# osteosarcoma



## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Ever had a dog with this? How long did they live, with what quality of life? What treatment options did you choose.

One of our avalanche dogs at my work was just diagnosed by x ray, Biopsy to confirm this week.


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## Chris Michalek (Feb 13, 2008)

My first dog had that. From the point that it was noticed, I had her put to sleep less than 8mo later. I could tell she was in pain and when she stopped carrying a ball in her mouth and wanting to go out to play/walk.


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## Michele Fleury (Jun 4, 2009)

Bone cancer is never good. I've had teammates and friends go through this with their dogs. Each case resulted in amputation of the affected leg and chemo because it tends to spread. The dogs lived a couple more years but eventually the cancer came back. It's been 5-6 years so maybe there are better treatments with better results.


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## Connie Sutherland (Mar 27, 2006)

Yes, it's very aggressive, from all I have read. I haven't had a dog with it, but the ones I have known have not lived long. 


http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+2087&aid=465
is a brief but good overview.


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## Jennifer Coulter (Sep 18, 2007)

Interestingly this is a mutt...a LARGE one. Like a golden retriever crossed with a moose. She is 90 lbs. She is 6 years old.

The really interesting thing is that her mother and brother have already died of cancer.

I feel really bad for him and his family, and it is a real blow to our working dog program as well.

I am not sure what the owner will opt for. He will get some advice from the specialist doing the biopsy I suppose.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Not personally but I've had friend with dogs who had it. All stated the same as was said here. Serious and aggressive. I think that some attempt amputation if that's an option - seems like for an active working dog, it probably isn't.


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## Terrasita Cuffie (Jun 8, 2008)

I lost my last GSD to osteosarcoma of the pelvic bone--no way to resect and judging by the x-ray already at the advanced stage. One of the things that came up in my research was the issue of metastasis. Most of the articles read that by the time you see osteo on x-rays with osteoblastic bone reformation, its already metastasized even though you may have clear films. Having seen too many failed chemos and the fact that my dog was almost 10 w/o a resection option, I chose not to wake her up from the anesthesia. She had started to have some gastrointestinal issues also that were very strange. In the past, I've tried everything possible only to prolong the inevitable. Didn't want to see this one decline and in pain. 

Terrasita


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## Michelle Reusser (Mar 29, 2008)

I put my boy down over 2 yrs ago. He had a break in his leg a couple years earlier and it swelled up. I thought he possibly refractured it or something and took him in for x-rays and they said cancer. He was 7, in prime shape. A very long/tall GSD, neutered at 10 mos old when I bailed him out of the pound. I didn't want to put him through the amputation because they only gave him "maybe" 6 mos even after that. We went home with pain meds and when those quit working, I took him in to stop his suffering. I only had 1.5 months with my boy after diagnosis.


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## Jenny Thorp (Nov 8, 2008)

I lost my last rott to it 4 years ago. He was estimated to be around 12yrs old ( a rescue ).
It was in a forelimb and amputation wasn't an option due to age and other health issues.
He was put on Piroxicam and Tramadol. The Tramadol was switched to Morphine towards the end.
About 3 months from diagnoses is when the pain meds started to not work as well, his appetite decreased ( he lived to eat ), so he took one last trip to the vet before things got too bad.

Hope your friends dog turns out to have something benign.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

A not uncommon cause of death in many of the larger breeds. 
It's almost a given in some lines of Irish Wolfhound by 5-6 yrs old.


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## Kate Kueper (Dec 4, 2008)

I had a GSD diagnosed with it in 1999. We chose to amputate and treat with chemo (through the University of Missouri of Columbia). The chemo they used was new at the time. They did 4 rounds and that was it. She ended up living an additional 3.5year and died from unrelated causes. Since the treatment was so new, the University asked my vet to collect tissue samples after her death. It was discovered that she had be "cured" of the osteosarcoma. 

That being said, I still don't think I would put another dog through it. The four months of treatment were really rough, but the biggest issue was a 75lb 7y dog getting used to three legs. She was never again able to live the life style she had before the surgery.


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