When to Euthanize a Dog with Spleen Tumor?
“When to euthanize a dog with spleen tumor” is a question that we are asked more and more often lately.
This isn`t an easy-to-answer question and, moreover, to answer it we need to go a bit more in-depth and also find answers to other related questions to better understand the entire matter.
What Is Hemangiosarcoma?
Shortly known as HSA, hemangiosarcoma represents a form of cancer of the walls of the blood vessels. It affects between 0.2% and 3% of any kind of dog tumors with an average age between 9 and 12 years.
This form of cancer most frequently affects the canine heart and spleen. It`s evaluated that 25% of canines that experience splenic hemangiosarcoma have a heart tumor as well.
Due to the fact that local invasion and metastasis happen rather early in this illness`s development, lots of cases aren`t discovered until the ruptured tumor tissue leads to catastrophic hemorrhage.
What Causes Hemangiosarcoma in Canines?
Researchers still aren`t aware of the exact causes of dog HSA. What was interested to find out, though, was that particular canine breeds are more predisposed to hemangiosarcoma than other ones, which might mean there might be hereditary factors into play.
Latest studies suggest that it has a tendency to be large-sized breeds where this illness it occurs more often. The dog breeds that are believed to be more in danger of developing hemangiosarcoma include:
- German Shepherds
- Dalmatians
- Poodles
- Basset Hounds
- Golden Retrievers
- Skye Terriers
- English Setters
- Boxers
- Whippets
- Dobermans
- Great Danes
- Portuguese Water Dogs
Although it may affect lots of canines, the ones of 6 years of age and more are most affected.
It is estimated that this type of cancer accounts for 5-7% of all tumors seen in dogs. Considering the lifetime risk of cancer for dogs is between 1 in 2 and 1 in 3, we can calculate that 1.5 to 2.5 million of the 72 million pet dogs in the United States today will get hemangiosarcoma and succumb from it. Although dogs of any age and breed are susceptible to hemangiosarcoma, it occurs more commonly in dogs beyond middle age.
AKC Canine Health Foundation | Canine Hemangiosarcoma – The Road from Despair to Hope
What Are the Signs of Hemangiosarcoma in Dogs?
It`s a bit difficult to actually state with conviction how a canine with spleen tumor gets affected by their condition. However, frequent observations of canines and various reports from dog owners suggest that this illness generally leads to a lot of discomfort, even pain, especially in the end stages.
The precise signs will most of the time depend on the location of the main tumor (e.g. bone, heart, skin, liver or spleen), as well as where the actual disease has spread.
Owners of canines with spleen tumor might notice several distinct signs, depending on where the disease began as well as the length to which the actual illness has metastasized. – Check this out!
Frequently, the first symptoms of HSA are attributed to changes in the canine`s living environment, old age or weather changes.
Still, as soon as this illness has advanced, the visible physical deterioration related to this disease generally evolved quite fast.
First signs might include:
- Lethargy
- Weakness
- Exercise intolerance
- Lack of appetite
- Abdominal pain
- Weight loss
- Depression
- Vomiting
- Diarrhea
As the illness develops, signs might include:
- Noticeable lumps on various parts of the dog`s body (e.g. muzzle, face, abdomen, ears, back or legs)
- Swollen joints
- Weak pulses
- Abdominal pain
- Blood clotting irregularities
- Excessive thirst
- Shock
- Lameness
- Irregular heart sounds
- Sudden death
How Serious Is Cancer of the Spleen in Dogs?
Splenic HSA in canines very risky as there aren`t many symptoms of cancer until it should happen to be found on a routine abdominal ultrasound or the spleen actually ruptures. This mainly occurs because the spleen is located deeply within the canine body.
Actually, lots of canines which are diagnosed with this disease come to their vet on an emergent basis with signs of weight loss, lethargy, acute collapse, decreased appetite. A rather small percentage of canines also show signs of diarrhea and vomiting.
How Long Can a Dog Live with Spleen Cancer?
Removing the spleen that carried a benign mass by surgery is curative. If the dog has a malignant spleen tumor, surgery will normally offer a life extension of 2 to 3 months.
Even though the spleen was removed, HSA has an increased metastatic potential. Because of the violent nature of this disease, chemotherapy might be an option if you would want to slow down the development of this illness. – More info!
There are several chemotherapy protocols that offer various survival times between 140 and 200 days.
Is Cancer of the Spleen in Dogs Painful?
Canine hemangiosarcoma is an indolent disease, meaning the growth rate in the first stages is quite slow and it doesn`t really cause pain.
Canines having even large HSA might not experience any clinical symptoms or any kind of evidence for that matter that they experience a disease which might threaten their life.
For more info on this particular matter, get in touch with the vet who is offering treatment to your canine companion.
When to Euthanize a Dog with Hemangiosarcoma?
This disease isn`t often found until it`s in its advanced stages and already aggressive. Hemangiosarcoma is quite resistant to all the classic treatments or surgeries surrounding cancer.
A lot of times, dog owners need to make the hard decision of putting their canine companions with HSA down at the veterinarian clinic after find out the diagnosis.
Fortunately, this isn`t already the case, and depending on the general prognosis and the type of HSA, things might improve.
For instance, if luckily you found out that your dog doesn`t really have a spleen tumor and they are only suffering of dermal HSA, there are hopes. This is something you can treat by surgery and your dog`s lifespan can be extended and you can put euthanasia aside for now.
When hemangiosarcoma affects internal organs, such as the heart or spleen, this means the illness is visceral, and can lead to tumors.
In these situations, your veterinarian will most likely recommend your furry friend to be put down because this is fatal.
There are a few things you need to take into account when your canine has spleen tumor:
- Get your vet`s prognosis – If the illness doesn`t affect internal organs, such as the spleen, the rate of survival is higher, so you have time. Even if hemangiosarcoma is visceral, you might still get some more time with your little pal with surgery.
- Assess the quality of life – Some types of HSA could be successful and decrease any chances for the disease to spread to other organs. Still, if you notice various signs like your canine not eating, weight loss, pain or lethargy, you might want to consider euthanasia.
- Taking the price into account – Visceral HSA isn`t curable, and although some surgical intervention can offer more time, in the end the canine will have to succumb to this illness. You`ll need to take the sad choice on whether the costs of surgery are worth delaying what`s inevitable anyway.
Overall
Like already mentioned, “When to euthanize a dog with spleen tumor” represents a question that has a wide interest among our viewers.
We hope that not only we managed to answer to this question, but also put some light into everything that surrounds this terrible canine illness.
