Hello all,
We have an 8 year old great dane named Mila. I am now am in need of great help - mainly because we are at a crisis. Our beautiful baby girl has a large osteosarcoma in her forefoot. She went from a slight limp about four or five weeks ago to what I thought was arthritis related swelling. We have been out of town the last several weeks so I was only able to take her to our vet last week when we got the news. We haven't had the chest x-rays to see if it has spread but nothing significant was found in her blood test. We are debating about treatment. The cost for amputation, chemo and radiation is great and the average life expectancy is just at 1 year even with treatment. I just don't know that we could handle that financially given that she is already an older dane and the life exectancy is low. And I don't know that I could put her through it either - they had to sedate her just to get the x-rays as she refused to leave my side. She is getting very clingy and limping more which makes me think she is already not feeling well - either just from the pain (which we are attempting to control) or from possible mets.
Does anyone have any experience with this? In 5 weeks I leave for a business trip over seas for two weeks and I have a lot of concerns about leaving her. My husband will be here but he is so attached I don't know that he could put her down if it comes to that. We don't have any children - she is our family. I have had mostly smaller dogs in the past that you could pick up and carry if they lost ability to walk and they yelped when pain got too much. But she is large and very stoic - the vet was amazed that she was limping as little as she was with as much bone damage as she has. How would we know when we might need to put her down for humane reasons? If she passes, how have you handled burial? She is too large for one person to lift.
Sorry to be so morbid. I am just trying to plan what is already a very difficult situation and I fear is going to get much worse. Any guidance will be greatly appreciated. Thank you!
Kathy