Hi Blanche,

I'm really sorry to hear about your pup. Osteo is a terrible thing and apparently is very common. Lucky has osteo as well. For a number of reasons we decided not to amputate. She is on pain meds and so far is doing greyt. I found 3 places to be very helpful....Dr. Couto at Ohio State is an expert in this disease. He will answer emails (and does so very quickly!) and he has a very informative website at

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I sent Lucky's xrays to him and he was kind enough to offer an opinion. Another place full of info is the Circle of Greys group. Many people there have gone the route of amputation and so have a lot of experience with that. They are at

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Greytalk was another place I received a lot of info, including both of the sites I gave you above.

I wish you and Sherry the very best during this difficult time.

Hugs and prayers,
Kim. Lucky and Silver

Kim
Thank you for your wishes for Sherry and also the link to Circle of Greys yahoo goup.
I didn't know about this site before, but I have joined and I will get a lot of post-op information.
Best wishes and prayers for Lucky and all other greys suffering from this dreadful disease.

How is she? Did you guys goes this past thursday? You all are in my prayers!

Amy
Sherry was 9 in December. She had her amputation on Thursday. I picked her up Friday around 4:00. Dr Crawford walked her out and I used the sling to hold her up. We got her in the car and Jean Colegrove drove us home with Sherry laying on my legs and lap. When we opened the back to get her out, Sherry said I'm going out the way I always do and went to the side door. We put the sling on her again and lifted her out. After drinking about a qt of water she laid down. Her appetite is great. She was comforable last night. Has been out about 5 times. She goes down the 2 steps herself and walks across the yard to go. The only thing she is still needing help is getting up on the futon-which she wants to do, so I help her up-its about 18 in. high.
She is getting better about getting down on the right side-she was having trouble with lowering herself and ended up on the amp side.
All in all, she is such a trooper.
My next decision is what to put her on to try to keep her healthy as long as I can. If anyone has to go through any kind of cancer or any illness with their grey, I highly recommend Circle of Greys Yahoo Group which I found thanks to Kim. They are all so caring because they have been through the same things and can give all kinds of information.

Blanche, I'm so sorry to hear this...We have lost quite a few GC dogs to the big C lately it seems. Here's a link to 1 of ours that had an amputation early Dec. & is going thru chemo. She has been a trooper & is doing so well!!!! Feel free to read thru her progress

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That's Nezzie at the top of our forum page.

Best of luck to you!!!!

i'm glad to hear sherry is home and is doing well. sending hope for a speedy recovery!!!!!

Glad to hear your Greyhound made it through surgery well. We just lost our Greyhound, Olive, to bone cancer in October but we did amputate and don't regret it. Before we knew it, she was outrunning our other dog on 3 legs! She provided everybody who knew her a lot of inspiration as she fought the disease - I'm sure you'll find the same to be true.

Hope all continues to go well ~

Laura

Hi Blanche, I am glad Sherry is doing well!!
Give her a big hug for me!

Thanks for the well wishes for Sherry.
I checked out Nezzie-how greyt that these babies bounce back.
Laura-I'm sorry you lost your girl-they put up a really brave fight. What did you do after amputation-as far as meds or supplements? Sherry is not getting chemo and Dr Crawford gave me Fosamax and Dichloracetate to think about. I know what the Fosamax is, the other is just now starting to be researched for cancer-it is a Chinese herb that was used for Malaria.
Another drug Dr. Couto is doing a study on is Artemisinin. I don't know what to do yet.
Sherry is now getting on and off the futon now-and is just doing great.
Thanks everyone.

After Olive's leg was amputated, we treated with some pain meds and then Duramax alone (I believe this is accurate - it was all such a blur it's hard to remember). And we had her on special food to stimulate her appetite and also to help with her immune system. She tolerated the meds pretty well but did develop a very serious infection about a week after her surgery - keep a close eye on the incision site. I don't want to scare you because I don't think it's common but it was really frightening when it happened. She underwent additional surgery and was hospitalized for about a week. But, she bounced back, despite all odds, and lived for a few more months before the cancer spread.

If I can answer any other questions, I'm happy to. I felt so overwhelmed by the experience I know it would have helped us, even though we had great vet care.

Laura

Oh and I forgot we did have her on nutritional supplements that she really liked and I thought helped keep weight on her.

Laura

We had the same situation with Fazzy. We made the decision to have amputation done. It failed and he died we believe of pain.

I don't think we will put our current hound through that ordeal if that same or similiar situation arises. No hound deserves that!!

Best wishes and follow your heart if and when you have to make a tough decision!

Ralphar
I made the decision I did because I thought it was the best for Sherry. They say osteo is very painful and then the leg breaks. Because I am on the go and at the kennel so much, I wanted her to be able to go with me and not have to worry about how, when and where her leg might break.
There are a few dogs that make it and more that don't. Your dog shouldn't have died just because of pain-there are enough pain pills that it would have helped if that was the case. I don't know if you meant the pain from the thought of losing that leg, but as Cesar Milan says-Dogs live for the moment.
Cancer spreads and usually is already doing that before amputation-that's why they tell you nothing is 100% sure whether human or animal when it comes to cancer.
Whenever I was talking to someone about cancer, I always thought I wouldn't amputate, but it was different when it came right down to it. Everyone told me whatever decision I made was neither right or wrong. I hope to have Sherry quite a while and we'll enjoy whatever time we have. I will go by her future quality of life and when that isn't good any more, I'll let her go.

Hugs for you and Sherry. Hoping you have a lot more time with her.