4 yr old Ruger Diagnosed with Chondrosarcoma

by Tim Rhodes
(Petaluma CA USA)

Ruger is my best friend! He’s a 4 year old pitbull who loves everyone. I first got him when he was 7 weeks old.

Back in May we noticed that Ruger had sort of a limp. We took him in to the vet where they ran X-rays and determined that he had a slight ACL tear in his left hind leg.

A little over a month ago he went in for surgery. Everything went well and nothing was out of the norm. They had taken X-rays and done a full blood panel just before the surgery.

After a month of Ruger not bearing weight on his repaired leg we became very concerned. We took him in Tuesday Dec 26th to have another follow up visit with the vet. More X-rays were taken followed by two apertures.

Diagnosis: chondrosarcoma.

The X-rays did not look good. Where the leg connects to the hip of his surgically repaired leg has almost completely deteriorated and it has already spread down into his femur. Because the tumor is located in the pelvis region, surgery is unfortunately not an option.

I’m completely devastated. My baby boy!! I can’t bear the thought of having to say goodbye to him. My whole family is in shambles because Ruger has brought so much joy and happiness into many lives. He’s changed people's opinions and how they view the pitbull breed.

He has been therapeutic for my sister and she would sometimes use him at school as a therapy dog. He’s always been happy and healthy, but now it seems his life has taken a drastic turn for the absolute worst.

If anyone has had a similar experience with a younger dog being diagnosed with chondrosarcoma, I would like to hear your story. Is anyone else going through this as well?

Please help me understand what to do!

(This story was submitted on December 31, 2017)