Dog has tumor....radiate?

[joehahn]

Sad day, biopsy back from tumor on 7 year old german shepard's wrist. Have $400 into dx-ing this thing, $800 for surgery next tuesday and then we were told we should probably do radiation therapy. Has anyone faced this? Not sure what to do now? Really kinda bummed out now so not interested in googling "dog tumors" and the like. Just thought maybe some of my brethren here know ANYTHING about this. I have biopsy report in my hand but i don't know what it means.

Joe 68 L.

[tabs]

Ahhhh..Lost my cat to a tumor under Pelvis. They saw a shadow on the X-ray and they recommended a MRI for $1000 and then a Onocologist if it was a tumor, and then the "prognoises might not be very good." People don't do well on Chemo..how is a cat going to do??? So I passed.

I would say if the tumor was internal meaning in the body...then I wouldn't do it. It is in the dogs paw...well then it's your call. A friend even had his dogs rear leg amputated due to cancer..the dog got around for several years on 3 legs, until she just succumbed to old age.

Both my Airedales have tumors on the surface. On my female I have taken 2 of them off for $500 each. The Vet said for the last one that it was a non Maglignant Melonoma...What does that mean??? The first one was diagnosed as a low grade cancer??? The recomdation for her was to take them off, no further thearpy was recommended.

[joehahn]

...yes, he said amputation was an option. i just can't do it. i'd rather buck up the few grand than do that to her. you should see her, eats squirrels whole (seriously), has killed several raccoons in yard w/out so much as a scratch and yet sits like a statue when my 2 year old son pinches her or pulls her whiskers or ears. amazing.

[vash]

a dog moves at about 90% efficiency on three legs (animal planet). i love my dog so friggen much. i think i would opt for the amputation. as humans, we put so many of our own thoughts into what a dog may or may not feel. i think your great dog wont even miss the leg that much. but she will have a better chance at a full life. radiation therapy didnt save my dads life. tough choice joe, sorry you got the load on your shoulders. to bad we cant just ask the dog which option he/she wants. good luck. you better keep us posted!

cliff

[joehahn]

thanks cliff! i def. will. sorry about your dad.

I have same feeling about my dog that you do yours. remember being kid and your only worry was where you were you going to play that day? growing up and having to make adult decisions kinda blows!

joe 68 L

[pwd72s]

Joe, we all have had that feeling..wish we could call our parents and somehow become a kid again. Pets aren't like members of the family, they ARE members of the family. Most decisions should be made logically...numbers crunching. Not this one for you...nope. All I can say is follow your heart, and keep in mind that your pet trusts you to do the right thing.

[Ronbo]

Joe,

One of my Great Danes had a cancerous tumor in exactly the same spot. She was about 8 years old at the time. We had the tumor removed and took her for radiation treatments. If I remember correctly, it was once a week for two or three months. For the remaining two and a half years of her life, there was no sign of the cancer returning. In her case, the tumor removal and radiation was successful.

Best of luck to you.

[joehahn]

thanks fellas. we have implemented the somewhat flawed logic of "if it were up to her she would spend everything in the world to save one of us" and have decided to go to the hoop on this. hope it doesn't break the bank. i must admit that every year the paint job for the 911 gets pushed back for some unexpected issue. this one seeme well worth it though! surgery tuesday morning!!!! take care, ill keep you posted!!!

joe 68 L

[bob tilton]

some great advice and great stories shared here. joe - good luck with your shepard and please keep us posted.

[vash]

tuesday? ok, good luck.

[Pat S]

Good luck to both of you. I have boxers which one of our vets refers to as "tumor factories". When our younger one was about 7 she had a very odd mass removed from her shoulder. It was about 1cm around and turned out to be benign. But the vet tech noticed a very small 1-2mm bump near it. That one turned out to be malignent. In her case we got it early enough and they had good enough margains that the vet reccomended against radiation. Everything has been good far (2 years later).

Let us know how it goes.
Pat

[kiwior]

Joe,
Our neighbor has a boxer that had a tumor and was told to amputate the leg. They took the dog to the veterinary teaching hospital at the University of Illinois in Champaign and they cut the tumor out, radiated it and the dog has been living with no problems for 4 years now.
We just took our 7 yr. old vizsla in to the University to have 4 cancerous (mast cell cancer) tumors removed last week. Three on the legs and one on the belly. We are waiting to see what the grade of the tumors are and if the cancer spread into the margins around the tumor. It is our understanding that if the tumors are a grade 3 or if it has spread past the tumor in the margins then radiation or chemo is needed. If there is no cancer present in the margins no other treatment is necessary.

[joehahn]

We're BACK!!!

Everything went well. Doc couldn't get all of it due to it being in joint but he thinks that if we radiate she will live to "at least 12". Tuesday night she was a bit groggy but by wed. and yesterday she was back to opening guest bedroom door and sleeping on bed, sneaking food off children's plates and her usual deviant behavior. We meet w/oncologist in 2 weeks when everything healed. Finally, thanks a lot guys...i know it is corny but this is kinda my support group for lot's of different things....

[B D]

Glad to here everything went well!

[RickM]

Pretty pup. Glad it looks positive.

[speeder]

Wow, you didn't say that she was a white one. I had an amazing white GSD for 10 years until I lost him in an accident in 2000. He was a genius. It's a good thing that my present dog is healthy, because I am broke and I would have to rob a bank if he needed expensive treatment.

Best of luck, here is a picture of mine, slightly spoiled dog, about 10 years ago. (Please forgive the messy room, it's a great pic otherwise):

[vash]

nice pooch! both of them.

[joehahn]

...and a mighty fine looking feline as well. i'm in the market for one of those too. looking at a maine coon cat but i think they are nuts.

i neglected to include that she was a WGSD as opposed to a plain GSD. aside from wearing most of her fur to work with me she is perfect.

joe 68 L

[rcm]

Wow, great story, glad it has turned out well. I have a shepard, my wife and I are amazed daily after three years by how smart they are.

[joehahn]

Diagnosis, test, x-ray, $500
Surgery $1100
Radiation (started yeterday 18 daily sessions) $3,000!!!
wife and kids happy that madison will at least be around for a bit longer...priceless.

$4600 would have been one helluva paint job on a tiny SWB car but I guess i am pretty content with the decision we made. thanks again for the help fellas.

joe 68 L