Found a Lump on My Dog and Other Bad Signs | David Vail, DVM, MS, Dip. ACVIM (Oncology)

[@strawberrygirl8572]

My 11 year old aussi/lab mix started getting bloody black lumps on his head (2 of them), he'd rub them on the grass and they'd break open and bleed. Vet wasn't much help, just said they probably weren't cancerous, just try to keep them clean. Then he went lame, 1st in one back leg, then in the other. When he lost the use of his other back leg we had to euthanize him and it broke my heart into a million pieces. Vet didn't know why he was lame, but said his liver enzymes showed "there may be some cancer in there somewhere".... I can't stop wondering if his lumps were cancer and would that have cause his lameness, too? His legs seemed to be structurally fine, he just couldn't stand up anymore and they couldn't find anything wrong with his hips or spine. Grieving.

[@demonicadavies3674]

You seem to do a bit more than some practises do here in the uk. My dog has a few lumps and bumps on him. The one my vets tested the one lump, and it was just fatty lump. The other ones they didnt test,but due to how he presented himself(nearly at deaths door), they didn't think he would make it. The vets had him in as an emergency,hooked him up on a drip, and he was brought back to life. They checked him and did scans and found that there was a dark grey mass between his liver and his other organ. ( have brain fog) they said it has spread but didn't state where. They won't operate on him, so hes on end of life care now. Hes 11 now.

[@charlenefrazier6734]

My girl (King Charles Cavalier spaniel, age 7) has squamous cell carcinoma of the tonsil. She had both tonsils removed June 13th along with her palate shortened. Follow up visit July 25th with an oncologist. During that visit they aspirated her lymph nodes and found epithelial cells. Prognosis poor. However, she is doing great. If you didn’t know it, you wouldn’t suspect she has cancer. Excellent appetite. Enjoying her walks and life in general. The only thing I’ve done is added turkey tail mushroom capsules, another mushroom blend: 5 defenders, and about 1/8 tsp manuka honey daily. She also is 90 percent on a home cooked diet. I know it’s not a cure, and that she is “terminal” but do any dogs ever miraculously get cured??

[@DogCancer]

Hi Charlene! The short answer is "yes,' some dogs do get what we might think of as a "miraculous" cure. There are ALWAYS dogs who beat their prognosis by so long that we say "wow!" Will that happen with your girl? That's where we can't predict. Remember, that the numbers veterinarians quote for how long a dog has are usually median numbers, which means that half the dogs will go sooner than that and half will go AFTER that! Your dog will never ever be just a statistic and there is a lot of room for hope. Here's an article. www.dogcancer.com/articles/diagnosis-and-medical-procedures/median-survival-time-meaning/

[@charlenefrazier6734]

@@DogCancer thank you so much for your kind response and the informative article. And thanks for all you do. It’s appreciated. ❤️