Hello, im not really sure what im asking for here but i was directed to this forum after a recent experience because i am getting such conflicting advice i am a bit lost.

My 7 year old male Rottweiler broke a claw recently and the vet tried everything including claw removal but it just would not heal and kept getting infected, so as a last resort i opted for full toe amputation.

The result has come back as a subungual nail bed tumor & im now waiting for the full lab report as to what stage and if it has been completely removed. I have tried hard to educate myself as i admit this is the very last thing i thought i would see in my dog, but the reports online are so widely conflicting i just don't know what to believe. Some reports categorically state as fact that this sort of tumor does not spread - other say it has a high rate of spreading.

I just don't know what to think anymore. I guess what i am asking for here is some words from personal experience to help me decide how to deal with this?  There was never any outward sign anything was wrong & it wasn't even apparent until the claw broke, even then there was no swelling on the toe.

How do i find a way forward with this diagnosis? From what i have read chemo doesn't seem to change long term outcome either.

Thank you for any words of advice.

Not sure if this is the same. My first flat coat had a toe removed due to a squamous cell carcinom at a similar age with a similar story to yours.
There was no indications that it had or would spread and were advised to have no further treatment.  Indeed it didn't spread and the removal was the solution and she was perfectly happy
She did have two more tumours later but were different types one resolved by radiotherapy  and one by operation. Flat coats are prone to cancers unfortunately and we were advised there was no connection between her tumours.  We sadly lost her to gdv not cancer
Personnaly if it is the same I would take vets advise and leave alone

Thank you. It was squamous cell carcinoma. I understand one type effects the skin and the other (subungual squamous cell carcinoma) which my dog had effects the inside of the claws. There seems to be higher incidences in black coats for some reason.

My heart tells me not to go down the chemo route with this but id rather have other people's personal stories like yours to go on than all these conflicting studies that confuse and scare the heck out of me.

I have not got the full lab report yet & obviously there are questions only that can answer like what stage is it & did they remove it all etc. Probably best not to read any more online studies as in all honesty it is not really easing my worries.

Thank you so much for replying. I am open to hear any similar stories anyway as it helps me a lot to hear other people's personal experience and that the outcomes don't seem so dire in the real scheme of things.

Josie was a black flat coat .hadn't heard that before .interesting . Yes nail bed not skin . If it has not spread and they felt they got a good.margin when removing the toe my own view which would have been the same for mine was no chemo
With the tumour on her leg  histosarcoma if my memory is correct  we had the choice of radiotherapy or amputation .again no sign of spread . I choose radiotherapy which appeared 100 % successfully .or at least no reoccurance of that for.the rest of her life. *3 plus years . I can t remember the type of tumour for the one on the jaw which was operated on ,no further treatment being advised. We didn't have time to know how well she would have recovered due to the gdv the following week .hopefully others will have positive experiences for u too

Thank you for replying. You have already made me feel better about what I'm looking at here. It was a bit of a shock to be honest for a simple broken claw to suddenly morph into a cancer diagnosis but it's what it is & ill deal with it, it just helps me to feel more hopeful when i hear other people's dogs have lived a good life after amputation and that it didn't mean saying goodbye. Im not ready for that yet & it's not something i am even thinking about.

>Thank you for replying. You have already made me feel better about what I'm looking at here. It was a bit of a shock to be honest for a simple broken claw to suddenly morph into a cancer diagnosis but it's what it is & ill deal with it, it just helps me to feel more hopeful when i hear other people's dogs have lived a good life after amputation and that it didn't mean saying goodbye. Im not ready for that yet & it's not something i am even thinking about. [/url]

Thinking of you and sending positive vibes x

Thank you. I've been busy asking around and have found a surprising number of people have experience in exactly this situation & i am encouraged by the number of dogs who went on to live a long life after amputation and died from a completely unrelated reason. That gives me hope anyway.

I will update this when i get the full lab report which i hope will be before the weekend. Then i will be able to think clearly about where i go next with it.

I had a great Dane years ago with a hard to treat recurring growth on the nail area. After months of treatment the vet removed the whole toe. She was fine and lived till she was 11....good for a GD

Thank you. I am starting to find this is really very common & a surprising number of dogs who went through amputation went on to live good long lives which encourages me no end.

I have had a little more back from the lab. The tumour was removed with a clear margin of 17.5mm which the vet feels is good news, but wants to ask the specialist if this is a good enough clear margin not to warrant further treatment. I should know more this evening.