Golden Retriever Diagnosed with Osteosarcoma

by KJ
(Pacific Northwest, WA)

Our Golden Retriever "Ginger" is 12+, a rescue girl who we have had for only about 18 months.

She went to the vet on Saturday with a limp and came home with probable osteosarcoma. The vet did 4 bone core biopsies and we received the results today with our suspicions confirmed. The site is in her scapula and is believed to be a primary site at this time. This news comes on the heels of losing our 12 yr old Belle to a brain tumor one month ago. Its been a rough few weeks.

We meet with our vet tomorrow to discuss options which I suspect will be:

1. Amputation followed by chemo
2. Palliative pain control.

But maybe there will be other options, I will wait and see. We want to do whatever is best for Ginger, but don't want to make her go through surgery, post-op recovery, chemo, etc. only because we can't stand to lose her. I see that the general outlook for a dog after amputation and chemo is generally a year; much of that year could be spent in medical treatments of one sort or another and learning to walk at age 12+ with your front leg missing... not sure that's the best thing for her.

I will continue to read this forum and look for advice... meet with the vet tomorrow and go from there.

Thanks for reading!
KJ