My senior dog has a nose tumor. What are the best care options?

The option is to do nothing and just wait until the tumor is so big that is causes problems or pain or ulcerates. There really are no other options other than surgery (debulking the tumor), maybe radiation (this willl depend on the kind of tumor) or chemotherapy (which also depends on the kind of tumor. I suggest you discuss palliative care (just treat symptoms until euthanasia) with your veterinarian. I am sorry your Rusty is so ill.

I am afraid there is really nothing that you can do for her other than giving her a lot of TLC and watching the tumor. Should it open up and ulcerate it will cause infection and that may be the time to say good bye. If you think she may be in pain, you can ask your vet for some pain medicine for her. I am so sorry, but 15 years is a grand old age and you took good care of her.

I am so sorry, but there is nothing you can do at home for this, other than try to keep it clean if it breaks open and bleeds (which it looks like it could do at any time). Short of taking her in, there really just aren’t any options... this would require surgical removal. If she’s comfortable, eating, and happy, it’s not wrong to just love on her for the time she has left and not pursue treating the tumor. Again, I’m sorry I don’t have more options to offer you. Thank you for asking Petco Pet Education Center, formerly Petcoach.

I'm so very sorry to hear about Foofie. There is quite a bit that can be accomplished with holistic options including Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine. I have had quite good luck with mouth tumors with Chinese herbal therapies. But you need to have someone trained in using them in order to get good results. I would see if there is anyone near you trained in Traditional Chinese Veterinary Medicine here. http://www.tcvm.com/Resources/FindaTCVMPractitioner.aspx Another option would be to find a holistic practitioner here. https://www.ahvma.org/find-a-holistic-veterinarian/ Either type of practitioner should be able to help you with diet and herbal recommendations for Foofie. Good luck! I hope that was helpful. Thanks for using PetCoach.

I am so sorry to hear about Chyna. Your vet may have some recommendations for palliative care for Chyna, which might include a steroid such as prednisone to shrink the size of the tumor (unfortunately this is usually a temporary effect so won't last forever). This may help with the bleeding. Other medications they may consider could include a drug called Cerenia which can sometimes decrease inflammation and help with sneezing in some cases. To help with bleeding the vet may recommend nasal drops with neosynephrine which may help constrict blood vessels, or a chinese herb called Yunnan Baiyao which can help with bleeding problems.

Unfortunately there isn't really any way to shrink or remove a tumor without surgery, I have had some veterinarians have some luck in helping to stop bleeding from tumors with a Chinese medicine called yunnan baiyao. I would ask your vet if they feel this would be useful for your dog if the tumor is bleeding.

I'm sorry to hear that Stubbs is having this problem. Without being able to see and palpate the tumor, I really can't say what surgical options might be reasonable. I can tell you that tumors on the paws and lower legs are often very challenging to completely remove without amputation, but there may be cases where this could be possible. I would suggest getting a second opinion from another veterinarian in your area, if you want to make sure that all reasonable options are being considered.