I’ve had Bailey since he was a puppy. He got cancer in 2005, in his right shoulder joint. I found a great group on Yahoo that helped me make the decision to amputate, but all was in in favor: young age, very good health/weight, and no cancer had metastacized, so we went ahead with the surgery. I opted not to do the chemo.
Bailey has had an awesome life over the past five years! He moved across the country, lived in a new house with stairs that he has no problems maneuvering, and he LOVES the winters here in PA, with lots of snow. He definitely has husky in him. But he is a big dog — 85 pounds, and the amputated leg was the front right, so he definitely has had a harder time on his other three joints!
His vets now actually wonder if the tumor was caused by something other than cancer, given his cancer-free life so far.
Anyway, it’s been tougher for Bailey over the past month. He is more tired, and has developed some anxiety — mainly separation anxiety that has been difficult to deal with, as he is destructive. He has chewed quite a few pieces of furniture so far. After a couple of visits to the vet, there isn’t any discernible physical issues, so we have him started on Prozac for the anxiety and Deramaxx for the pain.
I sure wish I had a way to know how much pain he is in! His activity level has dropped more than half (walks are very difficult, as he can only do about 2 blocks — and I have to make it 1 block away or one block back, unless I want to sit and let him rest for 20-30 minutes!).
I wanted to just keep track of how he is doing. I always thought that Bailey would not have a lengthy life-span, given his large size, in addition to the strain on his body from the lack of one leg. I think we might be getting to the final lap, but who knows how long it will take. I just want him to be comfortable. I wish I didn’t have to leave him home (he does have a dogwalker) when I go to work, but somebody has to pay the vet :).
Welcome to Tripawds! What a great amount of time your Tripawd has had so far! WOW! Did they do biopsies to see if it was cancer? I have often wondered if cancer can be caused by an injury?
Post some pictures of your boy!
Tracy, Maggie’s Mom
Oh, wow!! Five years post-amputation. That is simply amazing.
Catie, our 6-year old, 75-lb Golden Retriever, had her right front leg and shoulder amputated in January of this year (bone cancer in proximal humerus). Although it’s only been over five months since her surgery and the diagnosis of osteosarcoma, she does tire more easily. Of course, to be honest, she never had a ton of stamina pre-op either – she’s always had a tendency to strolls and naps 🙂
It sounds like Bailey has done remarkably well. At 10 I would think he would naturally start slowing down. As far as the separation anxiety issues, I’ve never had to deal that so I don’t have any pearls of wisdom for you there.
Thanks for sharing Bailey with us! He’s a beauty.
Thanks so much for the positive comments! I’ve been feeling really sad about him losing his energy, but I know he is an old guy! I just found tripawds.com today and it seemed like a good place to talk about Bailey, and have a place to find some advice, if necessary. The yahoo group I was on during and after his amputation surgery was terrific, but after a couple of months, I left, b/c it was so sad to hear SO many stories of folks losing their dogs to the cancer. I know there will be plenty of that here, but I also thought that Bailey would be a great example of a successful amputation story. I’ll never forget a woman who stopped us during a walk a few years back, just amazed at how well Bailey did. She said it made her kind of sad, b/c her brother opted to not do the amputation, as he wasn’t sure what kind of life his dog would have (the dog was put down instead).
I’m happy to see that in the past 5 years, people are more and more aware of how well dogs actually do on 3 legs!
Actually, we didn’t do a biopsy, as the tumor had really invaded the joint. The doctor was afraid that the biopsy could cause more damage. I guess I didn’t think about having the biopsy when they did the amputation. When they checked the lymph nodes, they were all very small. So they felt he was pretty lucky in terms of getting rid of the cancer. He didn’t have any injuries, so that wasn’t a possible cause, but I’ve read that large dogs can have similar issues, as their cells undergo so much change with their rapid growth.
Daisy is 12, and when I was deciding whether to amputate or not (because of her age), I turned to an animal communicator. If you are open to this concept, here’s someone I’d recommend. Her name is Kathy Grimes, and her website is http://brotherwolfandfriends.com. She can do this over the phone. It might ease your mind to know the source of the anxiety.
Best wishes to you and Bailey.
Lexi (Daisy’s momma)
Thanks for joining and sharing Bailey’s amazing story! It is certain to be an inspiration just starting out on the canine cancer roller coaster. Keep those updates coming! 🙂
welcome, it’s great to hear bailey has done so well being a tripawd. at ten, he might just want to slow down a bit and smell the roses… great pictures!
gayle and charon
Heya Bailey!
I hear ya buddy! I’ve been doing this hoppin’ thing for almost 12 years! It gets tiring. I’m a pill popper, too! I gots to have my Rimadyl every day. And I have horrid pawrents who make me swim now every day! Okay, they aren’t really bad, I’m just not groovin’ on this swimming every night! But I do actually feel better. But that’s beside the point…because I usually get my way and I’m losing on this one!
And you thought you’d be the oldest hopper here!! No sirey. I’m it! You know why I’m here…cuz it’s the coolest place to be if you are a tripawd! And I only hang at the coolest places! They don’t call me Cool Cat Comet for nothing!
’til Later –
Cool Cat Comet
It’s great to hear of another older (but still active!) tripawd! I think I just have to get used to the fact that he is older and doesn’t have energy he used to have. I think the pain pills (Deramaxx) are working, but he is still tired easily. As Gale and Charon noted, he is just slowing down to smell the roses. And sniffing is something he loves!
Nice to hear from everyone — thanks for all the kind words!
Bailey, you are a true miracle, it’s so good to hear that a pup can live such a lonnnng time on three legs. You oughta get together with Comet, she’s an 11 year old Tripawd who’s been that way since birth.
My thoughts are; watch out for that Deramaxx. Long term use of any NSAID can cause serious gastrointestinal effects, sometimes really bad. Please keep an eye out for black tarry stools, or mucusy one. That could mean the Deramaxx is taking it’s toll. This is one of the more powerful NSAIDs and sometimes does a better job at masking symptoms than healing them.
I always recommend trying more natural remedies for arthritis, like acupuncture and swim therapy. over something like a NSAID. They make SUCH a huge difference.
Good luck. Thank you for joiing us here. Bailey is a really handsome boy, we can’t wait to hear about more of his adventures.