Osteosarcoma is an aggressive and painful bone cancer common in large and giant breed dogs, causing severe lameness and bone pain, with palliative and curative treatment options requiring careful welfare assessment and individualised decision-making.
Osteosarcoma is one of the most painful cancers in veterinary medicine. Bone pain is intense and unrelenting, and dogs stoically mask early signs. Any large breed dog showing sudden or progressive lameness in a single limb warrants prompt radiographic evaluation. Pain management is the central welfare priority regardless of whether curative or palliative treatment is chosen. Amputation, counterintuitive to many owners, typically produces rapid and dramatic pain relief because the source of pain is removed — most three-legged dogs recover excellent quality of life within weeks. End-of-life decisions should be guided by individualised quality-of-life assessment rather than arbitrary time-based protocols.