Jaw surgery

Juliet

Has anyone had experience of their dog having jaw surgery? My little terrier has a tumour in her lower jaw (mandible) and may have to have it removed along with part of her jaw. I just don't know if it's right to put her through this. So far I haven't been able to talk to anyone who has experience of this type of operation so I'm desperate for any iinfo. Help please!

ashlingm

What age is she?

I would really go with what the vet is advising - he really does know best. Is the tumour likely to grow or turn cancerous (if its not already)? Id remove it sooner rather then later to be honest, just to play it safe and not risk it spreading or getting too big and unoperable. Your dog should be fine, is much of the jaw being removed - I presume you mean some bone is being removed too?? Dogs are great, if it does impact her eating after she will adjust and find a new way of eating.

Whatever your decision, best of luck to you both

Juliet

Thanks Ashling

I'm still awaiting biopsy results to see if an operation is possible at all. If it is, it would involve removal of the entire rostral region. I would love to speak to someone who has experience of this or something similar. And as for my own vet.....she just debulked it and sent me away without biopsy, xrays etc. I had to insist on a referral to UCD. I have been attending this practice for 20 years and I'm having second thoughts now. I felt very let down and didn't thnk this was in the best interest of the dog. I would have liked to have been given some options.

ashlingm

Well it sounds like your doing the best you can, which is fantastic!! Id wait for the UCD vets to get back to you, fingers crossed its nothing and can be left alone

Thats awful about your own vet - dosent sound like the best vet to me. Would there be any other vets to bring your dog to in the future or is really your only choice? Word of mouth is great, if any of your friends have pets see where they bring them. And honestly I would tell them about being fobbed off by your current vet and let them know how you and your dog were treated

Wisco

Wait for the biopsy results before you make any decision. That way you'll know what type of tumour it is so you can learn what sort of prognosis there is. Mouth cancers can often be quite nasty. If there is a poor prognosis and high chance of a fast recurrence, I suppose you have to evaluate quality of life- is it worth doing surgery for the length of time she will have left and how fast of a recovery is it, etc. The staff at UCD are all excellent, so they should be able to give you an idea of what to expect. The have been known to do unneccessary tests and procedures though, so if you have an idea what you want, you need to make it clear to them. My first dog had to be put to sleep after she was diagnosed with some type of mouth cancer- she would have had to have a partial mandibulectomy and my mom (who was the one looking after her at that stage as us kids had moved out by then) decided it wasn't fair do to surgery when her time left was very limited anyway- she wanted the dog to have a good quality of life and in the end made the decision to have her put to sleep when the time was right.
Good luck. I know it's not an easy situation to deal with and I hope you get a good outcome.

Juliet

Thanks for your advice - it echoes my feelings exactly. It is actually a bilateral rostral mandibulectomy she needs and that is the best outcome (if the margins are small). The wait is awful. The first biopsy they did didn't take so they had to do a second one so in total it's now over a month since I brought her there first. The second time they did bone, soft tissue and lymph nodes so whatever it is will definately be apparent this time. How did you manage your own dog's treatment when it was decided not to go ahead with the op? Was the dog in meds? I would appreciate any info you could give me on this end of things.

Wisco

As far as I know (since I wasn't living at home by the end), my dog was just on some pain meds and when the growths became too aggressive she was put to sleep. I think she was having trouble eating and it was obvious to my mom that she was uncomfortable most of the time. Sadly (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it I guess) her condition deteriorated fairly rapidly, so there wasn't really any long term care for that condition- she'd been on non-steroidals for arthritis for a while anyway.
Hope this helps- I'm sure you have loads of things running through your mind. Always hard to know what the right thing to do is. Fingers crossed for you on the biopsy results.

Juliet

Really appreciate your reply Wisco. Thanks for that!