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Old February 24th, 2012, 06:57 PM
astralus astralus is offline
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! Emergency ! My dog has a mamar tumor

I have a female german sheperd about 6-7 years old, never had any offspring. Some time ago I noticed a subcutane lump size of an egg near her nipple. I consulted veterinarian and he said it should be removed and she should be sterilised. I didn't do it than because it was very cold and we agreed to wait for better wether. Also I was reluctant to sterilize since I dislike this idea in general and belive even a dog wish to have offspring and they should be alowed to. Now the tumor is much bigger and she appears to be very weak. I am so scared. I am taking her tomorow but I still don't know should I sterilize her. I found an article in which they say there is no point in sterilizing an older dog in function of reducing tumor risk, and one that says that it is only done in order to be easier to notice reoccurence of the tumor. But I also found one that says that the dog with removed tumor should be sterelized because it is safer, and veterinarian said to me the same thing. I just wish to save my dog and alow her to have puppies at least one time. But if the risk is to great I will get her sterilized. I tried to find some statistics on the net but I failed. How big is the risk the risk for her to have another tumor if not sterilized. Please help me I am desperate.
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Old February 24th, 2012, 07:40 PM
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pbpatti pbpatti is offline
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My opinion only, I would spay her at the same time as the surgery to remove her tumor. Your dog is 6-7 years old and again my opinon....too old to be having a litter of puppies. There are so many puppies/dogs in shelters/rescues that there seems to be no need to populate further. Good luck with her surgery, I sure hope that everything works out well and that she heals quickly.
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Old February 24th, 2012, 08:12 PM
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Goldfields Goldfields is offline
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6 or 7 years old is too old for a first litter in my opinion, especially for a GSD. I have had mammary tumours in my bitches and they have not appeared weak, so perhaps you should ask the vet to x ray her to see if the cancer has got to other parts of her body? Leaving the cancer out of it though , she is a sitting duck for Pyometra(an infected uterus), a middle aged unspayed female. You could lose her with that following any of her heats, spaying is the best way to prevent that. I've owned 12 females( 7 Australian Cattle Dogs, 5 Shelties) and half of them did not have litters, yet lived a very happy life.
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Old February 26th, 2012, 09:18 AM
astralus astralus is offline
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Thank you all for your quick answers and advices. She was very sick yesterday, I took her to the VET, he took blood for analyses and said she has an infection spreading from the tumor, probably from biting and liking it I guess, (she had leucocites over the top), she also had slightly inceased temperature. He gave her IV and corticosteroides and antibiotics. Today she had another IV and she is looking better, she ate a little this morning, stil laying down dough. But the vet said we should talk about operation tomorow. He didn't took an X-ray, should I suggest it?
Again thank very much for your quick answers and good wishes, it is so very nice of you and it means a lot to me.
P.S.: What is a GSD by the way?
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Old February 26th, 2012, 10:05 AM
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pbpatti pbpatti is offline
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I am so sorry that your pet has become so ill. Hopefully the medicine that your Vet is giving will help her get better. We sure like pictures here too so, if you would like to share some..... GSD is short for German Shepard Dog.
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Old February 26th, 2012, 08:48 PM
TokyoParrot TokyoParrot is offline
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My oldest got spayed last spring at age 18+. Her girly parts had become horribly infected. (I had gotten her just a few months before, already aged 17.5, from a breeder that went out of business.)

She also had 4 cancerous growths removed while they were down there. Three were benign and one was the worst rating you can receive, so they were afraid that it had already spread to her lungs or lymph or stomach. But it's 9 months later and she's as sprightly as a 19-year-old can be, so if it did spread, it's moving very slowly.

I hesitated to put her under the knife too, because at 18+ she was already nearing the end of what we would expect for her lifespan and I didn't want to risk killing her through the operation itself, but in the end it was the right decision. It took a full 8 weeks for her to recover fully from surgery, possibly because of her age, but I still think it was worth it, as she was so listless before from the ovaries being infected.

Normally after taking out the cancerous growth, the vet (at least the ones where I live) will send a sample of the tissue out for a biopsy to find out if it is benign or malignant. I'm not sure what an x-ray would do, as my vet didn't take any. The trick is to get everything as early as possible. Be sure to ask what are the signs that the cancer has spread to other organs (vomiting for example is a big red flag).

I have another 18-year-old going in for cancer removal on Thursday. They didn't take any X-rays in her case either.

Hope this helps somewhat.
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