Talk to me: mass in the spleen, surgery on 10 yr old dog etc.

[curlykarot]

Just got home from the emergency vet. What a night. My 10 year old lab mix was just fine when I got home from work. Normal walk, poop, dinner. Let him out at 9pm to pee and didn’t seem to want to come back in. No worries, beautiful night out. Comes in. Never showed interest in getting in bed(red flag #1) while I read. Curls in far away corner and breathes heavily (RF #2). About an hour later, I try to get him to go outside again. No interest (HUGE RF #3). He’s got a full body tremor and heavy breathing. He’s uncomfortable and something isn’t right. I take him to the emergency vet.

Waiting for the vet, I notice something doesn’t look right with his belly. Vet agrees, takes x-rays. Large mass on the spleen. Appears to have fluid in the abdomen, vet guesses there is probably some blood in that fluid. Blood work fairly normal.

I decided to bring him home so I could keep an eye on him until I can call my vet in about 4 hours. They gave him some pain meds and he appears to be resting comfortably.

It seems the next steps are an ultrasound and then surgery. Basically, surgery needs to be done to confirm it isn’t cancer (I think?)
But my dog is 10. What are the risks with a dog this age and surgery? Any experience with spleens (or lack of one)?

Sorry for the novel, just worried about my baby!

[SharonA]

My dog was just diagnosed (today) with the same thing! He was diagnosed via ultrasound, though you could see that the vet “knew” when she felt his abdomen a few days ago. They don’t know exactly what kind of tumor, but it’s inoperable due to its location and size, and my dog is 12. He has been healthy and sparkly up until a few weeks ago, and his symptoms are lack of appetite and decreased energy/stamina/just not quite right. Many tears are being shed, and my heart breaks for my kids, who adore this dog (and he is a saint with them). Still. I won’t do surgery or chemotherapy on a dog of his age; it’s a personal decision for everyone, but for me, I feel that the impact on quality of life is not worth the possibly-but-not-sure added lifespan, and I tend to be in the “it what it is” camp when it comes to healthcare for older animals (and for myself, after I reach a certain age). I am okay with making the most of the life that Nature grants us, and letting go when it appears that one’s number has been called and it’s time for a given animal to move ahead. That’s just me, though. Hugs to you and your boy.

[Beckham03]

Get the ultrasound to confirm its coming off the spleen and not the liver and to check for Mets and the degree of effusion (how much bleeding…if it’s actively bleeding or having slow bleeds.). Splenic masses are commonly hemangiosarcoma, but not always. A surgeon, specialist, can give you better ideas in terms of outcome with surgery alone or surgery with chemo. Some dogs do fine with the surgery. Ten doesn’t bother me for surgery…that’s a pretty normal day for us for knees alone, lol. If you decide on surgery, you should also get pre anesthetic blood work and chest rads.

I’m sorry you are both going through this. Big hugs!!

[yellowbritches]

Just hugs from me. My sister’s fabulous dog went from happy and cheery to low energy overnight. My sister even texted me the morning it started, after her annual Christmas party and said “I think I broke my dog and my boyfriend last night” because they both were sleeping in. It was a joke at the time. She didn’t perk back up, and a few days later was diagnosed with a mass on her spleen that was bleeding. Her prognosis was very poor, with or without surgery. Sister opted to keep her comfortable so she didn’t risk losing her on the operating table. That was the first weekend of December that year. She passed away Christmas morning.

I hope this isn’t the case, but it’s my understanding that this is a tough diagnosis. Sending you and him lots of hugs and jingles.

[Incantation]

I had a 13 yo Mastiff with a vascular tumor. We are not positive what type as at her age, surgery was not an option. About a week after diagnosis she threw a clot at 2 am (at least that is what we think).

She was flailing around and could not get up, had respiratory distress, and was extremely anxious. Thankfully my DH was up working at the time, and was with her. He had to carry her outside to go the bathroom (Help 'Em Up Harness), and then helped her back inside.

It went on for about an hour and he was considering taking her to Tufts to be PTS, when the episode ended. He helped her onto her bed, and she gave him a tail wag and went to sleep.

The next morning I called our vet and she came out later in the day to euthanize her. The same dog had a perforated ulcer at 10 yo, underwent surgery, and came through with flying colors.

[dkcbr]

Similar situation as others, wherein my 11 year old dog went from energetic and normal to tired and NQR overnight. Long story made short, she went to ER and ended up having her spleen removed.

The surgery went just fine but the path reports were delayed due to Thanksgiving holiday so I didn’t know for sure what we were dealing with. She did rally for a few days post surgery, but ultimately went downhill again, rushed to another ER and died there while being examined. And when the report came, it showed that it had been hemangio, metastasized.

In retrospect, it all went okay for her because she was never in really apparent pain or distress. However, if I had known then what I know now, I am not sure I would opt for the surgery. Not because it was too much for her to go through - it wasn’t. But because quite honestly the experience was nearly $3000 and I still lost her less than a week post-surgery.

On the other hand, if just removing the spleen had given her a longer life, it would totally have been worth it. So for me in the same situation again it would depend on the pathology reports.

Best wishes for your boy!!

[Mango20]

I had a lab/chow mix with a grapefruit-sized tumor on his spleen several years ago. He did not act out of sorts. I found it when I was rubbing his belly one day and felt something kind of round and firm in there. He was going in to have his teeth cleaned, so I asked the vet to check it out. I don’t remember exactly how old he was when the surgery was done (he was not young), but the tumor and his spleen were both removed and he recovered with no complications.

I had stomach surgery done on a 13 year old lab mix. She did just fine. Luckily, she lived for another 2.5 years, so I guess I got my money’s worth!

[Zu_Zu]

Jingles & AO for your beloved dog ~ ((hugs)) for you ~

[Jarpur]

So sorry you and your dog are going through this.

I’ve had two with hemangiosarcoma. First one was a 17(!) year old purebred Lab in otherwise apparently outstanding condition (she looked several years younger). I’d felt the dog was NQR for a few months, had taken her in repeatedly - including to a veterinary college - but she always passed the tests with flying colors. She was finally correctly diagnosed - after a collapsing episode - through ultrasounds, by an exotic animal veterinarian from one of the major wildlife parks (this was almost 25 years ago). She was treated with palliative care, and she lived only a couple more weeks.

Next was a 10 year old American Water Spaniel, also in otherwise apparently great shape. Regular veterinarian mis-diagnosed his NQRness as allergies. I didn’t buy the diagnosis, asked around, found a wonderful veterinarian 50+ miles away who ultrasounded him repeatedly, with the dog in various positions, until the tumor (half golf ball-sized) was apparent. My boy made it through surgery with flying colors, lived another three years of a high quality life, then succumbed to lung cancer (I’d been warned that might be an eventual possible outcome). At the time, I was told that my dog basically won the lottery to have survived as he did. This was a dozen years ago.

About ten years ago, an acquaintance with an older Border Collie had him treated very aggressively for the same thing (but by a different veterinarian), hoping for the good results my dog had gotten, but hers didn’t pull through.

I don’t know if there are recent advances in treatment. The money does add up for all the labwork, ultrasounds, radiographs, surgery, repeated follow-up at close intervals, etc.

[Tornado_Run_Farm]

curlykarot & SharonA - I’m so sorry you and your dogs are going through this.

IF it DOES end up being hemangiosarcoma, my experiences with that cancer are not good. I had a 11yo female and 7yo male (mother and son lab/chow mixes I acquired through adoption).

The 7yo male was the first to succumb. I took him into vet as an emergency when he was exhibiting the same symptoms as you all described with your dogs. I opted for the surgery and had his spleen removed. At the time the surgeon thought it was NOT hemangiosarcoma because the heart and surrounding organs looked good, but sent tissue sample off to pathology. Because he had lost so much blood, he also received blood transfusions - which really helped in getting him back to his old self almost immediately. However, a few days later the path report returned as positive for hemangiosarcoma. My vet gave him a prognosis of 3-9 months. He died 3 weeks later.

Unfortunately a few years after that, his mother (age 11) exhibited same symptoms, and I took her into vet as emergency, as well. This time the vet knew - was able to aspirate a lot of blood out of the abdomen. Rather than let her go through additional stress, I opted to euthanize then, even though the vet said she was only a few hours away from death anyway.

{{{HUGS}}} to both of you all, and pray what your dogs have is treatable.

[Garythesquirrel]

I went through this with two of my dogs.

The first was my 12 YO Rottweiler. She presented about the same as your dog, and I took her in to the ER with a follow-up visit to my regular vet the next day. Because of her age we opted not to do anything further and just do palliative care. She did well for over 5 months but then started to go downhill quickly. We believe hers was hemangiosarcoma. She was euthanized just a few days before her 13th birthday.

My second dog with an enlarged spleen was my ACD. I took him in to my regular vet because he was starting to look bloated and I was worried that it was his spleen since my rottie had died less than two years prior. I was unfortunately right. He had an ultrasound and it appeared it was just the spleen involved. We, once again, opted not to do surgery. He was also 12 YO and had some other health issues involving his spine and a crooked front leg. He didn’t react well at all to anesthesia and had a very low tolerance for pain and pain medications.

He went on to live an additional 9 months without any problems, then one morning his spleen ruptured. My vet was less than a 1/2 mile from my house so she rushed over and euthanized him.

One thing that helped me with my decisions was reading the Dean Koontz book A Big Little Life about his dog, Trixie. She had hemangiosarcoma of the spleen and he opted for surgery but she died shortly after. I read the book sitting on the floor of Barnes and Noble and cried but knew I didn’t want to put my dog through that.

Up until the end both dogs were doing very well and seemed to have a good quality of life. I kept in close contact with my vet during all of it.

Because of the mass of the spleen taking up so much space I switched them to canned food and fed small amounts 5X per day. This seemed to make a huge difference in their comfort level and I believe contributed to them both doing so well for so long after diagnosis. In fact, my vet even now suggests this to other clients who are facing the same diagnosis.

Good luck, OP. I’m so sorry you are having to face this.

[Marshfield]

The prognosis with a mass on the spleen that’s already bleeding when found is lousy. Last statistics I read were for about 90% neoplastic (typically hemangiosarcoma) when found when actively bleeding. Surgery will prevent your dog from bleeding out internally in the short term. Post surgery survival time is likely to be less than six months and likely even less than that

[Field_of_Dreams_Mini]

My chocolate Lab Forrest had that, at 10 1/2. Mass found, plus he was having nosebleeds. Gusher nosebleeds.

I took him in, and the vet said we can do this and this and this and this. But it won’t change one thing- he’ll still have cancer. He already looked awful. He wasn’t my Forrest anymore. He was so done.

I let him go.

{{{hugs}}} for you.

[jonquil]

My ten year old shepherd mix did fine with surgery for a hemangiosarcoma on her spleen. She lived four and a half more years. It was dicey surgery but we got lucky. I hope the same will be true for your dear dog. I did cry buckets.

[curlykarot]

Thanks everyone for reaching out with your experiences. It is helpful. SharonA, thank you for sharing. Hugs to you and your pup.

We went to my vet and got more blood work, an ultrasound and a biopsy done. Should have some news back about blood work and the ultrasound by tomorrow night. The biopsy should have results by Friday night. We got sent home with some pain meds, acid reducer and 2 antibiotics as there is some colitis going on.

Has anyone put anything like this through VPI pet insurance? Just curious if they push you to try everything, like equine insurance… But I guess there isn’t loss of use?..sorry, just thinking out loud.

[RaeHughes]

Having just been through this with a 11yr old lab - and it was over a period of 2-3 weeks - when the scan picked up the “mass” in the abdomen, our vet did a needle aspirate (sp? procedure?) to take as un-invasive as possible sample. An AGGRESSIVELY growing tumour. Results back in less then 2 hours. Comment from the vet “the cells were multiplying under the microscope”.

So decision made to PTS there and then. He was in serious pain and took 6x normal pain relief dose to get comfortable at all. He had that strange swelled tummy look as well.

I wouldn’t do surgery on a 10 year old dog. if it is already bleeding, surgery wont do anything except stop is bleeding. The mass will still be there - and has probably already metastased. Sometimes we humans go a little too far … cause we can and cause we love our animals.

Seems to me that labs are full on until they stop. You know when the time comes with them - the stop seems to be within a week or two of them running across the rainbow bridge. Happened to all of my families labs, labXs and now to two of my flatmate’s labs.

[Beckham03]

I’m glad you got the ultrasound but surprised you didn’t get more results at the time. We typically don’t aspirate splenic masses, particularly if there is a hemo abdomen. Please watch closely for increased respiratory rate, lethargy, pale gums…im jingling like mad you get more time with your pup. Hopefully there were no mets in other organs.

[SquishTheBunny]

We see this frequently ar our emergency hospital. 50% of clients will go forward with a splenectomy and 50% will euthanize. There’s no right or wrong decision.
I have seen dogs live more than a year after a diagnosis of hemangiosarcoma (cancer) and some not do well. I have also seen several older dogs with benign splenectomy tumors who were “cured” after their splenectomy. Chances are in the favor of cancer unfortunately.

If surgery is perused, there is no guarantee that your dog will live 3 months or 13 months. It’s just not fair.

Jingles and I hope you take comfort in whatever decision you make.

[SquishTheBunny]

[QUOTE=RaeHughes;8629487]
Having just been through this with a 11yr old lab - and it was over a period of 2-3 weeks - when the scan picked up the “mass” in the abdomen, our vet did a needle aspirate (sp? procedure?) to take as un-invasive as possible sample. An AGGRESSIVELY growing tumour. Results back in less then 2 hours. Comment from the vet “the cells were multiplying under the microscope”.

So decision made to PTS there and then. He was in serious pain and took 6x normal pain relief dose to get comfortable at all. He had that strange swelled tummy look as well.

I wouldn’t do surgery on a 10 year old dog. if it is already bleeding, surgery wont do anything except stop is bleeding. The mass will still be there - and has probably already metastased. Sometimes we humans go a little too far … cause we can and cause we love our animals.

Seems to me that labs are full on until they stop. You know when the time comes with them - the stop seems to be within a week or two of them running across the rainbow bridge. Happened to all of my families labs, labXs and now to two of my flatmate’s labs.[/QUOTE]

Just wanted put it out there that this information isn’t accurate. A splelectomy would be performed to address the bleeding. The Mass would be removed, which would in turn stop the bleeding. Surgery can’t stop bleeding without removing the source.

[JBD]

Similar story to my others here. Our dog was NQR, wouldn’t eat one day, would resume eating the next. One evening she collapsed and the ER vet did ultrasound which showed the tumor AND what looked like abnormal (metastatic) signs on the liver, heart and lungs. He gave her a less than 10% chance the cancer hadn’t spread and that she wouldn’t live long after the surgery. We chose to euthanize her.

I’ve always been happy that we let her go when she was still herself. I would have loved to baby her for the time she had left but that would have been for me.

However, if her chances had been at least 50/50, I would have had the surgery done. She was 2 weeks from being 11 years old.