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Pawbly | 9 years ago
I Have A 11 Year Old Saint Bernard He Has A Large Tumor On His…

I have a 11 year old saint Bernard he has a large tumor on his side and his hips are going out also he has congestive heart failure difficult for him to breathe we are thinking of putting him down is this the right choice

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Pawbly | 9 years ago
Please Do Not Say, Take Him To Your Vet. My Dog Is A Yorkie…

Please do not say, take him to your vet. My dog is a Yorkie, he is 9 years old and he has 2 tumors in his belly that have grown. They don’t know how long he has to live but my vet said that surgery isn’t an option because she believes he would only have a 10% chance of making it. This was two months ago and today his tummy is 4 times bigger than normal. A lot of it is fluid. I can feel his organs in his belly just floating in the fluid. Is there anything thing I can give him to help get rid of the fluid. I understand he doesn’t have much time but he is still full of life, my heart is breaking.

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  1. julie brader

    Oh no….I am so so sorry. This must be heartbreaking for you.

    I honestly don’t think there is anything you can give him to get rid of this fluid. This, as I’m sure you know, happens with cancer.

    The only way to get rid of it is to have it drained by the Vet. It won’t go any other way.But I think it will just build up again within a short time. 

    Again my heart goes out to you. 

  2. c walkling

    Thank you Krista and Julie. I am going to call my vet and see if she would drain the fluid but I don’t think she will. Even though he is active he isn’t as active as he was a couple months ago and I am sad to say that there isn’t any meat on his body anymore. Thanks again !

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JoAnn Sevey | 9 years ago
He Said That Surgery At Her Age Is Dangerous, She May Not Wake Up From…

He said that surgery at her age is dangerous, she may not wake up from the anesthesia. My dog scratched the tumor and its now a terrible looking open wound. I cant afford to take her to a vet, I have no income at this time. I know she has to be in pain & im worried about infection. Is there anything I can do to treat this ? Some type of topical med. or antibiotic ???

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  1. julie brader

    Hello JoAnne,  I realise your dog is 14 years old and an anaesthetic, as the Vet informed you may not be the ideal at her age….you cannot leave her like this.

    She has a large open wound on her stomach that is not only open to infection but must be extremely painful. 

    The tumour doesnt appear to be on a nipple but the underside of the top of her back leg? 

    You have to take her to a Vet urgently and you need to find the funds from somewhere to do it. Care Credit might be worth looking into…or perhaps you could borrow the money from family or friends. Your dog needs a Vet and she needs one now. 

  2. Dawn Ferara, DVM

    I agree with Julie and Krista

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Shiria | 9 years ago
Hello,

I’m From Germany And I Have A Queastion Regarding My Ca. 25 Year Old Cat…

Hello,

I’m from Germany and I have a queastion regarding my ca. 25 year old cat. Her true age is unknown as we got her from a shelter. She was in good health and my vet couldn’t believe her age.
She was diagnosed with pancratic cancer in October 2014. It was a random find, as she didn’t show any symtoms.
It was already around 5x4cm in size and I decided for surgery with the option of putting her down if it looked to bad.

The tumor was a solid mass in the pancreas. Small nodules were found in the surrounding tissue, but alls the other organs looked fine. The tumor was removed, which was easy duw to not being connected too much to the surrounding tissue.
My vet told me that the prognosis was still poor, with most patiens not surviving more than 6 months after diagnosis.

Whisky woke up normally and had no problems with eating/digesting afterwards. She was totally fine until after 10 months – in July 2015 – a new small tumour was found, around the size of a cherry.
We decided to wait how fast it will grow, as she still showd no signs or symptoms.
Las Friday on August the 8 I could feel that the tumour had grown fast – now back to old size. I drove to the vet and he confirmed that.
I knew if it grew so fats she would only have around one month more if it would start to cause her pain, so I decided for surgery again. She still was fine, always wanting no live and don’t show signs of old age.

This time it looked bad. Upon opening her up she already hat blood in her abdomen. The tumour was necrotic, starting with „tyrosis“ and half of the pancras was infected. The tumor started to fall apart when he touched it. Addiotionally not only th surrounding tissue had metastases, also the peritoneum now had some nodules. The other organs still looked fine. My vet said it looked very bad, normally he would put her down now, as the progmosis now was more than poor.

I still wanted to try it, and he did his best. Sadly she died during the wake up phase. Most likely it started bleeding again and she died of blood loss.

My vet told me that she would have died during the next days either way due to blood loss and infection during the next days. I now ask myself if she would still life if I didn’t have decided for surgery.
Or is what my vet said right and she would have died the next days either way, with that thing falling apart inside her. I trust my vet, but I have the feeling that I’m resposible for her death, that I have killed her somehow.

If needed I can provide pictures of the masses.

Thanks a lot for reading this wall of text!

Shiria

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  1. Kelly Furgason

    HI Shiria,
    First, very sorry to hear your cat died. My thoughts and sympathies are with you.

    When a pet dies like this, it is normal for us to think it was our fault, or something we could have prevented. It sounds like you went above and beyond with vet care and did everything you could have done for your cat. Surgery is always risky, but so is choosing to not do it and see what happens.

    I’d take comfort in knowing that you gave this kitty a longer life by helping her the best you could.
    I’m sure that your cat would have wanted to have every option at living and it sounds like that is what you gave her. It sounds like from what your vet found inside of her, that she was very very sick. Like you said, she seemed fine and didn’t show any signs of old age. But animals are not like people, they hide illness very well till the bitter end. She sounds like she was a wonderful kitty.
    I’m sorry things didn’t work out and sorry for your loss,
    ~kelly

  2. Shiria Post author

    Thanks a lot for your answer! It helps me a bit… In my head I know that most vets would have put her down after that finding inside of her… and that alone from what it looked like it had to be painful.

    But still, there is that voice that tells me “you should have taken her home and made her the best days she ever had”. She would still be here,,, I could still cuddle her, hear her voice, feel her next to me. Yes maybe she would have died the next time either way, but I would have time to say good bye. While this maybe is true, how would she have died? Alone and in pain while I’m at work? That is not what I would want for her…
    And than there is that tiny voice that tells me, that maybe her body would have found a way to build down that tumor and stop the bleeding, that maybe she would have weeks or months…

    My head knows that the possibility for this is near zero… Maybe making her some good last days would have been the most logic decision… maybe I would have felt better… Or maybe I would ask myself then, that she maybe would have survived surgery if I had just tried it.

    I guess no matter what my decision would have been, I would have felt guilty… I just want to know if my decision was right. And there is no definitive way of telling that…

    Thanks so much for reading my long text… It somehow helps me to talk to people that udnerstand the pain…

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Pawbly | 9 years ago
Vets Opinion Is Cancer Tumor But Diagnosis Will Cost Heaps And If It Is Cancer…

vets opinion is cancer tumor but diagnosis will cost heaps and if it is cancer nothing could be done due to location. i have been prescribed pain killers which i give her daily. however a new development has me confused, she has started to bleed a little bit from the mouth at the affected area can a tumor bleed? . should i get antibiotics for an abscess ? she deserves to be comfortable but i can not afford untreatable cancer diagnosis

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  1. David Staunton

    did you read my comments ?

  2. David Staunton

    what ? did you read my comments

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Pawbly | 9 years ago
What Is Wrong With Her? She Also Has Had Lots Of Big Fat Tumors Pop…

What is wrong with her? She also has had lots of big fat tumors pop up on her, not sure if the two are related.

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  1. Britney King

    There isn’t anything open for a couple of hours.

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Pawbly | 9 years ago
•5 Year Old Pure Bred Yellow Lab

•had Tumor For About 6-12 Months

-grew Larger Over Time
-does…

•5 year old pure bred yellow lab

•had tumor for about 6-12 months

-grew larger over time
-does not seem in pain
-bumps all over body

-bumps don’t seem to bother her

-read new diet Benadryl or prednisone would help

-happy plays ball

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Pawbly | 10 years ago
Hi Dr. Magnifico :) My Dog Sydney Was Just Diagnosed With Having A Mast Cell Tumor…

Hi Dr. Magnifico 🙂

My dog Sydney was just diagnosed with having a mast cell tumor. Is it typical that we would have to remove the tumor before finding out what grade it is?

Thanks in advance!
Brian

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Pawbly | 11 years ago
My Dog, Buttons Is A 12 Year Old Sheltie. She Is Is In Good Health…

My Dog, Buttons is a 12 year old Sheltie. She is is in good health with no ailments. Recently we discovered a small tumor like projection from her right leg, it is pink and about the size of a penny. Upon going to the local Farm Vet we learned that it is a "hemangioma" of some sort. He gave her prednisone to see if it would shrink it down. She has now taken the last of her prednisone and it has not shrunk but has not gotten larger, but has a small hole in the side of it. I am attaching a picture of it, for advice as to what you all may think this could be and what I can do for her. I cleaned it with peroxide and put Triple Antibiotic Ointment on it. Any advice or comments are appreciated. Thanks and May God fill your lives with Blessings!

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  1. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    I think it is best to have it removed and biopsied.

    It is almost impossible to know what a mass is without a biopsy. An impression smear can help but a biopsy is more definitive.

    There is unlikely anything that will remove it without knowing what it is, especially if it has not responded to prednisone ( a steroid).

    If you need any help from us at the clinic if you are close enough we would be happy to help.

    Sincerely.
    Krista.

    Krista Magnifico, DVM
    Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
    Jarrettsville, MD
    http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com

  2. Krista Magnifico

    Hello,

    I think it is best to have it removed and biopsied.

    It is almost impossible to know what a mass is without a biopsy. An impression smear can help but a biopsy is more definitive.

    There is unlikely anything that will remove it without knowing what it is, especially if it has not responded to prednisone ( a steroid).

    If you need any help from us at the clinic if you are close enough we would be happy to help.

    Sincerely.
    Krista.

    Krista Magnifico, DVM
    Owner Jarrettsville Veterinary Center
    Jarrettsville, MD
    http://www.jarrettsvillevet.com