Spleen tumor, euthanasia?

[lena100ca]

As many dog lovers and owners before me, I have brought my dog, Buddy, home from the Vet today. I took him to the vet yesterday after two days of listlessness. I checked his gums and they were white with just a hint of pink. I knew this meant an emergency visit but did not know what was in store when I arrived at the vet. Low haemoglobin, low hematocrit and a tumor on his spleen in an otherwise happy healthy 10 year old dog. So Buddy is home with me, for now. The options I have are surgery to remove his spleen, followed by chemo with a prognosis of about 2 months; Surgery to remove his spleen in the chance that the tumor is not malignant (but this is unlikely); take him home and watch for signs of another bleed from the tumor which will happen in the next month; have him euthanized to prevent any further anguish for him and for me.

So here I sit, horribly saddened and wanting to make the right decision. My father died a month ago and Buddy is all I have but do not want him to suffer. It is difficult for me to make the right decision which is probably euthanasia. I welcome any and all input. I am not sure I can watch him die, I try to invision this happening in order to help me through this, but can't

Lena

[sseemiller]

I received the same diagnosis on my beloved German Shepard mix dog on May 8, 2012.  She had lost a lot of weight and had very pale gums.  Xray showed a spleen masd.  She was about 14 and we elected not to put her through surgery and chemo.    We took her home to spoil her and to say goodbye. Much to everyone's surprise, she got better, gained weight and had another year of quality life.  She started going downhill again about 13 months later, and the vet said it would not be long.  This time we really had to say goodbye, and we put her down when she was obviously having another bleeding episode.  It was time, but we are grateful for the additional time with her.  The vet said this is unusual, but I am so glad we waited for a bit.  One thing that helped a lot was Pepcid.  The vet put her on that because she obviously had an upset stomach.  She took that twice a day for the rest of her life.  We miss her so much.

[Margot49]

You will know when it is time.  There are Vets here too that come to the house and take the animal, if you want.  There is also a pet cremation service here that will get the animal at the home and do the cremation, if you choose to do that.
chocolate doughnut!!??  Oh dear.

[lena100ca]

Thank You, Margot and that is the same conclusion I came to today. I am sure this won't be the end of my tears, but for now Buddy is going to live like a king. So far today, he is eating a chocolate donut and I have made him the most incredible supper of doggie nutritious human food. He is impatient waiting for it to cool. I keep a check on him and he sleepy a lot of the time, but when he wakes up his eyes are bright and he doesn't look so lethargic anymore. I see there are vets who will come to your home if you need them and when the time comes I hope I am brave enough to let him go this way. Are very kind friend told me today not to worry about any mess Buddy might make, that's why they invented soap! So 1 day at a time, but it's helpful to post here 2 people who understand. Thank you so so much.

[Margot49]

Lena,
So sorry you are facing this difficult decision.  Personally, and this is just how I feel, with the age of the dog, major surgery, dealing with the cost and probable side effects of chemo and the prognosis, I would opt to do palliative care only until I saw his quality of life was just not good anymore.
Very hard decision, I know.  Sometimes that final decision is the final act of kindness we can do for our loved animals.  
Hugs