Buddy the Rescued Rottweiler

It’s been just over a week, and Buddy’s absence has really been noticed. I actually didn’t think I was all that attached to him, as he was really Mary’s dog, but I’ve been surprised at how much I’m missing that dog.

The funny thing is that Sasha (the youngest Rottie) still acts as though Buddy is here and is just waiting to pounce on her when she’s doing something. (Buddy would always keep her in line, and sometimes when she’d want to go past him, she’d ask for “help” from us to do so – She’s still doing that every once in awhile as if she still senses him)

Today we received a call from Banfield stating that Buddy’s ashes and paw-print were ready for us to pick up. Mary was able to pick them up this morning, so Buddy is now back home.

We all miss you Buddy, but we know you’re having a good time!

Unfortunately they weren’t what we had hoped for.

After culturing the cells in the lab, the good folks at CSU have determined that Buddy has an aggressive form of osteosarcoma. This comes somewhat as a surprise to us, because osteosarcoma is pretty common, and the docs had a very tough time figuring it out by the looks alone.

But the good news is that it doesn’t change our treatment plan as far as the radiation goes. Buddy will be part of a study, “Radiation Therapy With or Without Bisphosphonates For Palliative Treatment of Canine Osteosarcoma” (Say that 3 times fast). We will get him in for his first treatment next week, and he’ll then go back 2 more times over the next month.

What this means is that Buddy will get to keep his leg, but he’ll be pain-free and has a very good prognosis for longer life. This of course won’t cure the cancer (neither does amputation), but it will reduce the chances that the cancer will aggressively spread, and will most-importantly improve the quality of Buddy’s life.

One thing that I didn’t realize is that the study itself is directly related to treating bone cancers in human patients as well, so Buddy will actually be helping all of us as well!