Bone Cancer In Dogs

Bone cancer is a disease that affects, as you can imagine, a dog’s skeletal structure. It generally attaches to the bone in a specific area and begins to spread throughout the body over time. Although many times tumors are mistaken for cysts, with proper diagnosis your veterinarian can make the determination whether or not cancer is present. If you are reading this, then you probably already suspect or know for certain that your dog has osteosarcoma and you are looking into treatment options. In this article, we’ll talk about the treatment options and hopefully help you decide which route to take.

The first thing that you need to know about bone cancer is that you are better off amputating the leg than trying just chemotherapy or radiation. Although those treatments can work, the risk of leaving the affected limb in place is just too great. Dogs are very adaptive animals and generally deal with amputation very well, at least better than most humans do. Although your dog might miss the limb at first, eventually he or she will learn to walk, run, and play as normal. Dogs are very forgiving in this regard.

Many people find out about bone cancer too late, and in this case treatment options are limited. Although you could opt for extensive radiation and chemotherapy treatments, you might have to consider euthanasia if your dog is in too much pain or has a low chance of recovery. Although your veterinarian will be able to counsel you about this, you are the best person to make that decision and you should not feel bad if you have to go down that road.

Lastly, chemotherapy and radiation combined with amputation are the treatments that provide the greatest chance for a full recovery. Generally, if the cancer is found in time and the limb is amputated, when combined with chemo and radiation therapy, the dog has a prognosis of 4-6 years. With just one of them, your dog is looking at months to a few years at best. As much as it hurts to watch your dog go through the pain and suffering of radiation and chemo, rest easy knowing that you are doing what is best for your dog and that it will eventually recover.

It is never easy making difficult decisions like these, but sometimes the best people to make them are those that care most about the animal. Vets see cases like these everyday and although they are very knowledgeable about the disease, they don’t know your dog like you do. Take the time to get the diagnosis done right, and take your time making a treatment decision. However, don’t take too long, as your dog is counting on you.