Doggie end of life decisions

[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.

[Horace]

@George-K said in Doggie end of life decisions:

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?

That’s a spleen with what looks like a xenomorph hatchling strangling it. The wait for the results will be 1 or 2 weeks. If it’s cancer, he may be in a decline by then.

[taiwan_girl]

@Horace said in Doggie end of life decisions:

@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.

Glad to see that at least you are able to have your sense of humor.

[George K]

How's the doggo?

Any news from the vet?

[Horace]

@George-K said in Doggie end of life decisions:

How's the doggo?

Any news from the vet?

He's doing well. Resting at home. He's energetic again and doesn't seem to be in much pain, though he is on meds for that. He had some fluid around his heart which they are keeping an eye on. I got a call about it at 6 am while he was still in the hospital recovering. They said maybe I wanted to do a $1000 test with an advanced ultrasound, or he could just suddenly die. So I spent the 1k, because those are the sorts of choices one has at the vet. The test came back as trace amounts of fluid but maybe nothing to worry about. They wanted to see him again today, so we took him back and they did that test again, this time free of charge. The ultrasound technician waved his wand at his heart for 20 seconds, pronounced him no worse than he was yesterday. I guess that's what I paid 1k for. Anyway we are happy to have him home, and we're prepared for whatever news we get from the biopsy. He's been healthy every day of his 12.3 years of life, until his spleen burst. So that was a bit of a shock. But it took him all of a day to get back to barking excitedly at any stimulus. Hard to imagine an aggressive cancer is currently ravaging his body, but I am probably delusionally optimistic.