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Emily, It seems to me that you have a major tie to
Zuni having spent the time and money once already to fight cancer. If it
were me and the doctor says it needs to come off then it needs to come
off. Just be sure to prepare her body with vitamins, and whatever else
your doctor thinks may be appropriate for a dog going through
surgery.
Dealing with a chemo vet he will be able to tell
you exactly what you need to do. What exactly is wrong? Is it a
tumor? Is it in the blood? Will whatever it is, be removed
from the body with the leg? If that's so, will you NEED the chemo?
What is the vets idea of life expectancy? Are you removing a leg and
adding two years or six months?
As for the weight loss, Science Diet AD is
available at the vets office and is great for
cancer pets because they don't want to eat a lot when going through chemo.
The Science Diet AD is packed with more of what they need in a smaller amount of
food so they won't have to eat as much to get what they need. You may also
want to try vitamins and other "natural" remedies to help her body prepare and
then heal for/from the surgery. They also make different harnesses to help
cope with being a new found three legged baby. It will be sad and trying
at first but once Zuni is used to it (the leg) not being there I'd
think it would become easier for everyone.
This info I got from my vets nurse and I hope that
it will help you. IMO, depending on what the vet does tell you today, I'd give
removing the leg a go. Anna (vets nurse) says that once they are healed,
you can't even tell they are three legged when they run; only when they
walk. She has a three legged cat named Tigger that refused to stay inside
once he healed. He still hunts, prowls and otherwise acts like a Tom
cat. When I pull into her yard Tripod (Tigger) is the first animal there
to greet me. (She has four cats and several dogs)
Emily, I hope this helps and if nothing else gives
you courage to go into the vets office and do what needs to be done. If
you trust your vet and have faith, you and Zuni will come out
Great!
Bridget in Alabama
Bear and Sugar Bear
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