Should I feel guilty euthanizing my old dog with enlarged spleen?

I am sorry to hear of your loss, it is a very difficult time to lose a pet as even as time passes, memories are brought back by many triggers. I would also have agreed that euthanasia was a valid and kindest option given the symptoms of such severe weight loss of more than a quarter of his body weight, bleeding into the bowel and likely the chest given the pink fluid and black stool and the failure to respond adequately to steroids. Please do not feel guilty for allowing him to go with some dignity, quality of life has to be much more important than quantity for our pets and often allowing them to go is the bravest and kindest treatment we can offer in debilitating conditions

This is an extremely difficult decision to make. I always try to look at a dog's quality of life to determine if they are still able to do most of the things they've always loved. If they are unable to do half of their favorite things, it is likely that their overall quality of life has declined and euthanasia may be warranted. Since your dog is currently eating, drinking, acting and playing normally, it does not sound as though her time has come. However, since one of her masses ruptured, there is a chance that it could become infected. Ideally, the mass would be surgically removed and biopsied. If surgery is not an option, she may need a course of antibiotics to prevent the onset of infection in the open lesion. If the open mass continues to bleed or begins to cause discomfort, you may need to decide if she should have surgery or euthanasia. If you are beginning to question if the time for euthanasia has arrived, consider discussing this with your vet to get their take since they have examined your dog and can provide some insight into her current quality of life. I hope this helps.

Thank you for submitting your question regarding Betty Lou. A lot of dogs develop splenic masses and many of them are not cancerous. There is no way to know by looking at the spleen. It needs be removed and submitted to the laboratory for a pathologist to evaluate microscopically. The same holds true for the liver. Just because a lesion is seen on the liver in surgery does not mean cancer has spread from the spleen. It is best in this case to remove the spleen and biopsy any abnormality in the liver. You may consider having an abdominal ultrasound performed prior to surgery by a board certified radiologist. This will allow a full evaluation of the abdomen and give you a better idea of what to expect in surgery. I hope this information helps. Good luck to you and Betty Lou!

I'm very sorry that Pepper has cancer in his spleen. I work for a home euthanasia service, so I face these kind of questions all the time with my clients. In order to make this decision, you need to look at his quality of life. Make a list of five things he loved to do, and if he's no longer doing at least two of them, then his quality of life has declined to a point where euthanasia should be considered. If you'd like to chat about this further, you can request a consult with me for more one on one help. Otherwise, I hope this helps you and I'm sorry you have to face this decision.

Thanks for using Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach! As a veterinarian who specializes in cancer and sees a lot of splenic tumors on a regular basis, I can tell you that this could have happened as a result of an arrhythmia as some of these tumors that affect the spleen such as hemangiosarcoma can result in arrhythmias or a result of a splenic mass rupture causing significant internal bleeding. So sorry for your loss.

Poor Xica! I'm so sorry that she's sick, and that you're in the position of having to consider what is best for her right now. This is always a difficult situation. Her x-rays do appear to show very severe pleural effusion. As I'm sure your veterinarian has probably discussed with you, pleural effusion of the type that you have described (bloody fluid) is almost always caused by one of two things: congestive heart failure, or cancer. The amount of fluid in her chest makes it hard to get a good look at the size and shape of her heart, or to determine if there are any obvious tumors in her chest, so it's hard to say which of these possibilities is more likely without additional testing. But unfortunately, even with aggressive treatment, neither of them have a good long-term prognosis. Knowing this, if I were in your position, I believe I would probably decide to let her go rather than pursuing hospitalization, chest tube placement, etc. - these are invasive, uncomfortable procedures that are unlikely to make a significant difference in the outcome for her, because of the severity of her underlying disease. That being said, the decision of when to consider euthanasia is a very personal choice, and one that is different for every pet owner. If you feel that you need to do everything possible, and want to pursue advanced diagnostics to try and get a more specific answer as to what's wrong, there is nothing wrong with this at all - but if you were my client, I would try to gently caution you that her underlying condition will almost certainly be fatal regardless of what you do. I hope you're able to find peace in your decision, whatever it might be.

I am so sorry to hear of your dog. I think this is a personal decision and there is no right or wrong answer. Some part of the decision may be financial, as surgery and aftercare can be quite costly and with a low chance of successful outcome then this must be considered. We wouldn't want someone to take money they need to pay their rent to attempt a surgery with a low success rate. That being said, you may be in a financial position where this isn't a concern. Then I would discuss with the vet what quality of life is expected to be if surgery is successful. If chemotherapy or other treatment might be required and the side effects/cost of this. You must also realize that if the surgery is unsuccessful then your dog's final days may be in a hospital instead of at home. If you are not ready to say goodbye or give up, however, then surgery may be the way to go. It is a very personal decision.