Last month, I diagnosed our 12-year-old Hungarian Vizsla, Bart, with bone cancer. Not a great diagnosis and one which is always heartbreaking to have to explain to an owner.

Bart had had no symptoms prior to playing on the beach and suddenly crying out in pain. He went very acutely lame and by the next morning he had a subtle but classic swelling at the top of his shin bone that rang alarm bells. A quick CT scan later and I knew two things: firstly, he had an aggressive bone tumour that had caused the bone to crack, and secondly, there was currently no sign of metastasis. This left me with only two options – euthanasia or to remove his leg.

At 12 years old it would have been a reasonable decision to put him to sleep, but as he was still incredibly fit, active and with no other major health problems, amputation was a legitimate consideration. In truth, I had made the decision before I walked out of the CT room. I was going to remove his leg and give him another year or two of good quality life.

Pets cope tremendously well with the loss of a limb

The reality of limb amputation in pets is that they cope tremendously well. Even fairly big dogs can adjust relatively quickly and get back to a full and active life. The great advantage a pet has is that they don’t have all of the emotional trauma that goes with such a procedure that you or I would have to deal with. Dogs and cats live in the moment and adjust emotionally very quickly to the loss of a limb. As long as they have their beloved owners, a comfortable bed and a ready source of food, treats and fuss they are generally very happy.

Mobility-wise they will almost always manage much better than their owners expect. It’s not unusual to find three-legged cats still scaling walls and fences, or three-legged dogs still running and playing happily. If anything, it is invariably the pet owner who takes longer to adjust to having a ‘tripod/tripaw’ in the house.

At the time of writing, it is just over three weeks since Bart’s operation and he has already figured out his balance. He is back to going on long walks, he can navigate steps with ease, and he can even jump unaided onto the sofa and into the back of the car with just a little help on the way up.

Bart’s cancer will likely come back at some point, but I am very happy that for whatever time he has left, his enjoyment of life will be excellent, his ability to do the things that other dogs do almost complete and, most importantly, he is pain free.