoriously short life spans--which is sad. Only you and your husband know what is right in your dog's case. I thought my Greyhound had bone cancer; he doesn't. But I had already decided against amputation and was going to just treat the pain and keep him comfortable. It's a personal decision based on knowing your own dog better than anyone. You should know that dogs typically do just fine on three legs. It'll alleviate the pain from the bone cancer right away.

 

 

[FountainLady]

A good friend of mine had an amputation done on his yellow lab last fall - Holly lived less than a week after the surgery - she died from a blood clot (from the surgery). It was heartbreaking. They spent thousands of dollars for a surgery that ended up killing her in the end.

 

We lost our Pup too to Osteosarcoma cancer, we did not choose to amputate his leg. He lived about 5-6 weeks after we found out he had bone cancer. (4 months from the start of his limping) He was put to sleep after his pain meds weren't working well for him any longer.

 

The chance that amputation & chemo will CURE your dog of Cancer is about nill.

 

I've read heartbreaking story after story of Osteosarcoma on this board. After all I have read and all the people I personally know that have went head to head with this cancer monster --- I wouldn't put my dog through an amputation, as this is a battle that you won't win anyhow.

 

I'm so sorry that you have to go down this road with your dog. Sending a hug to you.

 

 

[Guest Gingergrey]

Sorry to hear that you are going through this with Barney. Whatever your decision, you have our support.

[Bevd]

I'm very sorry to hear of your current situation

 

I know that on this site http://www.tripawds.com/forums/ there are number of people who have large breed, heavy dogs who have had amputations due to osteo.

 

My deerhound was diagnosed with osteo and had a front right amputation on 16th October 2007 and she is still doing well.

 

Amputation is a very personal decision and much depends on the particular dog and it's circumstances, the humans circumstances etc etc and I also don't think it's something that one can make a firm decision on, until they are faced with it.