Bentley was diagnosed with advanced osteosarcoma today...
Doc said that it was pretty advanced; there is a tumor almost the size of a golf ball above his left ankle. We took Bentley in last Friday because he was limping pretty bad. The Doc noticed a lump then that I hadn't noticed before. Doc said that this cancer moves like lightening sometimes. He said it could have pooped up in a couple of days to a week on the short end. Anyway, they shot some x-rays of that lump and once the tumor was spotted, the Doc then took a shot of Bent's chest. He said that nearly all of these cases spread to the lungs, so he was looking there straight away. That film was negative, good I guess. However, the outlook doesn't look good. Anyone have any first hand experience that they'd like to share, quickly? I say this as we don't know how long we have. Financially, this could wipe us out. Emotionally, it is certainly going to kill us. I came home from the vet to break this to Jen who was watching our two grandsons and had to have my son come over to get the boys as I knew she wouldn't take it well. Bentley very quickly became 'her' dog. He herds her down the hall and follows her step-for-step through the house. She's broken at this point. I feel horrible because just a short two and a half years ago I wanted a sheepie after loosing our Cocker to cancer. Now Bentley. I'm open to advice, sympathy and prayers (and I'm not a religious person by any means, but I'll try if it helps Bentley and Jen). Vance |
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| Vance, I can't offer any opinions as I am not familiar with this but I can send my thoughts and prayers  I agree. It doies sound good it did not spread to his lungs...what is the treatment they are suggesting for the leg? How old is the dog? I am so sorry you are going through this....We are all here for you. I bet some of your questions will be answered by this forum by members who actually went through this same thing. This forum is super supportive. Sending our love, Diane and Doggys |
 I am very sorry as I know how it is to get devastating news like that... My boy was diagnosed with Lymphoma at the age of 5 It is good news that it has not progressed to his chest It is a hard decision to make whether to treat or control the pain. Sadly that is a decision only you can make! I am so sorry...I am honestly trying to think of something to make you and Jen feel better but, right now I am at a loss  |
| Vance, my heart goes out to you and Jen as you maneuver thru this. I have not had experience with cancer in any of my dogs but I did want to offer you my emotional support. Do you live near a university vet school, or within a reasonable driving distance? They are most always cheaper and sometimes more on the cutting edge of treatment. My thoughts and prayers are with you.  |
| Vance I have no experience in this, but we want to send you our prayers and good wishes. To everyone in your family. Lisa Frankie and Mattie |
| I am so so sorry for the sad news I send my most positive thoughts your way. I'm sure you have researched all your options. The first line of treatment for osteosarcoma for humans is amputation of the leg and adjunct chemo as it spreads quite fast. However, the prognosis is usually pretty grim. I think the worst part of it all is the pain associated with bone fractures as the tumor grows and spreads. There are osteoclast inhibitors actually help reduce the severity of fractures and can help ease the pain, I don't know if they would be ok for dogs....... sorry if I'm just rambling information you already know. You will be in my prayers. |
| I am so sorry to hear your sad news! That is devastating. I do know a dog here who had that and lasted 2-3 years with very aggressive and expensive treatment. He seemed happy enough. I bet his person would be happy to talk to you about it. PM me if you want her contact info. |
| My sisters blue heeler had it in the front leg, treatment was amputation to stop it spreading to other areas as it is an aggressive type of cancer. The age of her was 12 when it flared in the bone and had not spread to anywhere else. Age factor they opted for palative care rather then amputation. So with bentley what you have to weigh up is "Age Factor" if younger amputation is OK and dogs do well missing a limb, the fact it has not spread elsewhere at the moment and if at a resonable age then you stand a good chance of having him around longer. Also to weigh up is Quantity Vs. Quality. If bentley is at a reasonable age then going ahead with having the whole leg amputated, as long as the vet is confident it has not mastitsised anywhere else then Bentley has a good chance of beating this. Hard decisions all around as to what you do from here, but I can assure you if you come to taking the leg he will cope if at a younger age, if not then it will advance fast and no treatment will stop the spread and then it is just palative care to then making a decison when to let go. I am so sorry to hear the news of bentley you have to sit down with the vet and discuss the options and if any benefits if treatment goes ahead, my heart goes out to you and dont be put off if there is a good chance that amputation will rectify his osteosarcome, might be distressing for us but they do cope if there is a chance there. Hugs, keep us updated to how you proceed with your baby, I am so sorry to hear and prayers being sent and hoping bentley will come through this diagnosis OK with lots of discussions with your vet, age factor if that is relevant and if not spread elsewhere there is hope. |
| I'm so very sorry to hear this sad news It's so unfair that this is your second canine cancer. Like Kathy, we lost our four year old Chloe to lymphoma last year. We aren't too far from Columbus Ohio, and saw an oncologist there who treated her for eights months. She lived a quality nine months post diagnosis. We spoiled her in every way possible, and said goodbye each day. The therapy was expensive and was a very personal choice. There is no right or wrong path to take. I'm so sorry that you and Jen are going through this, and will have to make these painful decisions. I will keep all of you in my prayers. |
| You are all in our prayers. Miracles do happen. I find in times like this, the best thing to pray for is not a definite result but to be shown the right path to follow. |
| I am so sorry for you. I know you must be heartbroken. You might want to call Colorado State University in Ft. Collins Colorado. They have a wonderful cancer clinic and trials for all animals. Both large and small. If there is a trial going on, sometimes they waive the fees. If you choose to do this, and come to Colorado, your more than welcome to stay here for treatments. I'm 20 min away. I think you may also google CSU's small animal clinic and cancer . Ali |
| I've had that evil demon in two of my dogs.....if not three??? Both were Great Pyrs with their weight forward and that's where the tumor was, front leg. Amputation was out of the question both for the dogs' weight distribution, but also their age. They were middle age. Younger dog with more even weight, maybe. Radiation and chemo were not in our budget nor was the long term prognosis for osteoc. The average time gained at that time was a few extra months, not years. We managed the pain for as long as we could. We were warned as the tumor progressed the chances of bone break grew, we never got there. Finally we couldn't manage the pain without heavy narcotics which robbed them of their "life" and put them down. When MO started limping at 7 we were beside ourselves thinking we had another candidate. Her's is arthritis but the same limping. Rimadyl for 5 years now and she's still going strong. Somedays she's gimpy, but mostly not. Back to you, my heart felt condolences. Whatever you decide to do, remember your dog's quality of life is the question, not your emtional needs. That's harsh to say, but when you get to the other side........(sigh)..........you'll understand. |
| First and foremost, thanks for the support. I knew you guys would be there for us but I didn't expect this. I'd like to first say that we've discussed everything that we can think of and we know that what ever we do, Bentley's quality of life is paramount. Having gone through this before with Sean, (our Cocker), we kinda know more than we otherwise would have. Having gone through that also makes us look at things a bit differently. We know we don't want Bentley to suffer more than possible and pain meds can only do just so much. He's been on them since last week's first vet visit and they don't seem to be helping much. The Doc did change the meds today though... To the point, right now we can't afford an amputation bill and that most certainly needs to be done to prevent the cancer from spreading if in fact it hasn't already. The Doc isn't 100% on that after looking the chest x-ray. He said it could have already spread but be too small to see in the x-ray just yet. With this being a fast moving cancer, it could be there and not be seen today but be seen again in a couple days. And at $118 per x-ray visit, that's tough to swallow. We don't live close enough to anything like what our resident angel in Colo suggested. OSU has a great Vet school, but that's pushing the lines of reality with work and all. My biggest fear is that if we opt to just treat the pain, how long would it be before the pain gets too bad for any meds to knock back or worse yet, we come home from work one day to find that the cancer weakened his bone to the point of breaking. The thought of not knowing how long he suffered after that happened would kill, and I mean literally kill me. If the pain got so bad that the meds weren't helping, what would his quality of life been up to that? It can't be that good. He's already in so much now that when maxed out on his meds he doesn't like to move. In retrospect, this may explain why he started to eat laying down during the last several weeks... And I thought it was just him being silly. Sadly, knowing what we do from our Sean, this may be a tougher decision with our history with Bentley being a rescue dog. The upside there is we did rescue him and we're sure the last 2 1/2 years for him have been pretty great. I wouldn't trade that for anything. I know Zoey, our other rescued sheepie will not like the idea of waking up without her big brother to wrestle with before breakfast. We have a very tough road ahead. Thanks for the thoughts, I'll keep you all posted. Vance |
| Try another pain med. We ended up with people pain meds as the doggie NSAIDS just didn't work after awhile. But , as a breed, Pyrs are stoic as hell. I've found sheepies not to be so, so could be our boys were in far more pain than they let on. Osteo is indeed fast growing........dang, dang, dang. Each case is different......I can't give you how long.......it was months, not years. I'd come home and see that "soft ball" on their leg and just be sick..... |
| What ever decision you make vance will be the right one, you know your baby more then anyone else. With my sister it was months after they put her to sleep from the initial diagnosis, yes unfortunately it is such an aggressive cancer. Her legs swelled to double its size and pain meds did nothing so they let her go. If she was younger they would of opted for treatment rather then palative care. She was a true working dog, herding cattle, they noticed a limp and thought she hurt herself, alas was not that but the bone tumour. Again sorry to hear the news and my hearts goes out to all of you and the road ahead as to what is best for your man. |
| I'm so sorry you're going through this. We're here and will continue to stand with you as long as you need us. |
| Vance, I'm so sorry. It is unfortunately one of the most frequent cancers we see in the breed, along with lymphoma and hemangiosarcoma, which is why it is high on the national club's priority list of research to support, but most of the research is still very much in the early stages. As I think it was Valerie mentioned there is at least one OES who did well with amputation and treatment for quite some time. But it is an aggressive cancer, like lymphoma often striking dogs in their prime (5-7 years old), just devastating. I know you'll do whatever is best for your boy. Kristine |
| I am sorry. I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers. |
| I am so sorry to hear about Bentley. Sending you positive thoughts and prayers. |
| So, so sorry for all of you, two- and four-legged. We're sending positive thoughts and energy your way to help you through the pain and difficult decisions ahead. |
| We will keep Bentley and your family in our thoughts. |
| My heart goes out to you all. Having made that very tough decision for both my Sammy and Max, I know the pain you are going through now. Know that whatever you decide will be the right one for Bentley. Thoughts and prayers are with you all. |
| So very very sorry. Special thoughts and prayers for Bently and your family during this very difficult time. |
| Bentley and you will be in our thoughts and prayers! |
| I am so sorry to hear the diagnosis for your Bentley |
| So sorry to hear of this. |
| Bentley is so lucky to have found such a loving family...you mentioned that Bentley's quality of life is paramount and remembering that, will guide you through the tough stuff. Thinking of you all... |
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