Q. Our dog Blackie is a 125-pound Rottweiler. He was recently diagnosed with a malignant bone cancer called osteosarcoma. The specialist says he's in a lot of pain, even though he never cries. He does limp on that leg, which is why we brought him to our vet in the first place. The surgeon says if we remove the leg he might live another year without pain. He's only 7 and we can't bear the thought of what he might go through if he loses a leg. What would you do?
A: It depends on the rest of his body. If he's an otherwise healthy, normal-weight dog with no signs of the tumor's spread, then I'd lop that leg off as soon as the surgeon could fit me in.
Though some veterinarians don't recommend amputations for large dogs (like Blackie), I find they recover quite well as long as they're not obese, severely arthritic or specifically orthopedically challenged.
But it's not always so easy for the average pet owner to reach that conclusion. I find that most owners, like you, agonize over the loss of any body part (excepting the inside bits). For some reason, eyes and legs seem the most psychologically affecting to pet owners. The proposed removal of either often results in euthanasia or worse -- no treatment at all.
While stress occasioned by the removal of an eye can be mitigated by the use of a prosthetic eye (yes, really), there is no such alternative for those of us whose pets must lose a limb. Nonetheless, I tend to stress the positives, most notably the amazing good nature of the dogs who undergo this procedure.
Sure, large dogs may need some physical therapy after an amputation and some may even require an emergency weight loss plan if they're to succeed post-surgery, but the vast majority of pets exceed their owners' expectations for minimal pain, post-operative comfort and the ability to live a full life.
There's even a website dedicated to helping owners make this difficult decision: Tripawds.com. As the site joyfully proclaims, ``it's better to hop on three legs than to limp on four.''
