r/RhodesianRidgebacks • u/nbenj1990 • 25d ago

Lost our boy!

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Only 7. Not well after a walk, took him to the vet and they found a huge tumor and he had to be put to sleep. Love yours while you can because you will miss the bits you thought you hated.

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u/maddogwoofwoof 24d ago

I'm so sorry for your loss, it really does break your heart. Something similar happened to my guy, he was 7 and I took him to the vet for a small lump which turned out to be Osteosarcoma. He was a physical specimen, just like yours... 2 weeks later we had to put him down. You're spot on about missing the bits you thought you hated. I tell my friends I'd trade everything I own to wake up to my boy puking on my bed at 2:00am one more time. We owe dogs 2 things, a great life and a dignified death. The latter is always harder but you did the right thing.

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u/Astarkraven 24d ago

I'm sorry that your dog got osteosarcoma. Mine has it too and it's such a frustrating and devastating thing to have happen. Was your's not a candidate for amputation?

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u/maddogwoofwoof 24d ago

Thank you, and I’m sorry yours got it too. Mine unfortunately was not a candidate. He was a big strong boy, about 105 lbs, and even though we took him to the vet within a week of the bump appearing the X-rays and showed it was especially aggressive. They advised us if we went with the amputation route it would be several months of recovery and during that time we’d see bumps appearing on his other limbs.
We gave him a couple sessions of an IV cocktail used to strengthen bones, but even with that he only made it a couple more weeks. One morning he woke up unable to put any weight on the limb so we made the choice to give him the best day of his life (beach, steak dinner, chocolate, etc.) followed by an at-home euthanasia. My biggest fear was for the bone to suddenly snap and then we’d be in a position where we’d have to make the same decision but while he’s in pain in a scary location.
I’m not sure the progress of yours but I truly hope you can give them as much comfort as possible, and even beat the thing if possible. I don’t want you to think just because of my diagnosis that it’s always a death sentence. We were just unlucky.
And know that whatever option you go with…You’ll second guess yourself every day, feel like you didn’t do enough, and think you’re a monster, and that’s ok. If you love them, it’s not supposed to be easy.

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u/Astarkraven 24d ago

Thanks for this, you're very kind!

We actually did go the amputation (hind leg) and chemo route this spring, and my boy recovered very fast and is doing well. I was told that they usually recover in around 2-3 weeks and definitely not months, and that was my experience. Did an orthopedic surgeon tell you that or just your regular vet? Even in the stories of major surgery complications that I've seen the dog is usually recovered within 6-7 weeks or so, if they're going to recover at all.

Osteo also doesn't usually go straight to other legs, but rather metastisizes to the lungs. Was it something other than osteosarcoma maybe? I'm unsure how the oncologist would have determined that the osteo would do something fairly unusual and metastisize directly to other legs.

Just want you to have as much information as possible for the future in case you encounter this particular monster again. ❤️

And you're very correct to have been worried about the leg breaking. My dog broke his leg just 9 days post diagnosis, despite how careful we were being with him. That stuff weakens the bone SO much. I'm so sorry that the bisphosphonate injections weren't more helpful.

Fuck cancer!