What Are the Treatment Options for Dog Bone Cancer?
Once Bone Cancer has developed, it is almost impossible to prevent its spreading throughout the body . It spreads aggressively throughout the body in such a way that without relative treatment, affected dogs may completely succumb to the disease in 1 to 2 months’ time. Once Bone Cancer has spread and become inoperable or untreatable, euthanasia is the only humane option allowable in order to save the dog from intense pain that will no longer regress.
90% of Bone Cancer tumors metastasize to the lungs. Because of this, aggressive treatment is implemented.
Once Bone Cancer has developed, it is almost impossible to prevent its spreading throughout the body .
Treatment includes amputation of the affected part followed by a series of chemotherapy, but that should provide only temporary relief. Amputation alone provides an average survival time of 5 months while amputation with chemotherapy provides a survival time of at least one year. Chemotherapy drugs that are proven effective for Bone Cancer chemotherapy are Carboplatin, Cisplatin and Doxorubicin.
Radiation therapy is another option when the aim is to provide pain relief from secondary bone tumors caused by metastasis. This treatment results to 2 to 3 months of pain-free survival time. Commonly, radiation therapy is used before and after a surgery, or during times when the tumor is inoperable or has not been completely excised during surgery.
These are some of the ways dog bone cancer is treated.
Filed Under: Canine Dog Bone Cancer
My dog Cody had osteosarcoma, she had it in her right leg by her hip. There were no outward signs that it was there although she had to be in a lot of pain, but around Christmas time she started to limp. When the limping didn’t go away we brought her in for an Xray and it was then that we got the devastating news.
An experience like this leaves a fear inside you forever,
My girl had none cancer.
We had 3 options. Put her to sleep because the pain is so bad with this type of cancer, have her leg amputated to get rid of the pain and hope to get as many good days as possible, or have the amputation and chemo. We were told she wouldnt get as much Chemo as a human, and only 8 treatments.
We wanted to fight, she was not ready to leave us, so we went for the amputation and the chemo.
The amputation was frightening, I understood the pain she was in, I couldnt wait to get her home from the hospital. 2 days after the operation she came home, she was in pain and she slept. I laid next to her just cherishing that she was back home. I had antibiotics and I also had to give her a needle for the 1st few days to prevent thrumbosis.
On her 1st day home, after sleeping for awhile she started to wake up and suprised me when she had to go to the bathroom. I had a sling ready to help her and although I used it, she got used to walking on 3 legs very quickly.
I took a picture of her operation site every day and emailed it to her vet. It showed him how the wound was doing and we could compair how well it was healing with out having to try to remember how it looked the day before. The vet was happy of our decision to do that. Her wound also leaked a lot on day 2 and 3.
She healed from her operation and she started acting like a puppy again. She ate good, she walked and even ran in time. We took her to the park a lot making the most of each day we had with her.
We were to start the chemo. The doctors told us she would get 2 different types of chemo. I just remember 1, carboplatin, I think the other one was something like cysplatin. The carboplatin was easier on her then the other one. They would alternate between each treatment.
We were told the amount of chemo she would get was not to kill the cancer but to give her more time. We were told she would not get as sick as people do since the amount was so much less. But we worried just the same. And we knew if she reacted badly to it, we would end the chemo.
In the beginning she was ok but the more treatments she had, the weaker she became. I asked the vet to only give her the carboplatin, this was easier on her and I would see if this helped. We were almost done, we were hoping with all our might that we would be one of the very few lucky ones to beat this cancer. You could not help but wish.
It was on the day of her last chemo treatment which she had come to dread that I heard her cough. It was a sound I will never forget. She made a choking sound and I knew in my heart the cancer had now spread to her lungs as Osteosarcoma usually does.
We went to the vet, before the could take her to do her last chemo treatment I asked him to do a lung Xray. We do this in the middle of the treatments, she wasnt due for one now and just the week before she had one and her lungs were clear. The doctor told me we didnt need it, he listened to her lungs and they were clear, he reminded me of her last Xray but I knew in my heart. I told him to please do it so I can have some peace of mind.
He took her to Xray her chest and came back with the saddest look on his face. They do care at that hospital, they work with your dog, each visit they fight to try and save her life. They do become attached, we are part of a team with one goal. To give a dog more time. But he came over and told me “you were right” she had 3 substantial sized lung mets in her lungs. We went home, no need for her last treatment. In 1 week her lungs went from being clear to having 3 substantial sized masses in them. I felt so defeated and not ready to accept what lay in store for us.
The chemo did not help to extend her time at all. It was only months ago that this cancer was discovered. I had been on a Canine cancer list too at the time and no one who was having chemo got more time. So if anyone (GOD FORBID) goes down this road, I would do the amputation because it got rid of the pain for the remainder of the time she had left, but the chemo I would not do again, it helped nothing and made her weak and ill. I wish I knew then what I know now. It would have made the time she had so much better.
We made Cody as comfy as possible, we started to notice that she couldnt walk far with out having to sit down and rest. But no matter how she felt, she still loved her trips to the park and every day we went. She no longer was on a diet to lose weight, we bought her steaks, bones, its like we needed to put a lifetime of good things in a few weeks time.
We were aware that the time was coming where we would have to say goodbye to her. I cried and cried but never in front of her. I spoke to my vet about giving me something to relax her when it was time and he gave me acepromazine. That is what they give a dog before an operation to relax them.
As time passed I saw that at night she couldnt lay her head down, she would sit up all night and pant. I knew the signs were starting. But when you have to make such a decision, there is never a right time. She would always love when you would rub her belly and give her kisses but now she wanted to be alone and she would walk into another room and lay on the floor and pant. We would take her outside to sit with her, she loved being outside and we wanted her to make the most if each second.
The day came when we had to call the vet. We had planned to have him come to the house, she was so traumatized from the chemo treatments we did not want her to ever have to go back to the vets again. We have her 1 more steak which she ate with gusto. God bless her, she never lost her appetite. And after that she had some ice cream. Then we gave her an acepromazine. The doctor gave us 3, he said for this we could use all 3. I wanted her to be sound asleep when the vet came so she wouldnt feel fear.
He came, I lay down next to her, my head was on her chest. I was hugging her and I heard her heartbeat. I wanted so much to tell him to go away, that I changed my mind but we lay there as the vet gave my girl the needle. In it were 2 drugs, one to put her into a sleep, and one to take her away from her cancer ridden body. I heard her heartbeat change and it scared me. It started to pound and I yelled at the vet “its not working!!!” he told me to wait. Then I heard her heartbeat slow down and beat lower and lower until it stopped and her body became stiff in my arms. I was beside myself and so was my husband.
The vet said he would give us time and he did. Then he came to take her body away so she could be creamated and returned to us.
For anyone who has gone through losing their dog to Osteosarcome, it always leaves a fear in you. My vet even said it. If my dogs so much as limp im terrified.
I believe there is so much junk in dogfood that my dog was effected by it. It may have been in her DNA that she was suseptable to it, but from all I have learned, watch what you feed your dog. I feed my dogs innova now, its human grade food and I cook for them. I wish I would have known back then what they were putting in the dogfood. On the Canine cancer list people were joining by the hundreds. Why are all our dogs getting so sick, we could not understand it. But now I feel that I know.
What can I say?…. thanks so much Debbie for this heart-felt telling of Cody’s struggle with osteosarcoma… its a sad tale but filled with a gentle calm and loving energy — thank you. I hope your story can inspire other dog owners to be more mindful of the food they feed their dogs.
If you are reading this and your own dog is struggling with cancer, please take a look at our new product Canine Cancer SECRETS… it took us a year to develop and is filled with the utmost care and consideration for you and your dog. It includes the advice of mainstream vets, holistic vets and even interviews with dog owners that had experiences with canine cancer and the things they tried and results they got.