Personally...and I mean this literally...I wouldn't put any animal of mine through the procedure you've outlined above. I'd wait and see whether the tumor grows back and then re-examine the available options.

My dearly adored and constant companion...my Himalayan cat...became a victim of cancer. My trusted vet operated to remove the mass and came back with a similar diagnostic result. I asked her what she would do considering the circumstances and her reply was that although the decision was mine to make...that she would never put an animal through cancer treatments. She didn't use the word "inhumane" but that was the gist of her opinion.

After much thought and the fact that I knew there was no way my cat could convey to me how she felt and how she would feel going through cancer treatments... [I'd spent 20 months constantly by my husband's side as he fought and lost his battle with pancreatic cancer so I was well aware of the side effects of cancer treatment.] I decided to help her over the rainbow bridge. It nearly broke my heart but I know I made the wisest and kindest decision.

Consider the treatment you've outlined above...and factor in the time that your dear pet will have to be away from everything familiar and caring. Then take some time and give your decision more thought.

My heart aches for you having to go through this...especially at this time of year. There is never a good time...but now is more stressful than most times. I may not have answered your question directly...but I hope I've given you some input that will help you make your decision.

How old is Bingo?

Seems like a lot to put the dog and you through. Dogs do amazingly well with 3 legs. Yes, how old is Bingo?

Oh my, that's difficult for you, but you want to give dear Bingo the best chance possible to get well. I would want to know that he would be walked and get some attention, not just be in a kennel 23 hours a day. That's tough to be missing him for a week at a time.

I do not have any experience but understand your distress. We are going through a rough time with a pet now, so you have my sympathy. Good luck.

PS He's adorable. I'd love to pet the little guy.

Would removing the leg be an option? That might be easier on him and would certainly prevent a tumor recurrence.

I don't know other than wanted to mention that a friend had a dog with cancer and they got a lot more years out of him with some kind of immunotherapy...I think it's come further for animals than it has for humans as a good treatment option, so you might want to ask the vet about it.

I would definitely consider a partial amputation. They adapt so quickly and easily it seems. I know several people who have dogs with amputations and you really have a hard time figuring out which dog is handicapped. I would choose that over radiation if it is an option.

So sorry you and your family and Bingo are going through this. Best of luck.

Our cat had Cyberknife radiation 7 years ago for nasal lymphoma. The benefit of Cyberknife vs regular radiation is that it is more precise (less surrounding tissue damage) and it is generally given for fewer days. Three days of radiation, followed by 6 months of chemo, all tolerated very well by our cat, who just celebrated 7 years in remission. She is a “statistic buster” (typical survival time is 2-3 years?).

We were fortunate to live within driving distance of one of the few veterinary hospitals that offers Cyberknife (ASC in Yonkers NY). We were also fortunate that her oncology vet was, and is terrific (we’ve followed her to subsequent facilities, and I can highly recommend her). I know there are different treatment/surgical options, and our oncology vet has numerous vlogs and YouTube videos about them.

Best of luck to your Bingo!

Dr. Susan Ettinger

Small to medium dogs do quite well on three legs. My little grand dog lost her front leg to cancer. She does just fine. It took a few months to adjust but soon she was hopping up on the sofa. She keeps up with he siblings without any difficulty. Her surgery was around five years ago I think. The threesome are still going strong at around age 14.

Maybe there have been advances but just a couple years back radiation therapy was seen as palliative for most pets, not a cure. There are side affects both during the treatment and some that can come several months later, depending on the area being treated etc.

My advice would be to sit down with the vet and discuss all options and the prognosis for each. Ask for both best and worst case scenarios. That is the only way you can really make an informed decision.

How old is the dog? How will he handle the anesthesia during treatment which comes with its own set of risks? What type of cancer? Is the cancer in the soft tissue or has it or has it invaded bone or in danger of doing so? Without knowing these things it is not at all helpful to know what some other pet experienced. Especially one of a different species.

Personally I could not leave a family pet on its own undergoing treatment for 5 days a week for a month. I would be rooming nearby or doing the commute daily. The few times I have had to leave a pet overnight ( practically slept there) or even for a day I was a basket case.

I'm so sorry you are faced with making some difficult decisions for your dear Bingo. He's such a cute little guy.

His age would be an important factor to me in deciding what to do. I think the proposed treatment schedule and being away from home could be very hard on an older, senior dog, both mentally and emotionally. And, I think that it's very reasonable to take into account the difficulty that would be involved for the humans as well.

As suggested in previous posts, I'd also look into amputation of the leg as a possibility that could be much less stressful for Bingo. Did the vet mention amputation as a treatment option?

I have no advice, just hugs for you all.

Sue

We lost a dog to bone cancer but it's been quite a few years ago and treatments for all types of cancers have advanced so much. Per friends who have/are experiencing it, radiation treatment for human breast cancer is not painful or burdensome (especially compared to chemo). So I wouldn't expect canine radiation to be particularly painful.

But for staying mostly in their kennel (?) for four weeks? Were you able to see it, and understand how Bingo would be treated? What type of food, exercise, and companionship would he be given? Our dogs accept going to the kennel when we're on vacation. The kennel owner said that once a dog understands the kennel is a "safe place", they settle down quickly. That's been our experience. (I'm convinced if they did NOT like the kennel, they'd let us know.)

Thank you all for your comments. Bingo is 11 years old. This might be old for many dogs, however, since he is small and in great shape, we've always been told to expect him to live well into his teens.

Amputation was discussed yesterday with the oncologist, who encouraged leaving that as a last resort. He felt that with radiation, Bingo would have many quality years ahead of him.

We have a consultation scheduled on December 19th at Angell Memorial in Boston where Bingo would have the radiation and stay during the week. Since yesterday afternoon, I have received glowing recommendations about this facility from friends who have had their pets receive treatment there. We will go armed with a list of questions to ensure our eyes are wide open and every option is discussed to our satisfaction.

When we went to the oncologist yesterday, both DH and I had a sense of what would be said, but just hearing it was difficult. The two of them spent 3+ hours there between our oncology consult, chest x-rays, restitching his incision that had opened up (most likely because the cancer cells won't allow it to heal properly) and other tests they ran. I had to visit the dentist in the middle of this and found out I'm now scheduled for a root canal next Monday. Can life get any better?

I appreciate having a community such as this to get feedback, as this is unchartered territory for us. Hugs to you all.

You've gotten lots of good information and other points of view here. KT is a great place to ask questions like this, and I found it all very interesting. You'll make the best decision for your dear pup. Keep us posted.

As for the dental work, I can commiserate with you on that as we have two major family upheavals going at the moment. Hope the dental work goes smoothly.

A big unknown that may not have an easy answer is whether the leg mass removed had seeded metastatic growths elsewhere or whether the leg mass itself was a metastatic growth. Just a few years ago, the specialist vet in my family discovered their 5 year old dog had several leg tumors and amputation was the decided course of action. Six months later, the dog had to be euthanized because of a number of abdominal tumors that developed and made breathing and food digestion very difficult.

Not to be too cynical but the advice you got could be the result of self-serving interest. Perhaps the oncologist won't recommend amputation because that, in essence, turns your dog into a surgery patient and ends the opportunity for it to be an oncology patient. Maybe such a cynical view doesn't fit but it's possible.

Angell is a large and very well respected practice. I'm sure your dog will have the very best of care there.

A few years ago, we had a dog that developed a chest tumor that needed to be removed. A similar experience, the surgeon was not able to remove all "the margins". Rather than undergo the discomfort and cost of radiation treatment (including the alternative of using the Cyberknife approach which is widely available from the better speciality practices around the country) we opted with the oncologist's concurrence to go with chemotherapy. This decision was taken after consultation with our relative who is a vet specialist. Radiation treatment is very expensive (the chemo approach wasn't cheap either) and may or may not be fully effective. The approach we took was intended to slow the development of cancer and give the dog a less stressful and hopefully happy life extension. The dog was euthanized 15 months later but after having spent 14 happy and normal months of life.

The hardest reality to face is that once a dog has cancer, the likelihood is that cancer will be the cause of death at a future date. The spread can be slowed but full cures are not common.

I'm very sorry about your dog and hope you can find an approach that makes sense for you.

My 13-year-old cat had a gross tumor on his front leg which was growing and starting to bleed. My vet said that amputation was an option but there was no way that when we put him through this, the cancer had not already spread. He didn't mention chemo and we kept him happy and well-fed for the six months after that and he was fine otherwise but the tumor kept growing so we sadly euthanized him in the spring. He ate a whole can of fancy feast an hour before so it was a hard thing to do, needless to say.

I'd weigh all the scenarios and only you can make the decision. Good luck with the little cutie.

Does your regular vet agree with the oncology vet? What does you regular vet say about amputation as an option? Elmer is correct in saying that an oncologist suggestion of treatment may be self serving.

Our friend’s big lab had his front leg amputated about 1 month ago. He was back running around within a few days.

Our dog doesn’t do well while staying in a kennel. She comes home stressed and exhausted. I doubt that we would put her through such a treatment with so much kennel time. Good luck with your decision. It’s not easy.

I failed to mention that the oncologist did not feel that chemo would be effective in this case. He has a soft tissue sarcoma. When visiting with the oncologist yesterday, they did x-rays to ensure this had not metastasized. Everything looked good.

My dog's cancer from the tumor spread to the bone marrow and the result leading to weakness and death was a decline in red cells and platelets. She too had periodic x-rays and ultrasounds done by veterinary radiologists and nothing was visible. I'm sharing this not to be negative but to broaden what may or may not be. Many cancers and soft tissue growths may not be visible on x-rays.

A friend told me she took her dog for radiation for months and he did fine with it.

It's the boarding that would bother me. I would be looking at an AirB&B somewhere reasonably near the radiation center rather than board my dog.

Nh, this is certainly a dilemma but you sound like you are willing to undergo the expense of the radiation. I agree with Elmer here that the oncologist's recommendation might be self-serving, but then again it might not. Bingo is adorable, and I'm sure your family adores him. I hope he can be cured, and is also not too traumatized with the kennel stay. Please let us know what you decide.

Let us know what you decide. My problem is I never leave my dogs and could not fathom being away from them that long. I think they would be so traumatized but then you alone know your dog's personality.

As far as the on-site kenneling during the week, we're honestly not too worried about this. Should he have an issue with the treatment, anesthesia or anything else, they would be right there to take care of him. Whenever we go away, we have him kenneled locally. He actually enjoys it. Yes, he's very excited to see us when picked up, but we have never seen any adverse reaction from him. Every summer we travel to Ohio to volunteer at the All-American Soap Box Derby. We can be gone up to 19 days. I honestly think we have a harder time than Bingo does with separation. But this is definitely something to discuss with them.

Lots of decisions to make after we have our consult on the 19th.

ETA a photo of him snoozing.

Sweetie..

"My problem is I never leave my dogs and could not fathom being away from them that long. I think they would be so traumatized"

You might want to think so but my experience (with several individuals one at a time over the years of the same working breed known to be extremely devoted, protective, and loyal) is that this isn't the case. Couldn't be further from the truth.

Dogs live in the moment. If you leave them somewhere, if it's a caring and engaging environment, by Day 2, they're having a good time and probably don't have home or family in mind until you reunite. Food, fun, exercise, stimulation make for a good day, no matter where and no matter who's involved.

With a lot of travel, we've always left our dogs for weeks at a time in loving situations. Especially in the modern era, periodic videos get sent to show what a good time they're having, no moping or any behaviors resembling unhappiness of any kind. Our dogs would always be very happy to see us but would typically sleep the better part of two or three days after returning home to recover from a stimulating boarding situation.

Sorry your dog has to go through all this. I hope the radiation treatments work. I had to make an appointment for my dog, Chewie. He has a growth on his face, below his eye and now it is about twice the size it was, possibly more. It's pulling on his lower lid and has got to be annoying for him. The vet this summer didn't think it was cancerous and so we were watching it. I was hoping not to put him through surgery.

While my daughter's family was vacationing in Denmark last summer, we cared for her dog at her house. I would appear every morning at 7 AM to take him for an hour long stroll around the neighborhood. At lunch and evening, the two of us repeated the walks around the neighborhood.

After they returned home, the dog would be at the door at 7 AM, whimpering. He missed all the attention and would have happily moved in with us.

Angell Memorial is a highly respected place and I'm sure your dog will be fine there.

Dogs have no concept of time, and while 5 days for you without him will be a LONG time, he won't notice if it's 5 days or 1 hour. Do what your vet and the vets at Angell think is in his best interest and what you can financially afford to do.