making decision about 10yo dog and cancer...

I can't thank you enough for reading around and giving me your thoughts.
You're welcome. Glad if I can help you sort things through.

Spoke with a friend who is a vet tech, and she suggested that if we're not going to operate, asking my vet about Steroids. She said it would replace the Rimadyl as helping his pain in his legs, and can shrink the tumor. Of course there are side affects, she said excessive drinking and peeing is one.

Do you have any thoughts on that? Again, thank you soooo very much for your thoughts.
No, you can't do this. They will give one or two doses of a steroid for an acute problem, but not long term, as they can cause the adrenal gland to stop making hormones, otherwise known as adrenal insufficiency. That's why they use Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs, ie NSAIDs. As I mentioned above, the glucosamine/chondrioton along with an NSAID like rimadyl is how they usually treat the arthritis. The aquaban mentioned above seems to be an injectible form or the glucosamine. (And it can cause bleeding, but it's not classified as a blood thinner, persay.) Talk to your vet about the choices you have as far as meds go.
 
I had a husky diagnosed with osteosarcoma (shoulder bone cancer) a few years ago. The life expectancy was six months if we did nothing, 12 months if we amputated the leg at the shoulder and did radiation. The vet and I both felt he was not a good candidate for this surgery as he was 9 years old, had horrible separate anxiety from me (he was a rescue at 2 years old from incredibly horrid conditions), had epilepsy (although I was able to control it very well with diet alone and no meds, we did not know how anesthesia would affect him or the process itself) and was arthritic in his hind legs. We did not know if he would walk fairly well on 3 legs after. The vet and I decided to control his pain and let him live out his last few months. She assured me she would tell me when it was time if I was having a hard time letting him go and she continued to see him regularly to prescribe his painkillers and check on him. Well, he lived over two more years. The vet was astounded every time she saw him. Even though he had good and bad days, he always rallied when going to the vet as he just loved her. Twice I took him in thinking this was it, and the vet told me she thought he still had some life in him if I wanted to wait and she'd adjust his meds to make sure he was comfortable, and I was able to take him home again. She credited his extended life with his diet. I had fed him a raw diet since he was about 2 years old. We quickly discovered that wheat seemed to be a trigger to his seizures when I first got him (his previous owners were college girls who fed him a lot of pizza) and I took wheat out of his diet completely and put him on a primarily raw diet in an effort to control the seizures. Which it did. He'd only have a couple of seizures a year (usually after somehow getting a forbidden food) and was completely med free. He seized every day when I first got him so this was quite the change. Anyway, my point in all this was he loved fish, so I fed him a lot of raw fish (frozen and thawed generally). I'd just purchase whatever I could find on sale or from the Asian market (where it was less expensive). We have no way of knowing for sure but my vet suspects that his diet with all this fish prolonged his life. He lived to be 12 years old which is not bad for a husky, especially a rescue husky with epilepsy and osteosarcoma. I know my situation was different from yours. But for what it's worth, my advice in all of this is, if your GSD will eat fish you might consider adding some to his diet. We feel like it really helped our beloved husky.
 
Over the summer our vet told us our 14 y.o. lab most likely had a splenic tumor (mass/tumor on her spleen). She said we could opt for surgery to remove it which may or may not get it all as it may have spread and then we paid for an expensive surgery that may have done nothing positive overall and which could have caused death in itself to a 14 y.o. dog. She said leaving the mass is an option, but just know that the dog will ultimately die of the mass hemorrhaging and it would initially be painful or we could put her to sleep when the mass started growing to the point it affected her quality of life. We opted to not have the surgery and we got another 6 months of quality life out of her before we sadly, but peacefully, put her to sleep a little over a week ago.

We are so happy we opted not to have the surgery b/c, very shortly after our decision, both my husband's business partner's and my co-worker's dogs were diagnosed with the exact same thing as ours--splenic masses. Their dogs were significantly younger, but both dogs still died within a week of the surgery anyway. I'm so glad we didn't put our dog through the surgery and didn't have to still watch her suffer afterward.

My two-cents is to enjoy the time you have left with him and he'll let you know when it's time. Good luck in making your decision. I know it's not an easy one. (((Hugs)))
 
Over the summer our vet told us our 14 y.o. lab most likely had a splenic tumor (mass/tumor on her spleen). She said we could opt for surgery to remove it which may or may not get it all as it may have spread and then we paid for an expensive surgery that may have done nothing positive overall and which could have caused death in itself to a 14 y.o. dog. She said leaving the mass is an option, but just know that the dog will ultimately die of the mass hemorrhaging and it would initially be painful or we could put her to sleep when the mass started growing to the point it affected her quality of life. We opted to not have the surgery and we got another 6 months of quality life out of her before we sadly, but peacefully, put her to sleep a little over a week ago.

We are so happy we opted not to have the surgery b/c, very shortly after our decision, both my husband's business partner's and my co-worker's dogs were diagnosed with the exact same thing as ours--splenic masses. Their dogs were significantly younger, but both dogs still died within a week of the surgery anyway. I'm so glad we didn't put our dog through the surgery and didn't have to still watch her suffer afterward.

My two-cents is to enjoy the time you have left with him and he'll let you know when it's time. Good luck in making your decision. I know it's not an easy one. (((Hugs)))
I like your story, and in this situation I might have done the same thing. I elected not to do surgery or anything else other than pain meds when one of my GSDs has an osteosarcoma, like the poster above you. You have to take each situation as it presents itself. The difference between your situation, though, and the OP's, is that you were dealing with an organ and the OP is dealilng with a gland. There is a big difference. Taking an organ out is a big deal; taking a gland out is more simple. (Though, yes, OP could still elect not to do surgery just the same.) I'm sorry about your dog, and all the dogs who were lost here.
 


Bellebud, how is your dog doing?

He's great, thanks for asking, you're so sweet!

Him still being on the Rimadyl, he's wanting to go outside to play more and is walking much better. He has no symptoms from the cancer right now.

We're still unsure what we'll do. Vet has to call me back still. And tomorrow my vet-tech friend is asking her boss (a local vet who doesn't take new patients because she's SO popular), if she'll just do a consultation with us. Just for another opinion.
 
He's great, thanks for asking, you're so sweet!

Him still being on the Rimadyl, he's wanting to go outside to play more and is walking much better. He has no symptoms from the cancer right now.

We're still unsure what we'll do. Vet has to call me back still. And tomorrow my vet-tech friend is asking her boss (a local vet who doesn't take new patients because she's SO popular), if she'll just do a consultation with us. Just for another opinion.
That's good! He can stay on the rimadyl long term, or there are other types to try, as well. And remember, it may not be cancer! Some infections can mimic cancer and be very hard to treat. It will be interesting to hear what this other vet suggests. Keeping my fingers crossed for you guys.
 


OP here. Thank you all so much for your thoughts and hugs.



The surgery itself seems pretty risky, that's our real dilemma. If they cut a nerve that's "right there", he will not be able to hold his poop anymore; we'd have to put him down if that happened (imagine if that happens and it wasn't cancer).

Also, he gets a urine problem every couple/few months where he can't pee. It usually stems from him getting excited (nervous or happy, doesn't matter).

What happens is he'll all of a sudden go out to pee, be standing there, nothing comes out. It will sometimes drip, sometimes be a thread-like stream. This lasts for about 3 days to a week.

We've had him to several vets for this over the years. Nothing is conclusive as to what's going on. One vet said that possibly when he gets an adrenaline rush from being happy or nervous, a gland swells against his urethra and blocks the urine. Xanax and time is the only thing that helps. His bladder gets too full and we often have to take him to the vet to get drained once or twice a day when this happens. And he's very uncomfortable the whole time, getting up to try to pee every 10 minutes. I'm quite certain this will happen after surgery.

And he has to wear a cone for 2 weeks after surgery. That will also make him upset/nervous (so if he doesn't get the urine problem from the surgery, he'll get it from wearing the cone). So the poor pup is going to be recovering from anal surgery, but have to get up every 10 minutes to try to pee. I also don't know how I'm going to keep my golden doodle from licking cancer-dogs butt for 2 weeks. That's what we're looking at if all goes well with the surgery. (I don't know what happened to my font here).

Also, the surgery doesn't usually get every bit of cancer since they can't do good margins around it, so it's comes back. Reading PetMed, etc, it's almost 50% chance.

So if he only had 6 months to a year left anyway because of his legs, and this tumor/cancer wouldn't affect him until then anyway, we'll leave it alone. If I'm remembering correctly, the vet aspirated it already and the cells were inconclusive as to whether they were cancer or not. I have a call into my regular vet to discuss all this with her. Also going for a 3rd opinion.






THANK YOU!!! we're about an hour away, we'll go there for an opinion.

That's wonderful! Make sure you see Dr. Buckhoff. He is such a great person and so, so knowledgable. I kid with him that I wish I could have him treat my kids! :)
 
We actually had a very similar situation with our shih tzu exactly two years ago. He had a history of clogged anal glands that needed to be manually expressed and the vet noticed something didn't seem right. We biopsied and the results were cancer. We took him to a specialist who confirmed no evidence of metastasis, so we elected to remove the anal gland containing the tumor. We knew there was a risk of not being able to control his bowels but the surgeon assured us that this was not common. Knowing that he was in otherwise good health, the cancer had not metastasized and shih tzus typically have long life spans, we felt surgery was the right decision for our family. Now we did agree that no further intervention would be done. He definitely lost some weight when he was ill and recovering which he has not gained back, but he's otherwise healthy and happy. My understanding is that anal gland cancer is aggressive and moves quickly. We were advised to make a treatment decision ASAP. Wishing you and your pup all the best.
 
I'm sorry you are going through this. I will say that my mom had an older cat that had cancer in her nose and she did radiation. The cat responded very well to it and lived for several more years. I can't say how it would work in your case of course, but that's just my experience from someone who actually had it done. I hope you can find the best solution for your dog, whatever that may be.
 
My husky with the osteosarcoma was on Tramadol daily for over 2 years after diagnosis and it was very effective to the very end when he could practically not walk (the vet adjusted doseages a couple of times and also gave me wiggle room if needed to give him a little extra if he had a bad day). So pain can definitely be treated long term with meds if needed. I'm happy to hear he is doing well as of now, and hope you still have some time with your pup. These decisions are so hard.
 
I've had to make these decisions too often in the last few years. My GSD had a 12 lb tumor (and she was also 12 years old) removed (on her spleen) and she survived and lived another 5 months. She did so well after the surgery (she was was cut all the way down her abdomen) that she actually didn't behave as if she felt any pain. I'm sure she did, but it wasn't bad.

I'm at the end of a battle with a nerve sheath tumor with the Chihuahua (I know - from GSD to Chihuahua??) that I rescued a few months after she passed. The only option was radiation and they gave me a low likelihood that it would help her pain (what a cruel cancer - it will not spread, it will never kill her, but damages the nerve and causes extreme pain). She had a stroke while under anesthesia during the CT scan to figure out the extent of the tumor and at that point, we gave up. Since they have to put them under anesthesia for every radiation treatment, we knew she likely wouldn't survive.

But then, I realized that we would rather die fighting than to give up. She's maybe 9 or 10 (a rescue) but a small breed with a typically long life span. So we moved forward. It was crazy expensive, I had to miss a lot of work (very understanding employer!), there was a LOT of travel (it was over an hour to the only place that did canine radiation in our area) and I held my breath every time she went under.

We have bought almost a year and I just have to figure out when she's had enough and is ready to go. Will I say I'm glad I did it? Instinctively, I say yes, because I love her so much. Realistically, if I had lost her on the day she had the stroke (and they gave her a low chance of survival that day), it may have been easier on both of us. I don't mean because of what we went through, but because I loved her more every day. So now it's that much harder. Do I regret the radiation? Maybe. The medications (she's on 7 in the morning and 5 at night) make her bloated, fat, tired, and foggy-brained. But I've never been able to let her go. Maybe it's because I just had to let one go before I met her.

Either way, I think you do what you find is right in your heart. I somehow needed to know that I reasonably did all that I could. I know now that I have. They have offered an MRI (at almost $3,000) to figure out what is causing her pain to return, but no matter what the findings, there's nothing more they can do. So, it's not unreasonable to pass on that.

I have no other advice, other than to size up every option and do the one that feels right. :hug:
 
That's wonderful! Make sure you see Dr. Buckhoff. He is such a great person and so, so knowledgable. I kid with him that I wish I could have him treat my kids! :)

OP here with update...

(mefordis) We've decided to do alternative cancer treatment with a holistic vet (Dr. Buckhoff) instead of surgery. He gave us a bunch of stuff to add to dogs diet (supplements, immune boosting, fasting/cleaning out a bit, and something that is effective in targeting cancer). The goal is to arrest the cancer's growth (or have it grow slower than it would normally), or even shrink it. Also putting him on raw food (slowly). Also, chiropractic treatments for his arthritis.

DH was shaking his head and laughing after we left (chiropractic treatments for dogs), he thinks it's all baloney, but he'll go along with what I want (our marriage has always been like that - he's a real type A businessman, mainstream guy, and I'm half mainstream/half hippy, lol).

medfordis, I told Dr. Buckhoff that he was so highly recommended by a stranger on a Disney board and we're coming from an hour and a half away because of your recommendation. He loved it and was laughing. He asked who, and I'm like "I don't know her name but she says she tells you she wishes you could treat her kids". If you see him anytime soon, tell him you're the recommendation for the shepherd with anal gland cancer (Odin is the dogs name). He's a great guy, thank you again for the recommendation!

So Odin is feeling well, is playing a bit more, standing a bit more (I think this is from the pain med he's been on).

Thank you all for your well wishes and thoughts.
 
Sorry that you are going through this. My mom is dealing with possible cancer in her 2 year old bulldog. Her vet on LI told her it was cancer for sure. She decided to get a second opinion and made an appointment with an oncologist at the Animal Medical Center in manhattan. It is on the upper east side. She saw Dr. Leibman. This all happened within the last few days so we are still unsure what his prognosis is, but my point is that a second opinion may be wise before you proceed with any treatment/surgery. And since you are in NJ this might be an option.
 
OP here with update...

(mefordis) We've decided to do alternative cancer treatment with a holistic vet (Dr. Buckhoff) instead of surgery. He gave us a bunch of stuff to add to dogs diet (supplements, immune boosting, fasting/cleaning out a bit, and something that is effective in targeting cancer). The goal is to arrest the cancer's growth (or have it grow slower than it would normally), or even shrink it. Also putting him on raw food (slowly). Also, chiropractic treatments for his arthritis.

DH was shaking his head and laughing after we left (chiropractic treatments for dogs), he thinks it's all baloney, but he'll go along with what I want (our marriage has always been like that - he's a real type A businessman, mainstream guy, and I'm half mainstream/half hippy, lol).

medfordis, I told Dr. Buckhoff that he was so highly recommended by a stranger on a Disney board and we're coming from an hour and a half away because of your recommendation. He loved it and was laughing. He asked who, and I'm like "I don't know her name but she says she tells you she wishes you could treat her kids". If you see him anytime soon, tell him you're the recommendation for the shepherd with anal gland cancer (Odin is the dogs name). He's a great guy, thank you again for the recommendation!

So Odin is feeling well, is playing a bit more, standing a bit more (I think this is from the pain med he's been on).

Thank you all for your well wishes and thoughts.
If this is what you're comfortable with, then it's the right answer. :hug: I'm glad you're giving him a chance.

Did this new doctor think the anal gland is cancerous?
 
If this is what you're comfortable with, then it's the right answer. :hug: I'm glad you're giving him a chance.

Did this new doctor think the anal gland is cancerous?

Yes, he does think it's cancer (of course there's always a small chance it's not). But he feels that surgery would be very difficult because of where it is. They don't remove the gland, they have to go into the gland to try to get the tumor and leave the gland. Not an easy operation.

So we'll be seeing him for now every week (for the chiropractic stuff), then every 2 weeks, etc. and hope and cross our fingers.
 

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