Dr. Nicole Ehrhart, a veterinary surgical oncologist who specializes in this procedure, determined that Forrest was not a good candidate for a bone graft based on X rays and bone scans. She repeated the recommendation for a front leg amputation. So I lay out the facts and tell them the alternatives. He's a very happy dog. Three-legged dogs really do have good quality of life.
Cancerous legs can be a chronic source of pain, sometimes causing dogs to drag or gnaw at the leg.
Before the amputation, he was in constant pain. After I got the facts I talked with the teaching hospital's medical oncology expert Dr. Barbara Kitchell. She looked me straight in the eye and said, 'He's young. He'll do fine. Although there is a risk of hemorrhage, amputations are routine surgeries under the hand of experienced surgeons.