12yr old with tumors
by patty
ORIGINAL MESSAGE:
Star is a fairly frisky dog for being 12 and a half. she is in great health with the exception of having had tumors. she had surgery in 8/97 to remove them near her groin area, then in 1/98 just below the middle of her rib cage. now she has them back again along her side. this time they are growing a little more rapidly. the vet reccommends leaving them ,knowing eventually they will lead to her demise. he feels if we remove them they will probally come back in a few months. i am just broken-hearted over this. she survived the other surgeries fine. i don't know what to do. my feelings are that she can still see and hear fine and has no other problems so i feel maybe i should do the surgery. if anyone has any ideas, experience etc. i would appreciate it. i am really torn up about this. i want to do the right thing. we have no children so this dog means everything to us.thanks
DISCUSSION:
Patty, has your vet tested these tumors? I could be totally all wet about this, and this is just my opinion, I would have the surgery since she did so well before. It would make you feel better and probably make her life easier too. But definitely get a second opinion or ask your vet to run a test if he hasn't already.
Felicia
Patty, My previous Malt, Chico, who passed in Oct97 at the age of 16 had several tumors. The vet told me that as long as they were hard or wart like not to worry. It comes with age. He had those tumors for several years and only had a problem with one that had to be removed. I would see if the vet would take a sample of one and see if it is anything to worry about. Otherwise don't worry.
Libby & Buster
Patty, what kind of tumour did the vet say they were.......even if he didn't have them analysed he should have had some idea. It sounds like he thinks they are malignant, in which case your options are either do nothing and let them take their course, or undergo surgery. Rastus had some benign tumours, a couple of lipomas on his tummy and a recurring slow-growing warty thing on his eyelid. The vet removed them during successive teeth-cleaning procedures and said the warty things would keep coming back Well, the warty things did come back a couple of times (and were removed again during teeth cleaning ops) but then they stopped coming back. As long as the vet thinks Star is a good surgery risk, if it were me I would go the surgery option if they are malignant, if they are benign then don't worry about them unless she is going under anaesthesia for teeth cleaning etc. I will cross my fingers that these ones are benign....good luck with whatever you decide to do.
Deanna (Moose & Squirrel)
thanks so much for the replys. i guess i should have been a little more specific. the previous tumors were found to be malignant. the can't tell if it has metastisize(not sure of that spelling) i'm leaning for the surgery. it seems that most maltese live until 14-16 yrs old. she is 12 1/2.
patty
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