Dog with Cancer, need help making decision...

Fitzg

I would really welcome any advice on this...
A friend of mine has a nine year old terrier dog. The dog has a lump on her hind leg which the vet recently scanned and biopsied. The vet says that the scans show that the tumour is deep into the tissue and that the only treatment option is to remove the whole leg. He says that the cancer is a very aggressive type and that after going through the operation there is a 50/50 chance the cancer will return. Other things to take into consideration are that the little dog is very good natured, friendly and loves her walks. She has been in really good form, not sick at all so all this has come as a shock. At the moment she is on pain-killers but hasn't shown any signs of being in pain. The vet needs a decision on monday...to operate or not...and if she doesn't have the operation we were told that she will have between six and eight weeks to live...
please send any advice you can...
thanks E

Harris

I personally would be inclined to wait and see. I think the vet is putting serious pressure on your friend to make a seriously difficult decision. If the dog is on pain killers and happy, I think myself I would wait and see how she gets on. If she is that old maybe the cancer will not spread as quickly.

My own dog has a tumour on his lung, diagnosed in July and he is on steroids and a few other bits and pieces. He is really well at the moment and I would not put him through surgery. Mind you the lung would be a different story to the leg.

IMO I would wait and see and continue on the pain killers. Surgery might not prolong her life any more necessarily and it would be awful to see her go through it and suffer.
best of luck

dmy1001

If the dog were mine i would operate. i think there is nothing to lose if the vet believes the dog will die in 6 to 8 weeks anyway.
dogs are very resilient i think (well in fact i am only commenting really on my experience with my own dogs) and move on faster than humans do.

I suppose it needs to be taken into account what age the dog could live to if it were ok after the op. if the age that type of dog normally lives to was 10 then really you would wonder if the surgery would be too much.

It is a big decision to make in a short time but if the dog will be dead in 6 weeks without the op then the decision needs to be made fast.

Blueprint

I think I would operate if the prognosis was good after the operation and the vet thought they could get all the cancer in one go. Terriers can easily live to 17 or so and a dog can get on quite well on three legs, so if I felt my dog would be able to have a good quality of life afterwards I'd go for it.

It's a good idea in these cases to write down a list of questions to ask the vet, as you're bound to forget them when you're there.

ghost_ie

5 years ago we got a 2 year old Jack Russell from a rescue centre. Her back leg had been amputated (no-one knew why) and the amputation had obviously been recent as she wobbled rather than walked, and couldn't walk very far. Three months later she was running round the park chasing a ball and outstripping all the other dogs there. Today she's still chasing balls, although she's now being outpaced by her younger sister who has the advantage of being five years younger and having four legs.

Given my own experience I'd say go ahead with the operation. You'll be surprised by how quickly he'll get used to having only 3 legs, and capable he'll be of getting around without it.

anniehoo

What type of cancer is it? Lymphoma, sarcoma,carcinoma? They all have different prognoses. Personally, i wouldnt wait and see what happens. If its an aggressive cancer and your vet is saying he'll die in 6-8 weeks you cant really afford to wait around and hope for the best-the cancer wont. A decision needs to be made quickly to be honest. My dog went straight on chemo the day she was diagnosed.Shes still goin strong 3 years later at 14!

Dogs manage incredibly well on 3 legs its just up to you whether you want to put him through it. It also depends on the likelihood of the cancer returning i.e.if its back within 6 months then putting him through a traumatic op like that isnt really worth it. Write a list of questions and make sure your vet answers all of them for you.

patmac

anniehoo wrote: »

What type of cancer is it? Lymphoma, sarcoma,carcinoma? They all have different prognoses. Personally, i wouldnt wait and see what happens. If its an aggressive cancer and your vet is saying he'll die in 6-8 weeks you cant really afford to wait around and hope for the best-the cancer wont. A decision needs to be made quickly to be honest. My dog went straight on chemo the day she was diagnosed.Shes still goin strong 3 years later at 14!

Dogs manage incredibly well on 3 legs its just up to you whether you want to put him through it. It also depends on the likelihood of the cancer returning i.e.if its back within 6 months then putting him through a traumatic op like that isnt really worth it. Write a list of questions and make sure your vet answers all of them for you.

Hi Annie,
My dog has a mass cell tumor on her back leg, which has been operated on twice. A recent x-ray has shown small specs on her lungs so the vet has suggested chemo, but as a big animal, busy vet he has not had time to come back with any information regarding this. So I want to resarch it myself. I was wondering what is the cost of the chemo and will she be sick on it and how long does the course take. Any info would be appreciated.

hobochris

I would advise to go for it.

My dog Died two years ago from a tumor. it spread so aggressively. When we first found the tumor it was removed and we thought that was that. A few months later he looked very sick, so we took him to the vet and he was put under observation, the vet didn't suspect another tumor, instead thought it was something my dog had eaten that made him sick.

That evening he wasn't getting any better so we brought him to ucd veterinary clinic for overnight observation, we got a call at 5 in the morning to say my dog had Died.

The post mortem revealed the tumor had killed him. He was a healthy active collie and in a few days the tumor spread and killed him.

Do everything you can to stop the tumor. Losing a leg is not a big thing for a dog they adjust.

BlackWizard

A few months ago my 12 year old dog was diagnosed with cancer of some sort.

We were told he has up to a year to live. Family decision was not to have surgery. It was a 2v2 vote.. but my vote has more weight :pac: It would only give him an estimate 2 years extra if it works. At the time he was pretty sick. But now he is back to normal health again. So I'm glad we choose not put him through the surgery. He had a great life and still continues to have one.

Your friends dog is 9 years old. Still has a good few years left in him.. so I'd find that a harder decision to make. At least with a 12 year old dog I know we gave him a good life and he had a major role in ours over the last few years. So knowing he might not see 13 or 14 is not as bad as a dog not seeing 10 or 11. Sorry I'm no help on this

olaola

After a few days the dog won't even notice that the leg is gone, they'll fly around with no bother. The longer you wait, the higher the risk of the cancer spreading. Make the decision either way ASAP!

boardbrowser

I wouldnt hesiate to operate if vet can remove leg therefore stopping cancer from spreading.As others have posted, he will manage fine on 3 legs.
Another poster asked about chemo. My only experience was a friends dog who was suddenly diagnosed with bone cancer in the mouth.
Out of the blue and it presented itself as a rather ugly looking growth on gum.
It was a very aggressive cancer. treatment (chemo and intially radiation) was very expensive if i remember upwards of 12,000 $ (she lives in the states).
Unfortunately, it wasn't successful at killing the cancer and dog was put on a morphine pad for pain reflief for last 2 weeks of his life until pts 6 weeks later after diagnosis. very sad but friend was prepared to take that route and at whatever cost. she is still happy she had made that decision to treat as vet had given her some hope of recovery. It gave her some time to say her goodbyes after 8 years of unconditional love and companionship and she let him go before pain became too much for him.
sorry this was a sad ending. hoping others have more positive stories of chemo. Guess it depends very much on the type of cancer.

anniehoo

patmac wrote: »

Hi Annie,
My dog has a mass cell tumor on her back leg, which has been operated on twice. A recent x-ray has shown small specs on her lungs so the vet has suggested chemo, but as a big animal, busy vet he has not had time to come back with any information regarding this. So I want to resarch it myself. I was wondering what is the cost of the chemo and will she be sick on it and how long does the course take. Any info would be appreciated.

Hi patmac,
What you're referring to as "mass cell" is actually a "mast cell" tumour. A mast cell is just a name for a particular cell in the body that is involved with in general an allergy response http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mast_cell#Mast_cell_disorderse. Wiki explains it quite good

Its not that its an allergy type of cancer,it means this particular type of cell has gone a bit haywire in its function like any type of cell (lymphocyte or white cell=lymphoma for example). The term "cancer" is so generic that when you get a diagnosis of it you need to research from where it exactly stems from to understand its progression and prognosis.

Cancer does not automatically mean that your pet has to be put to sleep.Remember that!!!!!

You said that your vet is a "big animal vet", so from that i understand that he's mainly involved with farm and non companion animal pets (i.e dogs and cats). The first thing id do is go to a proper small animal vet. Every vet has their niche and while your vet will have the basic knowledge to diagnose your dog, he wont necessarily have the understanding of the protocols involved with small animal oncology. I highly recommend you go to another vet!

Every cancer is different...different in its origins,development,treatment and prognosis! It depends on what grade its at and how quick its progressing. For lymphoma..which is different to mast cell cancer it maybe treated differently. It more than likely is but it sounds like it has metastised (spread) to other parts of his body so treatment is essential at this stage.It is expensive (€1500 for lymphoma) and is time consuming....but....this is my dogs treatment...not yours. There are loads of different protocols and vets will always accept payment in installments!!

Good luck...my dog is lucky and is doing well..but like humans....you just never know!!Your vet needs to establish the extent of the spreading and its grade.

Fitzg

Hi everyone - just wanted to update that my friend decided to operate - the week after I originally posted - the little dog recovered so fast - she is a hero and she is really happy and healthy and in great form and gets around fine on her three legs. She is an inspiration to everyone she meets and always brings a smile to the faces of whoever she meets out on walkies!!
thanks everyone for all your help xx

Shazanne

Have only just found this thread but was thrilled to read the update:) What a wonderful little dog and what a great friend you have there who was prepared to give him a chance - well done!
In 2005 I lost my 18 years old dog to cancer. Toto had three tumours removed over a two year period but the fourth tumour was inoperable so we had to put her to sleep. It was heartbreaking, especially as we'd had her as part of our family for so long. But we gave her every possible chance and that is a great consolation.
The best of luck with your friend's dog. Maybe you culd post a fews pics at some stage so we can all admire this little hero! Give her a rub from me:D

Millie

Oh God I'm sitting at my desk at work with tears in my eyes.
Delighted that the little girl made it and is happily back on her feet & sad for all the other not so happy stories.

I'll have to give my little girl an even bigger cuddle this evening.

D1976

Fitzg wrote: »

Hi everyone - just wanted to update that my friend decided to operate - the week after I originally posted - the little dog recovered so fast - she is a hero and she is really happy and healthy and in great form and gets around fine on her three legs. She is an inspiration to everyone she meets and always brings a smile to the faces of whoever she meets out on walkies!!
thanks everyone for all your help xx

Was scanning thorugh boards and came across this story, tears in the eyes after i read it, what a fantastic ending.

You should post a picture of the dog

ghost_ie

Great to hear the little dog is ok. It's amazing how well they get round on three legs - and also how they can play on it. Georgie has perfected the "how can you be cross with me - I'm a poor disabled little dog" look before she stumps slowly to the door (she who normally moves as if jet propelled) when she's been given out to for misbehaviour