Do melanomas kill greys....

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Partridg3

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I have a 21 year old boy and the ones under his tail have grown. I'm a bit worried about what to expect, if anything...are there any signs to look for which mean there are changes inside?
Obviously he's a big part of my life and I worry :(
 
No, you can't really tell if there are changes inside. You might see a grumbling colic, you might notice some fresh blood in his poo if he has them inside his anus.

Keep an eye on them that they are not causing him discomfort, you might want to take photos a month apart so you can keep a check on how they are developing.

I suspect that the number of greys that die from complications caused by melanomas is relatively small so I should just keep a record and get on with enjoying him.
 
My vet told me most greys die with melanomas not from melanomas.

If you are unhappy, get your vet to have a look.
 
As I understand the melanomas don't KILL them as such, but the complications can do. (And echo the others that comment that not all greys have melanomas, in fact it seems very few!)
But then isn't that the way with so many things - not much actually kills them off but we make decisions to have them PTS for quality of life.
My last horse, a grey mare had a lot of melanomas appear around her head once she passed about 15 years old. Started on side of head at base of ears, then no change for about a year, then they appeared around her jaw and within a couple of weeks down her throat, further down her neck. It was terrifyingly fast - she shed weight and her coat stood on end, about a month after they started to spread she was being led in from the field one afternoon and her back end kept slipping out from under her. I had her put down the very next morning, bathed and plaited her and took her on a journey in the horsebox to meet the vet elsewhere (which she loved, thinking she was off competeing or hunting!) so she ended on a very happy note. Vet said that the melanomas had spread to the spinal cord and were likely compressing it. He also commented that those that you can see on the skin surface are just a tiny percentage of what is going on inside.

A bit of a morbid tale if you are wanting some hand holding but I hope that made sense to tell you that. Take each day as it comes.
 
When I very sadly had to sell my boy he was vetted and failed it because of his melanomas (he had about 5 small ones) the vet said that they were only as likely to do him harm as anything else in life, so his new owners still had him.

As Arabella said he told me the same: most greys die with melanomas not from melanomas.

,
 
My mare has them, mainly under her dock & a handful of tiny ones elsewhere. There's no way of telling how many she may or may not have internally, the only thing I can do is keep a close eye on her health wise for any changes. She's 23 & the ones on her body & quite a few of those under her dock either appeared or increased in size over last summer, but since then have settled down again. There's no way of knowing whether they'll be the reason for pts in a few weeks, or if she'll be pts from old age at 45, so I try not to worry.
 
My old mare had her first at 7yo she died at 33yo of old age not the growths. If that helps. Its not the ones you can see id be worried about its the ones on the inside. My vet always said as long as she can poo she is ok.
Keep them soft baby oil or some thing so they don't rub against each other more slip! If they start to weep salt water and sudo crem this really helps keep flys out also.
 
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