[nic]

A very sweet 8 year old rottie who I adopted about a year ago has just been diagnosed with os of a hind limb. Amputation and chemo are out of the question as she has fairly advanced osteoarthritis of both hind limbs, is overweight (although I've got her weight down a lot) and would not be ok on 3 legs. At the moment she's just managing to get around and appears to have some quality of life - she's reactive to her environment and eating well. She's on inti-inflammatories for the pain.
What is the general pattern for this disease? What kind of pain does it produce? I know she will have to be put down - when is this generally done - ie what indicators does the dog give? I have no experience with this at all and want to give her quality of life rather than quantity.
How often do pathological fractures occur? Any advice would be appreciated.
thanks. Nic.