Very ill dog - advice needed please

tucked

Just been told our 12yr (ish - he was a rescue dog) old Cocker Spaniel has an enlarged spleen. He was perfect up until last Wednesday and literally went down hill in a day – lethargic, unable to walk any distance, not eating just sleeping. He has perked up a bit on fluids in the Vets and we will collect him tomorrow to see how he is. We're told the spleen can be removed but it is a traumatic procedure and possibly there may be other underlying problems that may come to light after the op eg cancerous cells which may or may not have caused it may flare up. As you can imagine we are just gutted. Our choices are basically remove the spleen and hope for the best or have him PTS in the next day or two. By any chance is there anyone here who's dog had their spleen removed and how successful was it? What are your opinions of what you would do in this situation? I think we're realising we will probably have to let him go but any hope at all out there??:(

janmaree

I wish I could answer your question for you but I haven't come across the problem before. What I would like to say to you is that you have done the right thing by putting him in the vet's care but if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't be jumping to any conclusions just yet. Unless he's in pain that can't be relieved and is really suffering, there may be no need to rush anything. I know a retired vet and asked him what could be behind such a problem and he said that it doesn't have to be cancer, it could be an infection of some kind that could well be treatable so please try to relax if you can, wait and see what tomorrow brings and fingers crossed, all will turn out well.

Please come back and let us know how everything goes, will you? Good luck to you tomorrow.


P.S. I googled "splenic conditions in dogs" and there's a lot of information out there, you could spend some time looking into that in the absence of posters with first hand experience. I do that kind of thing so that I can better understand what's being said to me, it's helpful sometimes. All the best. J.

tucked

janmaree wrote: »

I wish I could answer your question for you but I haven't come across the problem before. What I would like to say to you is that you have done the right thing by putting him in the vet's care but if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't be jumping to any conclusions just yet. Unless he's in pain that can't be relieved and is really suffering, there may be no need to rush anything. I know a retired vet and asked him what could be behind such a problem and he said that it doesn't have to be cancer, it could be an infection of some kind that could well be treatable so please try to relax if you can, wait and see what tomorrow brings and fingers crossed, all will turn out well.

Please come back and let us know how everything goes, will you? Good luck to you tomorrow.

Thank you for going to the trouble of asking your friend. The initial shock has eased a bit now and you are right, no need to rush into a decision until we at least see how he progresses tomorrow. Despite the potential for further problems after an operation which as far as we can tell there is a 50:50 chance of further complications, we are thinking that it might not be right to just give up and PTS. That of course is as long as the poor doggy is definitely up to it and it wouldn't be cruel to put him through it. The Vet says he would have some discomfort at the moment but not necessarily pain. He wasn't whimpering or crying at all so we hope that's a good sign. We feel a tiny bit more positive so hopefully tomorrow will bring some good news. I will let you know how it goes. Thanks again.

boomerang

Tucked I have been through this with my own dog. If it is splenic haemangiosarcoma, the survival time after removing the spleen is sadly very short - at most six months IIRC. Had I known that when Amber was diagnosed, I might not have opted for the surgery but instead enjoyed the very short time that we had left. Amber went downhill as quickly as your dog has done. In her case, it was because there was a tumour haemorrhaging on her liver with blood pooling in the abdomen. She was weak because she was severely anaemic. I rushed her down to Gilabbey in Cork for emergency splenectomy. But the cancer had spread from the spleen to the liver and it wasn't a node of the liver that could be removed. She was put to sleep on the operating table once it was established that she had no hope of recovery.

My college friend's elderly dog was diagnosed with the same cancer not long after Amber died. He had a splenectomy but passed away a few months later. This is the way of it, with splenic haemangiosarcoma. The splenectomy is not curative - it just buys you extra time.

It's human nature to cling to hope and hold out for the small chance that everything will be okay. But it sounds as though your dog's condition is terminal. Has the vet leaned one way or the other? How certain are they that it is cancer that has caused the enlarged spleen? Reason I ask is that another colleague had an elderly dog whose spleen showed up as enlarged on x-ray and ultrasound. Again there was the sleepless night while she had to decide whether to send him in for elective splenectomy or not. The vet gave him a good chance of survival, so she went for it. The dog turned out to have a haematoma - not cancer at all - and he is still going strong a year later.

I wish I could give you a firm yes or no, but I think you can only go on what your vet advises, and what your heart allows.

Best of luck OP x x x

tucked

Thanks boomerang. The Vet is probably leaning towards PTS without directly saying so. I would rather he say for definite one way or the other to be honest. He did indicate that removal of the spleen would most likely just buy some time but at the same time he could not say for sure if there is cancer present just that it is likely that there is under the circumstances. It would require further tests prior to the operation to know for sure but he says the cost of those alone and then of the operation if we proceed would be very steep and traumatic with no guarantee of a good recovery. Yes it's human nature to cling to hope but when the Vet is not saying "there is definitely cancer present", even after xray and ultrasound, then we're thinking we should at least let the operation go ahead and as in your case if anything else is found that looks likely to be cancerous then to put him to sleep at that stage. At least we won't be saying "what if" after that. Deep down we know the end is probably near and regardless of anything else we will do what's best for the little fella.

tucked

janmaree wrote: »

Please come back and let us know how everything goes, will you? Good luck to you tomorrow.

Hi janmaree, just thought I'd give a quick update. Things took a very unexpected and welcome turn for the better believe it or not! We collected our little fella from the Vets after he was on fluids overnight and he was in much better shape. That was last Saturday and he is just going from strength to strength each day. Now he's still not himself and needs lots of rest but he's getting his appetite back and loving his walks twice a day and getting back some of his cheeky habits. We had him back at the Vet today who was very surprised at the improvement, so much so that he wants to wait another week to see if he gets even stronger.

We really couldn't have hoped for more considering the shape he was just a couple of days ago when I carried him into the Vet like he was a rag doll! He will still need the operation to remove the spleen but the stronger he gets the better his chances. The main thing is he is back home for the minute, he is in good form and we have been given some unexpected time to spoil him for a little longer. I will update again when there is more news.

janmaree

Tucked, thank you so much, I just couldn't be happier. I know we're not out of the woods yet but things are looking so much better by the sounds of it! Please God he will keep getting better and better. You're very good to come back and let us know; I'll be dropping things for the next while because my fingers will be crossed! J.

janja

tucked wrote: »

Hi janmaree, just thought I'd give a quick update. Things took a very unexpected and welcome turn for the better believe it or not! We collected our little fella from the Vets after he was on fluids overnight and he was in much better shape. That was last Saturday and he is just going from strength to strength each day. Now he's still not himself and needs lots of rest but he's getting his appetite back and loving his walks twice a day and getting back some of his cheeky habits. We had him back at the Vet today who was very surprised at the improvement, so much so that he wants to wait another week to see if he gets even stronger.

We really couldn't have hoped for more considering the shape he was just a couple of days ago when I carried him into the Vet like he was a rag doll! He will still need the operation to remove the spleen but the stronger he gets the better his chances. The main thing is he is back home for the minute, he is in good form and we have been given some unexpected time to spoil him for a little longer. I will update again when there is more news.

So happy for you xxxxx

JustAThought

janja wrote: »

So happy for you xxxxx

Such great news & so unexpectedly dramatic and positive : ) Delighted for you !!!

tucked

Thanks for your comments everyone. We had our little fella back at the vet today and amazingly everything is looking really good. He is practically back to his old self – maybe even a bit more cheeky and stubborn than he was which is hard to believe. He's loving his short walks and he's back begging for food at every chance, looking at us as if we haven't fed him in a week! We actually think he is milking the whole situation at this stage

It's such a relief to see him recover so well. His spleen is still enlarged and he is on painkillers but he is so happy once again. It might even be the case that he can continue as he is without the operation if he stays strong and happy. At this stage in his life he might last as long without the operation as he would with it so we are just enjoying every day with him and loving seeing him back to his old self. Either way, we are now more prepared should he take poorly again which hopefully will be a long time off!

Janmaree your advice not to rush into anything was spot on - thankfully, despite how distressed he was for a short time, we gave him the chance to recover, so thank you once again!

janmaree

Tucked, thanks so much for the update! What wonderful news, and boy, I needed news like that!!!

I had to laugh at your observation that he might be milking the situation a tad; haven't met a "male patient" yet who didn't do the same thing and who'd begrudge him the extra TLC?!!! Absolutely brilliant. Thanks. J.