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Abe Froman
Jul 2, 2003

The Sausage King of Chicago
My lab mix, Sassy, is ~14 years old (not entirely sure since she was a rescue). She has always been in good health. Other than a few ear infections, she's never needed treatment for any health conditions.

About 4 months ago, I noticed she wasn't always eating her dry food. She eventually would, but would sometimes skip meals. I just chalked it up to her getting older.

About a 1.5 mos ago I switched from her premium dry food to some good canned food, which she was all excited for and would eat immediately. She then stopped eating that. I switched to regular old Alpo, figuring at her age, what does it matter. She again went crazy for that.

After going out of town for 4 days and boarding her, she ate for a day or two then stopped. I switched to boiled hamburger and she ate that and then was turning her nose up at that at the end of last week.

I took her to be the vet Saturday. Blood work was abnormal for her liver. Vet took an x-ray and said it was a really enlarged liver or she had a tumor that was pushing on her stomach and intestines. She thought it was a tumor because of the irregular margins. I'm taking her in for an ultrasound. The vet thinks the outcome of the ultrasound will not be good.

Besides feeling guilty about not being more proactive, even knowing that when she first started with her not eating the cancer was already there to a point it was causing a problem, I'm not sure what to do.

Assuming there is something that can be done surgically, which I'm not hopeful for at the moment given what is there on the x-ray, the vet's thought that it is cancer, and her saying that liver cancer is aggressive, I'm not sure what to do.

Do I really want to put my dog through surgery even if it might help at her age? I can't imagine making her suffer through chemotherapy. Am I an rear end in a top hat for even letting the financial aspect of it come into play? I wouldn't have an issue paying for it, but would it make sense to put my dog through all of that and spend thousands of dollars for an outcome that isn't guaranteed in a 14 year old dog.

I don't know. I guess this part venting and part getting other people's thoughts on the matter. I love this dog dearly, but the last thing I want to do is be selfish and put her through a bunch of treatment because I don't want her to go and I don't know how much time is left.

She seems to be doing ok for the moment. She's sleeping more than usual. I can tell she's tired when I take her for a walk, she's stumbled a few times and walks slow near the end. She still gets has that spark at times, wagging her tail when I come home from work. Since the vet on Saturday, she's been getting steak for every meal and is still eating. I'm trying to spoil the hell out of her while I still can.

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extra stout
Feb 24, 2005

ISILDUR's ERR
My dog was the same age but a different breed, and the cancer spread between the spleen and the stomach, but most everything else was as you described it. His loss of appetite, lots of sleeping, always irritable. Unless the ultrasound reveals things were better than they expected, at that age you can assume what their advice will be. It will somewhat drive your decision, though it may of course not make it that much easier. Eventually the tumor ruptured when being examined, and that's all she wrote. I don't have much advice that you haven't figured out, pet dog if dog still enjoys being petted, give dog treats. Take more pictures if you want to extend the memory of loss. Regardless, you have my best wishes.

Abe Froman
Jul 2, 2003

The Sausage King of Chicago
Thank you.

Dropped her off at the vet this morning for her ultrasound. I should be hearing something within the next couple of hours.

Abe Froman
Jul 2, 2003

The Sausage King of Chicago
It turned out to be a tumor but didn't look like the most aggressive kind and the radiologist said it didn't appear to have spread. The surgeon at my vet said he doesn't feel that surgery to remove it would be within his expertise. The regular vet said if it was her dog, she probably wouldn't do surgery given the invasiveness and age and would just focus on making her comfortable until the time comes.

I don't think that will be too long as she not eating again and I haven't seen her drink much either.

So it's either do nothing or take her to a specialist and have them redo the ultrasound and give me an opinion as to whether they feel surgery is possible.

The tumor sounds huge....9cm by 15cm. I can't imagine what an undertaking that will be and how difficult it will be for her to recover.

I just wish she was to younger so it would make the decision easier. I just hate having to make a decision. I don't really want to put her through such an ordeal at her age for what might not be a lot of additional time, but I know myself and I will feel so guilty if I don't do anything.

extra stout
Feb 24, 2005

ISILDUR's ERR

Abe Froman posted:

It turned out to be a tumor but didn't look like the most aggressive kind and the radiologist said it didn't appear to have spread. The surgeon at my vet said he doesn't feel that surgery to remove it would be within his expertise. The regular vet said if it was her dog, she probably wouldn't do surgery given the invasiveness and age and would just focus on making her comfortable until the time comes.

I don't think that will be too long as she not eating again and I haven't seen her drink much either.

So it's either do nothing or take her to a specialist and have them redo the ultrasound and give me an opinion as to whether they feel surgery is possible.

The tumor sounds huge....9cm by 15cm. I can't imagine what an undertaking that will be and how difficult it will be for her to recover.

I just wish she was to younger so it would make the decision easier. I just hate having to make a decision. I don't really want to put her through such an ordeal at her age for what might not be a lot of additional time, but I know myself and I will feel so guilty if I don't do anything.

I don't have any education in this area beyond my own poor anecdotal experience, so I feel uncomfortable trying to assume a bunch of things and give any insight that would impact you, as your own decision sounds like it will be a very fair one. I imagine this, and the general uncertainty of what to say to someone without making them feel worse, is why someone with more experience hasn't posted yet either.

You seem like a mature person who knows not to go put your dog down tomorrow to avoid dealing with it later, and someone too kind to test how long it can go on unattended to. If things continue in this direction, that decision will be up to you of course and hopefully the vets can at least give some insight, they seem to be more willing to do this than a human doctor would since a dog's life is brief, and they probably won't go to jail for saying the wrong thing.

If it were me I would keep trying whatever food works, minimal walks if she still enjoys them. Just see how it goes on a day by day measurement. Good luck again, you seem like your head is in the right place to handle this with the most consideration possible for your dog.

Abe Froman
Jul 2, 2003

The Sausage King of Chicago
Thank you. I appreciate your thoughts.

She's been a healthy dog all her life. The vet said she has a good heart and lungs. Her hips are a little stuff, but she was still running and playing a month ago. If she had been sickly, my decision may have been different. But since she wasn't, I went ahead with the surgery, which she had today.

The surgeon was able to perform the lobectomy and get rid of the big tumor, but although the ultrasound didn't show it, there were spots on other parts of her liver and spleen. Not nearly as bad though. I'm sad, as I was hoping this would buy her a year or so since she's otherwise healthy, but I'm at peace with it, as at least I know everything reasonable that could be done, was. The doctor thought she has a couple months or so until the cancer is a problem again. There won't be any more surgeries. She fought the good fight for me. I can't ask any more of her.

At least now, she'll be able to eat again. She's going to be ridiculously spoiled for as long as possible. Hopefully I'll be able to bring her home in a couple of days and start on that.

extra stout
Feb 24, 2005

ISILDUR's ERR

Abe Froman posted:

Thank you. I appreciate your thoughts.

She's been a healthy dog all her life. The vet said she has a good heart and lungs. Her hips are a little stuff, but she was still running and playing a month ago. If she had been sickly, my decision may have been different. But since she wasn't, I went ahead with the surgery, which she had today.

The surgeon was able to perform the lobectomy and get rid of the big tumor, but although the ultrasound didn't show it, there were spots on other parts of her liver and spleen. Not nearly as bad though. I'm sad, as I was hoping this would buy her a year or so since she's otherwise healthy, but I'm at peace with it, as at least I know everything reasonable that could be done, was. The doctor thought she has a couple months or so until the cancer is a problem again. There won't be any more surgeries. She fought the good fight for me. I can't ask any more of her.

At least now, she'll be able to eat again. She's going to be ridiculously spoiled for as long as possible. Hopefully I'll be able to bring her home in a couple of days and start on that.

That's great news, it's nice to hear of a rare situation where even at that age the surgery sounds like it went smoothly, and you didn't take the easy out of (even most vets I imagine) explaining how it'd cost you a lot of money, dog is already old, etc etc.

Well let us know how things progress, and if you feel like it you could share a pup picture, I enjoy the insight into the situation even if it's not the most cheerful subject. I guess the bright side is that when you make a post about 'my dog has cancer' it really can only either remain a depressing topic, or become a slightly cheerful one :)

Slugworth
Feb 18, 2001

If two grown men can't make a pervert happy for a few minutes in order to watch a film about zombies, then maybe we should all just move to Iran!

Abe Froman posted:

Thank you. I appreciate your thoughts.

She's been a healthy dog all her life. The vet said she has a good heart and lungs. Her hips are a little stuff, but she was still running and playing a month ago. If she had been sickly, my decision may have been different. But since she wasn't, I went ahead with the surgery, which she had today.

The surgeon was able to perform the lobectomy and get rid of the big tumor, but although the ultrasound didn't show it, there were spots on other parts of her liver and spleen. Not nearly as bad though. I'm sad, as I was hoping this would buy her a year or so since she's otherwise healthy, but I'm at peace with it, as at least I know everything reasonable that could be done, was. The doctor thought she has a couple months or so until the cancer is a problem again. There won't be any more surgeries. She fought the good fight for me. I can't ask any more of her.

At least now, she'll be able to eat again. She's going to be ridiculously spoiled for as long as possible. Hopefully I'll be able to bring her home in a couple of days and start on that.
You're making good decisions and looking at it in the perfect way. Enjoy the rest of your time with her.

Abe Froman
Jul 2, 2003

The Sausage King of Chicago
Update: brought her home Saturday night. It took a couple of days but she seems to be recovering well. She's ate like a horse today and had about 1.5 cups of chicken for dinner, along with 4 pieces of bacon and 2 big globs of peanut butter, which were concealing her pills. We went for a short walk, too. I'm so glad she appears to be doing well, as I want her to have the best quality of life possible for as long as possible for whatever time is left.

Sorry if this is huge, doing it from my iPad, but here's a link to a picture of her I took yesterday.

Abe Froman fucked around with this message at 04:56 on Sep 20, 2016

LITERALLY A BIRD
Sep 27, 2008

I knew you were trouble
when you flew in

I'm glad Sassy's surgery went well. She's beautiful and is lucky to have somebody like you.

extra stout
Feb 24, 2005

ISILDUR's ERR

Abe Froman posted:

Update: brought her home Saturday night. It took a couple of days but she seems to be recovering well. She's ate like a horse today and had about 1.5 cups of chicken for dinner, along with 4 pieces of bacon and 2 big globs of peanut butter, which were concealing her pills. We went for a short walk, too. I'm so glad she appears to be doing well, as I want her to have the best quality of life possible for as long as possible for whatever time is left.

Sorry if this is huge, doing it from my iPad, but here's a link to a picture of her I took yesterday.



Thanks for the update, that's a good looking dog.

skoolmunkee
Jun 27, 2004

Tell your friends we're coming for them

She is a good dog and you are a good dog dad/mom. Dogs can bounce back really quickly and I know she will make good use of her precious time.

Abe Froman
Jul 2, 2003

The Sausage King of Chicago
Sassy passed away today. She had a spectacular 7 weeks after her surgery and was her normal, energetic self during that time - eating like a horse, going for walks, playing, and just being herself.

Her appetite dropped off pretty suddenly about 2.5 weeks ago. I coaxed her along for a couple of days until she stopped eating completely. The vet gave her a vitamin B injection, some prednisone and an appetite stimulant pills to help, but other than a couple frosty's from Wendy's and a couple of cookies, her appetite didn't return and she hadn't eaten anything the past 4-5 days.

I was hoping that the pills would suddenly kick in, but it wasn't meant to be and she was pretty weak, even though she still loved her walks, even if they were pretty short near the end.

I had an appointment for a vet to come to my house tomorrow so she could have her last moments at home, but she deteriorated a lot from yesterday and it would have been wrong to make her wait.

Although I wish it had been longer, I'm grateful for the extra time the surgery gave us. It's quiet here right now and I miss my friend.

Thanks to everyone for their advice and the encouragement.

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Slugworth
Feb 18, 2001

If two grown men can't make a pervert happy for a few minutes in order to watch a film about zombies, then maybe we should all just move to Iran!
My condolences, but I'm glad you got that time with her. You gave her some extra time, and you gave her peace when she was ready. You did good.

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