Just found out my boy has bone cancer

[Lizbiz89]

Last Tuesday we had the most heartbreaking news that a lovely almost 7 year old bullmastiff has bone cancer in his front right ankle. We are completely crushed. We have brought him home for palliative care and to give him as much love as possible. Can anyone give me any advice of what to look out for in terms of when they're ready to go? He's sleeping lots now but that might be the tramadol he's been prescribed. It's so hard to decide when a good time is for us let him go and I don't want him to suffer in any way. Also with the bullmastiff breed it's very difficult to determine how they're feeling as they have a very high pain threshold. Any advice would be really helpful.

No advice but just wanted to say thinking of you..

Oh you poor thing. My sister had the same with one of her staffies. Took her to the vet because she started limping on one of her hind legs and had the diagnosis a couple of days later. She took the decision to have her dog PTS quite soon afterwards as the cancer was high up in hip bone and amputation wouldn’t have been an option. She had a couple of days with her dog at home being thoroughly spoilt and then called the vet out.

I know it is an absolutely heart breaking decision to make but personally I’d go with the same decision my sister made.

I’m so sorry

You must be devastated.
No advice but thinking of you and your beautiful doggo 🐾💐

Bastard bone cancer 😞. We lost one of our greys to this, he was also 7.

We chose to let him go sooner rather than later as the vet suspected it had spread to his lungs and we didn't want him to endure any more suffering. It's such a hard decision, knowing what to do for the best 💐

Not experienced bone cancer specifically but have always felt it’s far better to say goodbye a day too early than a day too late. The memories and good times won’t be taken away and whilst you can wait and you might get more, there is a risk it means more pain and suffering for them. It’s such a hard decision as you never know how much longer they could have, but it needs to be happy times being able to do what’s they love, and if they can no longer do those things then it’s definitely time x

So sorry to hear this. It's very painful and the affected bone is liable to break under little stress so I would let him go much sooner rather than later.

Thank you for all of your kind replies. It's so hard to know what to do. I know it needs to be as soon as he's not happy. Yesterday was a bad day but today so far he's been up and out and had his breakfast. It's so emotionally draining. I'm going to see how it goes today and if he's not happy I'm going to call the vets. What makes it worse is we've always had our dogs put down at home where they are comfortable but because of Covid they can't do that now. Anyway we'll see how today goes.

I’m so very sorry. It’s never easy. So hard to let them go even when you know it’s better for them to try to save any more suffering.
I found the only thing that’s helped me is to remember something a very old, experienced fellow exhibitor once said to me, “ to take their suffering onto yourself”. To take their pain & turn it into your grief.

Thinking of you, nothing makes it easy really, the price we pay for the joy they’ve given us.

So sorry to hear. We had 3 months with our lab after the diagnosis of cancer in his lymph glands. He let us know when he had enough - was enjoying his food and walks, then suddenly wasn't. But every dog is different.

It is so devastating when they go. I got into a complete state the other day just thinking that one day I would have to make this decision for our (healthy) 11 month old. Then pulled myself together...

Hugs for you

Thank you. Yes it's emotionally draining. I got myself mentally prepared for the worst last night. But when I woke up this morning he was up and happy again. I even took him for a little walk which he asked for. He's been asking for belly rubs this afternoon as well. He's always been very much my dog and very connected with me so I'm hoping he'll tell me when he's had enough.

Has he had X-rays? That will give some indication of how fragile his bone is.

Tramadol only works in about 40-50% of dogs so don't rely on it as a painkiller. Is he also in metacam or another nsaid, and gabapentin?

Your vet has probably told you of the potential risks - cancer spread to lungs and other organs, breathing difficulties, uncontrollable pain, spontaneous limb fracture etc.

My advice would be that you know this process is sadly only heading in one direction. Take some time to acclimatise, focus on controlling his pain and giving him as many pleasurable experiences as possible. When he is showing signs of discomfort or of not enjoying things you know he likes, it's time. It will only get worse for him after that

I'm so sorry

@Veterinari he's had an x ray which showed damage to his front right leg ankle. We've got him on metacam as well. The vet estimated 6-8 weeks but I'm not sure if he'll last that long (he's had the swollen ankle since October). I just want him to be comfortable and as soon as he tells me he's not I know it's time. At the moment he's still begging for sausages, asking for walks, and wagging his tail for belly rubs so he seems ok. I would never let him suffer, it would break my heart even more. Just taking one day at a time.

I've lost two dogs to bone cancer, I would echo what others have said - better too soon than too late. I would go so far as to say better a week too soon than a day too late - it's a painful disease.

Better to have a calm dog who happily goes to the vet and has a gentle end than a distressed dog in pain.

It's a rotten thing to have to go through, but it's our privilege, as owners, to be able to make sure our friends don't suffer unnecessarily. Good luck, enjoy him while you can.

[quote Lizbiz89]@Veterinari he's had an x ray which showed damage to his front right leg ankle. We've got him on metacam as well. The vet estimated 6-8 weeks but I'm not sure if he'll last that long (he's had the swollen ankle since October). I just want him to be comfortable and as soon as he tells me he's not I know it's time. At the moment he's still begging for sausages, asking for walks, and wagging his tail for belly rubs so he seems ok. I would never let him suffer, it would break my heart even more. Just taking one day at a time. [/quote]
It sounds like you're very in tune with him OP.

Don't be afraid to ask for more pain relief if you think his current regime isn't working - there are plenty of other drugs that can be added in

So sorry xx I feel awful a year on from saying goodbye to our dear girl because we left it a little too long, it suddenly escalated very fast and if we’d only done it sooner she wouldn’t have had to go through that. I will never forgive myself and next time will be much quicker to say goodbye. Loved her so much. It’s so hard but the kindest thing you can do.

@catsrus

I've lost two dogs to bone cancer, I would echo what others have said - better too soon than too late. I would go so far as to say better a week too soon than a day too late - it's a painful disease.

Better to have a calm dog who happily goes to the vet and has a gentle end than a distressed dog in pain.

It's a rotten thing to have to go through, but it's our privilege, as owners, to be able to make sure our friends don't suffer unnecessarily. Good luck, enjoy him while you can.

I'm sorry, this is awful and I really feel for you. I would echo these comments.

Having seen how bad and how agonising this gets, I wouldn't want to be waiting for the point where he's suffering enough to want it over. It's gone too far then. I would not even contemplate attempting to wait as long as the vet has estimated it would take to progress on its own, because there will be significant suffering by then.

I know it's much harder for you as you're the one in this position and you have the relationship. The only glimmer is that you have the opportunity to make sure the end of his life is as good as the rest of his life has been, and to be able to let him go before he suffers and while he is still calm and content.

Sorry to hear this

How is he (and you)doing today OP?

@Lifeispassingby he's been ok today. He's been sick but I think that's a reaction to metacam more than anything. But he's been up and asking for food and walks. He also greeted me at the door when I came back from nursery with my daughter. I've ordered him some cbd oil as well to see if that helps. Just such a rubbish time to be going through all this 😢. Thank you for asking though, I appreciate it.

So sorry to hear about your gorgeous boy. It is so hard but you know him and you'll make the right decision for him no matter how hard that is.

Better a week too soon than a day too late. Sorry to hear about your lovely dog. It sounds like his time has come.

@Lizbiz89 So sorry to hear about your dog - my dog was also diagnosed with bone cancer two months ago and I know how devastating it is

Forgive me for asking the obvious but is he not a candidate for amputation? Our vet found the lump on my dog’s knee (hind leg) on a Monday, a needle aspiration (I think!) confirmed it was most likely bone cancer on the Thursday and we had X-rays on the Friday to check if it had spread to the lungs or elsewhere. It hadn’t (as fas as we can tell) but the bone was on the verge of shattering so it was either amputation or PTS. The vet thought he was a good candidate for amputation so that’s the choice we made and we haven’t regretted it. He’s his normal self (minus a leg!) for now and we are taking it one day at a time - hoping that he is an outlier and that we got the cancer in time.
Focussing on quality of life (we won’t do chemo) and will make the kind decision when we need to, which will be devastating but we will have given him some extra time with the people he loves and in no pain.

Please feel free to PM me if I can help answer any questions. Thinking of you and your lovely dog, I completely understand how heartbroken you are.

@ThursdayPLaine thank you for your kind advice. Sorry to hear that your boy has also been through this. Happy to hear he is recovering well from his op though. Unfortunately as we have a bullmastiff and he is very heavy chested, an amputation would just not be fair on him. Plus he doesn't have very strong legs (he has elbow dysplasia as well). The only option for us was palliative care unfortunately. He's had another ok day. Again asking for his morning walk and wagging his tail lots. Just taking it day by day now. As soon as he's had enough we will not hesitate to pts. Couldn't bear to watch him suffer at all.

@Lizbiz89
We lost our mastiff in June, sadly he had been abused before adoption and had a damaged front leg and was becoming crippled, as you said a front amputation isn’t an option due to the weight at the front.
We knew the time was coming ourselves but he was still eating, full of beans etc and never showed pain which makes it hard for you to know best, I think when he no longer has the want to eat or go out or is in a lot of pain then it’s time.
Although under restrictions our lovely vet came out to the car and gave him a sedative injection and he fell asleep in our arms then was carried inside for the last injection, that way he went to sleep with us rather than alone, maybe something you can ask your vet to do.