Feel so sorry for my Shelby, dont want to let her go

[Jenny Wren]

Our lab, almost 13, started a week ago not being able to urinate fully.  We thought it was because of her age, until over the weekend she started not being able to hold any food down.  Took her to the vets yesterday.  He did an x-ray and said that there was a mass in the neck of her bladder.  He relieved her urine with a catheter.  Her bladder was the size of a football.  She was in such relief and slept all evening.  She even held down all the food that we have given her.  The vet feels that its not a UTI, but never did an urinalysis.  She has no fever, just cant urinate, only dribbles.  Is it fair to believe to believe that the vet is correct?  Anything that I have read online states that even if it is a polyp or stone, surgery will need to be done.  Her hips are getting bad and the prognosis to her having surgery is not good.  It may give her an extra 3-6 months.  I just dont want to let her go, but I cant stand to see her suffering.  I know that having her put down is the best thing, it just hurts so bad.  She is in good spirits and all, not lying around, sickly. ......I hate to spend thousands of dollars that I dont really have, just so confused right now.  Thank you.

[Jenny Wren]

The vet said that almost all the time when the mass is in this location, its cancerous.  

[Jenny Wren]

I should have clarified myself better.  The mass is inoperable.  Its in the neck of the bladder.  Even if it was located somewhere other than the neck, he would give her 3-6 months because of her age.  Her hips are bad, but she still gets around pretty decent.  I just dont want to see her suffering.  I just think that having her put down will be the better decision because of her age and the mass is inoperable.  She has ate very well since yesterday still.  But she is still just dribbling and Im sure her bladder is extra full.  Im a mess.  I feel sad, but in the back of my mind I feel this will be the best thing to do......What a sad past few days. :(

[lindapalm]

I would tell your vet what you read online,and ask him to explain in detail why surgery can't be done.  Please have all your questions answered BEFORE you make any decisions, or you will always wonder "what if"

[ginger899]

I would think that your vet has a pretty good idea of what is going on if he has seen the X rays. You could ask him to show you those, and explain what you see. It might help you to understand.
However...are you absolutely sure she wouldn't be able to bear surgery? (If surgery is a good answer to this) What was the vet's reason for not really wanting to do the surgery? Because of her age alone? Or because of her general health?
Also, did he say if the "mass" was, in his opinion, benign, or cancerous?

I can't necessarily see that bad hips would go against the surgery option. Things that might are weak heart/weak kidneys/high white blood cell count/general weakness.
It does sound as if the pain of retained urine and a swollen bladder is/was the reason for her feeling bad, and when her bladder is relieved she feels just fine....

It is a terrible difficult time for you. I know....when my dog was diagnosed with inoperable prostate cancer (the tumor was too big, and messy to remove) -he still had very good times, even though his energy didn't last too long at a time, he was still quite happy. It made my decision to have him put to sleep very very hard. And so we had to wait until it was by far the best thing to do, and he was no longer ok.