Mindysmom
Well-known member
My Mindy is 11 1/2. She was at the vets a couple of weeks ago for an ear infection. While we were there I asked him to check out a lump on her neck that i had noticed (if she were a child I would have said it was a swollen lymph node). The vet actually found two lumps and aspirated both of them. They were not just fatty lumps. They showed no cancerous cells but I guess that's not definitive. He said the next step would be to remove them and send them for testing but I could wait until she came for her checkup next month to decide. My vet is pretty hard to pin down but I think he believes that the lumps are either cancer of the lymph nodes or saliva glands.
Have any of you had dogs go through chemo? How bad was it? I am very torn on even having the lumps removed because they don't seem to be causing her any discomfort (they're very small right now). At her age I'm not sure it would be right to put her through chemo and if that's my decision why would I put her through the surgery to have the lumps removed and tested.
On the other hand, Mindy is still healthy and active. Although she is no longer officially doing agility she loves to go through the tunnel and over the jump (set low) I have in the back yard and still loves her walks. Her only health problem is dry eye which has responded well to daily optimune ointment. Her eyes are also starting to get cloudy but she seems to see fine.
I know in the end I have to make the decision but I value the opinions and experiences of everyone on this board and I guess I'm hoping you will share them.
Mindy is a totally devoted and trusting companion and will do anything I ask of her. I have promised her and myself that the health decisions I make on her behalf in her senior years will be what is best for her and what will give her the best quality of life regardless of the quantity remaining.
Have any of you had dogs go through chemo? How bad was it? I am very torn on even having the lumps removed because they don't seem to be causing her any discomfort (they're very small right now). At her age I'm not sure it would be right to put her through chemo and if that's my decision why would I put her through the surgery to have the lumps removed and tested.
On the other hand, Mindy is still healthy and active. Although she is no longer officially doing agility she loves to go through the tunnel and over the jump (set low) I have in the back yard and still loves her walks. Her only health problem is dry eye which has responded well to daily optimune ointment. Her eyes are also starting to get cloudy but she seems to see fine.
I know in the end I have to make the decision but I value the opinions and experiences of everyone on this board and I guess I'm hoping you will share them.
Mindy is a totally devoted and trusting companion and will do anything I ask of her. I have promised her and myself that the health decisions I make on her behalf in her senior years will be what is best for her and what will give her the best quality of life regardless of the quantity remaining.