Senior dog with internal bleeding & nodules: What are my options?

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Betty Lou. A lot of dogs develop splenic masses and many of them are not cancerous. There is no way to know by looking at the spleen. It needs be removed and submitted to the laboratory for a pathologist to evaluate microscopically. The same holds true for the liver. Just because a lesion is seen on the liver in surgery does not mean cancer has spread from the spleen. It is best in this case to remove the spleen and biopsy any abnormality in the liver. You may consider having an abdominal ultrasound performed prior to surgery by a board certified radiologist. This will allow a full evaluation of the abdomen and give you a better idea of what to expect in surgery. I hope this information helps. Good luck to you and Betty Lou!

Poor girl! Typically the fluid that was drained can be sent off for analysis to try and identify any cancerous cells. Also if it is hemangiosarcoma then an ultrasound of the spleen should reveal cancer there too, as this is typically where it would originate before spreading to the heart. You could also ask your vet for a referral to an internal specislist to do more advanced imaging to come up with an accurate diagnosis. Also until the cause is found, Gracee is likely going to need additional drainages of the excess fluid build up around her heart, and you want that to be done by a specialist anyway because of the high risk associated with such a procedure. I think it's reasonable to say that you should prepare yourself for the worse because the odds of this being cancer is greater than it not being cancer unfortunately. I send my deepest sympathies for you and your pet during this troubling time and I hope that you are able to make a decision regarding her care soon that you are comfortable with and keeps her best interest at heart.

Unfortunately there isn't really any way to shrink or remove a tumor without surgery, I have had some veterinarians have some luck in helping to stop bleeding from tumors with a Chinese medicine called yunnan baiyao. I would ask your vet if they feel this would be useful for your dog if the tumor is bleeding.

This is always such a difficult decision to make, and it is very normal to have second thoughts when you have to decide quickly about proceeding with invasive procedures vs. euthanasia in an older dog. While it's impossible to know for certain, I have seen many dogs during my career who have had splenectomy surgery and either have extensive metastatic cancer found during the surgery, or succumb to the disease a couple of months afterwards. I honestly don't know if I would go forward with surgery for my own 12 year old dog in a similar situation. There are many pet loss support groups that can be very helpful: this website lists a few that may be near you https://aplb.org/support/groups/michigan.html

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! It is hard to know for sure just based on a description. This could be a benign or malignant growth. There is no way of knowing what it is just based on its appearance. This is often differentiated by a test called a fine needle aspirate (FNA) which is a pain free, inexpensive and easy procedure which in most cases will help reach a diagnosis. Sometimes a biopsy is needed for a definitive diagnosis. I recommend that you have him evaluated by a veterinarian for further assessment and treatment as soon as possible as his weight loss and blood loss are quite concerning. I am really hoping for something benign. Good luck and have a good day!

The option is to do nothing and just wait until the tumor is so big that is causes problems or pain or ulcerates. There really are no other options other than surgery (debulking the tumor), maybe radiation (this willl depend on the kind of tumor) or chemotherapy (which also depends on the kind of tumor. I suggest you discuss palliative care (just treat symptoms until euthanasia) with your veterinarian. I am sorry your Rusty is so ill.

I am sorry, but there is no cure for cancer. Small tumors can be removed surgically and then undergo chemotherapy or radiation therapy depending on the type of tumor and if clean margins were made during surgery. If this is not an option for Hundoll, then he would be considered for hospice-type care. I would recommend that you have have him evaluated by a vet for pain. You can feed him whatever he wants at this point. Acupuncture may help with some of the pain, but it won't be able to stop the growth of the tumor. You may be able to find a vet in your area that uses herbal remedies, but they need to be prescribed after careful examination of the dog.