Doggie end of life decisions

[Horace]

So my dog apparently burst a large mass on his spleen last night and was very weak this morning. We are at the emergency vet and will have to decide whether to do a 10k surgery or put him to sleep. They say it's a very large mass and 66% cancerous. If it's cancer then his prognosis is bad even with surgery. If not cancer then he could be ok after surgery. But we won't know if it's cancer till they biopsy so I need to decide without that information.

Now awaiting more info from an xray which may clinch the no surgery indicated if the mass is too big and spread out.

[Doctor Phibes]

I'm sorry, Horace - that really sucks.

[LuFins Dad]

So sorry to hear.

[Mik]

Been in that awful position. My heart goes out to you and your bride.

Just remember if it's bad, he'd thank you for making the right decision if he could.

[A Former User]

@Horace

I think it's actually pretty miraculous that he didn't bleed out and die, so he's got that going for him.

Two of our friends had dogs with splenic masses (that turned out to be malignant) and had the spleen removed. The dogs bounced back and had some additional good months, but both of them ended up where you are at now as the cancer spread into the liver.

It really boils down to what you think his life, and yours, will be if you proceed with treatment.

If he was in reasonable health otherwise, isn't terribly old, and you can and want to spend the money to remove the spleen, then you might go the route of treating him.

If he's got other problems, either health or advanced age, you might decide to let him go peacefully now.

I've been in your shoes a bunch of times making this call and it's never easy. Sending you hugs.

edit: And what Mik said.

[A Former User]

Don't know if this helps:

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/health/splenic-mass-in-dogs-what-you-need-to-know/

[Horace]

@wtg said in Doggie end of life decisions:

Don't know if this helps:

https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/health/splenic-mass-in-dogs-what-you-need-to-know/

Looks about right. No easy way to make the decision. Thanks for the info WTG.

[kluurs]

Horrible decision to make. Love with such creatures is like no other. There’s nothing good that can be said.

[taiwan_girl]

Sorry to hear that. Hugs to you.

[Horace]

@taiwan_girl said in Doggie end of life decisions:

Sorry to hear that. Hugs to you.

Thanks TG. They’re starting surgery. We’ll see whether it goes well enough that he wakes up, then we’ll see after a biopsy how well the next few months go.

[jon-nyc]

Sorry you have to go through this.

[Jolly]

Tough day, fer shure.

Hang in there.

[George K]

Oh, man. This is so hard.

Hoping for at least a comfortable result.

[Horace]

Well he came out of it. Imagine carrying this around in your abdomen

[Mik]

When will you get the pathology report?

[Horace]

@Mik said in Doggie end of life decisions:

When will you get the pathology report?

7 to 10 days.

[Aqua Letifer]

Wow. I'm sorry you both had to go through that, Horace. How has the recovery been?

[Horace]

@Aqua-Letifer said in Doggie end of life decisions:

Wow. I'm sorry you both had to go through that, Horace. How has the recovery been?

He's on Fentanyl, which the vet pronounces fentanol, GK will be happy to hear. I hope this doesn't begin a downward spiral into opioid abuse, crime, and eventual homelessness. He does look good, but for all the fur that got shaved off. Everything rides on the biopsy for his prognosis.

[George K]

When our dog had his CCL repaired (cranial cruciate ligament - the dog equivalent of ACL) they put him on a fentanyl patch, iirc. He did well in recovery.

We had to send him to drug rehab for a couple of weeks to shake the addiction, but he got through that OK.

I'm no pathologist, but the purple-ish stuff in the front looks like spleen to me. It could be liver, but then I'd get sued. The other shit in back is really, really big. Without cutting into it and seeing what it looks like, impossible to guess benign vs malignant.

That is one HUGE mass.

Hoping for a good outcome - how long to wait?

[Mik]

Keeping fingers crossed for it being benign.