smokeyram

I was in the emergency vet last night, my 9 year old lab just wasnt acting right, we thought she may have thrown out her leg chasing animals, or even worse could have gotten bloat.
The x rays showed a pretty sizeable tumor on her spleen, at least thats what the vet at the clinic thinks, and that it tore and bleeding was making her uncomfortable.

Anyhow, We had to sign a form saying we were taking her home against medical advice, so she could sleep in her own bed , I know she would have been even more freaked out overnight there. I plan on having her looked at by her regular vet today.

In the meantime, this morning i got up to feed the dogs, and there she was wagging away, smile on her face as usual.

I guess I am just having a hard time with $2500-$3500 "exploratory surgery" on a 9 year old lab. I want to keep her around as long as i can, but at 9 I could have this fixed only to have somthing else come up in a month.

My other dog which is a mutt, as benign tumors and they dont effect him at all. Has anyone gone to these lengths?

Totallyrad

Torn ACL-$1600
Epilepsy-$135/month for meds for 10 years
Arthritis-$125/month for meds for 6 years



I guess that would be a yes. They're part of the family, that's all I can say.

Diesel-Dan

$1,500.00 on a cat that we eventually had to put to sleep....I agree with the above......they are family.......

bnold

close to $4000 for a ruptured bladder as a result of kidney stones... Domino was 5 then, 9 now.. Never thought twice about it...

also probably $70 a month for thyroid and allopurinol to prevent future stones..

Would save this dog over a lot of people I know... Family first... IMHO


Dom and my little bro

Scotty

I sure can relate to this statement. Kinda sad but true.

smokeyram

I can appreciate the statements, And as far as what is required goes im on the same page, I was more interested in anyone that had the same or a similiar occurance related to the spleen tummor.

Jeff in TD

I've had experience having other tumors removed on a dog. In my experience surgery will cause the animal pain, and in a few months other tumors (metastasis) will crop up.

Cost aside (my pets are also family), in retrospect I know I’ve sometimes put a pet through uncomfortable medical treatment, fooling myself into thinking a full recovery was possible.

I thought I’d never make that mistake again, but a few years ago I’d say I messed up again and should have put a pet down way sooner.

Tough as it may be, this could be a case where not treating the tumor might not give the dog the longest life, but might give her the most time where life is worth living and relatively pain free.

It is one of those things where it can be hard to think objectively with a pet you love. After an experience many years ago, I thought I'd never make the mistake again of keeping a pet alive, not wanting to loose her, when realistically putting her through treatments when that wasn't what was best for the animal. As I mentioned, I'd say I blew it again a few years ago, and I'm not going to make that mistake again.

Your regular vet can probably give you some sound advice. Ask what he would do if it was his pet, or what he would want done if he were in your dog’s shoes.

Anyway, you and your family have my best wishes in what is likely to be a difficult time. I'm not ashamed to say that when I've been in that situation myself, it really tears me up.

smokeyram

thanks for the kind words.just a shame when such a fun, loyal, loving animal is in pain. my wife called to tell me that the dog is feeling good today, running around, happy as usual. im just having mixed feelings about how long it will last.

Diesel-Dan

I’m an animal person....got 2 dogs and 15 cats....Love them to death....BUT i have come to this personal reasoning...as i know i will have a few hard days in my future.

Sometimes the correct decision is not the best decision for us…but rather the best for the animal. I vowed not to let my personal feelings get in the way of an animals suffering if the diagnosis is not good….due to illness or procedures they are subjected to. I know its hard…but man…..i feel your friends will see you later after this life is done…..that is my hope at least….

I wont see it again...but "Marley and Me" is a great flick! Just hard to watch the end.....

Greg Reed

I had a German Wirehair Pointer diagnosed with a spleen tumor. He was 12 years old. The vet gave him antibiotics and RIMADYL (for inflammation). He had shown the same symptoms a couple of other times. Lethargy, anemic, acting like leg or hip hurt. The vet said to keep him calm to try to let the spleen heal.

After a couple of days he went into convulsions and almost paralysis. We took him off the RIMADYL and he got a little bit better, then got very weak, pale gums etc. Then he suddenly died. If the vet prescribes RIMADYL, check out www.srdogs.com and read up on RIMADYL. It seems Labs are especially susceptible to problems with RIMADYL.

I almost put him down but, the vet thought He was passing the RIMADYL through his system. He died 1 hour after I talked to the vet. I'm still trying to get over losing my buddy.

ajpulley

I also value the life of my lab more than that of some people. I would spend the money.

Scotty

Well, my brother did have a similar experience. He is also a Vet Tech and pretty much went against all he knew about his dogs condition and tried surgery, meds and surgery again. The result was not good. The dog was 'ok' for part of the 16 months he survived after the discovery. I really did not want to post this to you but hey, you need to know, right?

If my brother had the same situation again...he would not change how he dealt with it anyway.

Scotty

Totallyrad

Rimadyl works well but it's really hard on the liver. The pale guns, heaves or a raspy cough along with lethargy are pretty clear symptoms that the liver is shutting down. There are other drugs they can take with Rimadyl to help the liver but it's only a matter of time. We decided that we wouldn't use Rimadyl on any of our dogs again unless it was the lesser of the evils.

smokeyram

After a second opinion last night, and an estimate of near 5 grand, i was feeling pretty down. She was doing better, and back to herself, eating and everything else. We did some tests, and were able to determine its a tumor, not a hemotoma. This morning, I was able to find another surgeon who is alot more reasonable on the cost. luckily since its a tumor and not bleeding bad, she is scheduled to go in on tuesday morning.
And to be clear, i do appreciate all the thoughts, this wasnt really about the money, but in my case the lack of it. In addition, I dont want to put her through it, just to have her been uncomfortable or suffer afterwards.
And with regards to the Marley & Me movie, was tough to finish, i almost bit my tounge off watching it with my wife.

BNH4221

Smokeyram,

Short version: We had an 11 year old female lab with a hemagiosarcoma on her liver. Doctor said if it was on the spleen to just put her down as it was 99.9% fatal. Since it was on the liver the odds were much better. We did the surgery to the tune of about 5 grand.
One week later she was back to her old self, just like new.
Three weeks later she was gone. This stuff happens FAST.

Was it worth it? In that particular situation, with the information we had, my wife thought it was. I did the smart thing and (for once) kept my mouth shut.
Even though the dog is gone, my wife can sleep knowing we did everything we could. We played the odds and we lost.
Two months later we had a new dog who is just wonderful.

I understand your pain and wish you the best with your pup.

Steve