Question:
Hi,
My uncle just took my dog, an eleven years old female American Eskimo, to a local animal hospital. She had a huge tumor on her right stomach and was examined to have breast cancer today by x-ray. The doctor said the surgery can be scheduled on this Thursday since the cancer hasn't affect other organs. The cost is about $1100 dollars and my family don't know if we should let her take the risk. She can still do everything normal except slower because I think the tumor hurts her in some ways. Since she is already eleven years old, should we still let her to have the surgery? Any advice will be appreciated!
James
Answer:
One of my dogs had breast cancer when she was 11. She had a small tumor though. We had the surgery done and she's fine. She's 12 now. If you have the money and the dog seems like she can handle a surgery, I would personally go through with it. Just recently, one of my other dogs had his spleen removed because he had a large tumor (hemangiosarcoma tumor-cancerous) on his spleen. He is 12. He handled the surgery just fine.
Answer:
thank you ShadowCat, the doctor said the cancer has not spread to other organs yet, and I think my family will go for it.
Answer:
I don't think that is too outrageous for the size of the growth and how involved the surgery and aftercare could be. Eskimos often live long lives and if she is in good shape I think she should tolerate the surgery well.
Is she spayed? If she isn't, are they including that in the surgery cost?
Answer:
She is not spayed, and I don't think the surgery includes that. Is it better to have dogs spayed?
Answer:
yes. actually, with every heat cycle the dog's chances of developing breast cancer increases. The other problem is that your dog could develop and infected uterus which is called pyometra. If this happens, it would be emergency surgery on a sick dog, instead of surgery on a healthy dog.