Treatment

Complete surgical excision can be curative; however, wide surgical margins are needed. The initial surgery (following the biopsy diagnosis) is the best chance for a cure, and it is always a good idea to seek the second opinion of a board-certified surgeon if there is any question about the surgery. This being said, it can be very difficult to obtain adequate surgical margins on a limb because of the lack of skin and soft tissue and proximity of vital structures (nerves, tendons, vessels). Amputation offers the best chance for a cure because the tumor is then removed with wide margins. A second option is to combine surgery with radiation therapy. There is a good chance that there is a radiation therapy facility within driving distance. Check your phone directory for a large teaching veterinary hospital. Surgery combined with radiation offer a fair to good prognosis of tumor control and is the next best option after amputation.

In an otherwise healthy dog, and a well-equipped hospital with good monitoring equipment, a second anesthetic procedure should be no problem even within 24 hours. If the dog had any problems with anesthesia additional procedures would be a concern, but waiting a few weeks won't necessarily make any difference.